Davide Santon (now retired)

[mattypnufc]

Thought he was excellent yesterday. Probably our second best player after Colo.

[Guest BooBoo]

Easily shackled Johnson.

 

 

[Wilson]

great how not once did we have to worry about johnson

[Guest neesy111]

Do the mackems still think he's shite?

[Dr.Spaceman]

Probably

[Lush Vlad]

Thought I would jinx it, but I said after 10 minutes Johnson's getting no change out of Santon.  He really did have Johnson in his pocket.

 

I've become so used to Colo's ridiculously good performances that I said Cabaye or Santon for MOTM yesterday.  Looking back, it was clearly Colo, but Santon 2nd or 3rd I reckon.

 

He's been superb this season.  Agree with others that he's annoyingly ineffective when he gets into the final third.

[aussiemag]

Thought I would jinx it, but I said after 10 minutes Johnson's getting no change out of Santon.  He really did have Johnson in his pocket.

 

I've become so used to Colo's ridiculously good performances that I said Cabaye or Santon for MOTM yesterday.  Looking back, it was clearly Colo, but Santon 2nd or 3rd I reckon.

 

He's been superb this season.  Agree with others that he's annoyingly ineffective when he gets into the final third.

 

That side of his game will develop alot this season. In one year he has improved defensively 100%, now he has that down, he can work on his attacking play. Hes got 3 options, whip in a cross, cut inside and shoot, or cut inside and pass to the striker (Cisses first against Chelsea). At the moment he cits inside and get tackled majority of the time, just needs to be a little more decisive, But boy do we have a quality player on our hands here,

[Mole_Toonfan]

Absolutely delighted how he's coming along.

 

His link up play with his team mates has always been great and probably as good as any fullback in the league but his defending has come on so much and couldn't be happier with him in that regard.

 

While it's true his end product is quite frankly the poorest part of his game by a long shot but it will come after all he is only 21.

 

21 ffs 

[madras]

he should have brought 2 bookings for fouls against him yesterday aswell. skinned his man who brought him down yards away from the ball with no attempt to play the ball.

[Ronaldo]

Do you rate him, Madras?

[madras]

Do you rate him, Madras?

yes, not the finished article by any means but has all the attributes and is quickly coming to grips with the premier league. wish he'd shoot now and again though when he cuts in as he could easily have had a couple of goals last season with the positions he got himself in.

[Hughesy]

I wish he would just thump it when he cuts in on his right foot on the edge of the penalty area.

[oldtype]

Surely one of those energetic forward runs will actually come to something before the end of the season.

[Dr Venkman]

Agree he needs to be more decisive going forward, he should be looking to pass or shoot with his 1st or 2nd touch after cutting in as he's usually closed out soon after.

[Mole_Toonfan]

I often find with end product as far as fullbacks go at least that it's the last thing to improve in their development.

 

Take Baines for example, at Wigan he was a good player but his end product is no where close like it is now.

 

The more experienced Santon gets and the more confidence he gets from playing every week is likely when things like end product will come.

 

But the rest of his game is coming along fantastically and surely won't be too long before he starts to get international recognition.

 

 

[Benwell Lad]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/oct/20/davide-santon-rejuvenation-newcastle

Davide Santon's rejuvenation gets off on the good foot with Newcastle

 

A switch to the left has put the silky full-back dubbed 'Bambino' by José Mourinho back on track

 

    Louise Taylor

    The Observer, Saturday 20 October 2012 22.59 BST

 

A woolly hat warms his head and mud cakes his left knee, but Davide Santon's demeanour is that of a man feeling the sun's warmth for the first time after a long, hard winter. Newcastle United's overlapping left-back knows he has finally re-captured the form that led José Mourinho, his manager at Internazionale, dub him "a phenomenon" and once had Cristiano Ronaldo demanding his shirt.

 

Alan Pardew, Santon's mentor at St James' Park, has described the 21-year-old as a "revelation" yet a more accurate description might have been "re-born". Three years ago the Serie A-winning teenager hyped as "the new Paolo Maldini" damaged the cartilage in his right knee. Two operations followed and virtually an entire season was spent on the sidelines. When he eventually returned to Inter's first XI, Santon struggled and an unhappy loan spell at Cesena preceded a £5m move to Newcastle in August 2011.

 

Not that the erstwhile Italy defender who first arrived on Tyneside bore too much resemblance to the happy, confident character preparing to mark Adam Johnson in Sunday's derby at Sunderland.

 

If an inability to speak a word of English hardly helped matters, the principal problem was that his right knee frequently swelled up after playing and training. Some days there was discomfort, on others pain. Creditably, Santon battled through it, emerging as a key figure in Newcastle's ascent to fifth place in the Premier League, but everything is infinitely better this season.

 

As if to prove the point he presses his fingers hard into the kneecap and smiles. "I don't have liquid inside it anymore," he says. "The fluid has gone. My knee is so much better now, I don't have a problem. I feel good. This year I'm enjoying everything. When I go on the pitch now I just really feel much more confident – although I know I can still improve a lot."

 

Among other things, last season's "difficult" induction taught him about the sheer ferocity of the Tyne-Wear rivalry. A veteran of three Milan derbies at San Siro – all won by Inter – Santon was startled and briefly "scared" by the intimidating atmosphere of his first north-east equivalent last March.

 

Conspicuous for a lack of grace under pressure the 1-1 draw at St James' featured two red cards, eight bookings and an unseemly managerial slanging match between Pardew and Martin O'Neill.

 

"The fans here are more aggressive than in Milan," he says in his impressively fluent "nine out of 10" English. "I was even a little bit scared early on in March but after that I really enjoyed it. The fans are crazy and I remember the managers being crazy too, but it was a fantastic experience. The rivalry is more intense than in Milan."

 

Sunday on Wearside would be the perfect time and place for Santon to celebrate the first goal of his senior career. As a former right-winger, converted to full-back by Mourinho, he feels he should start scoring. "Everyone always tells me 'shoot, just shoot, Davide', but I never shoot," he says. "I have chances to shoot three or four times a game but I always pass. Now I have to make myself cut inside on my right foot and shoot because I know I can score. I really hope it happens at Sunderland."

 

If it does a cheer may echo all the way from Madrid. Mourinho has not always been known for his patronage of youth but he had a soft spot for the boy he called the "Bambino" and spoke proudly of Santon's "interesting, intelligent personality" and "tactically versatile, highly technical football ability".

 

The appreciation is mutual. "I have to thank Mourinho for everything," says Santon. "He put me on the pitch, he gave me lots of confidence. He's an amazing coach. I can only say 'thank you' to him."

 

He sees shades of the Special One in Newcastle's manager. "Pardew is something like Mourinho," says Santon. "In difficult situations, he gives us belief, something special when he talks to us in the dressing room. Afterwards, when we go on the pitch, we always believe we can win. I think he's a really good coach; he's really improving me."

 

Pardew has persuaded him that, despite being right footed, he is a born left-back. "Left is good because I can go inside or outside and that makes things easier," he says. "At right-back, it's harder to come inside on my left foot."

 

Such expert tutelage ensured Santon did not bite when certain Serie A clubs recently sought to repatriate him. "Some teams in Italy wanted me," he says. "But Newcastle is the best place for my improvement. I'm enjoying living in the city and my girlfriend is from here. At the moment, I don't want to go back to Italy."

 

When he seeks Italian conversation, Santon picks up the phone to call an old friend at Manchester City. "Mario Balotelli was with me, not just at Inter, but in school. He's a funny boy, if a little bit crazy. We speak sometimes and send each other texts. He's not a bad guy, just crazy."

 

If mention of Balotelli makes him giggle, the name Ronaldo prompts a big smile provoked by recollections of a Champions League draw against Manchester United at San Siro in which he eclipsed the Portuguese. "My first European experience was against Cristiano Ronaldo and that was a really good game for me."

 

Significantly, Santon refuses to dwell on the memory. "Everybody remembers me from that match but it's in the past," he says. "I don't want my career to be about one game."

 

Good article. The kid's an excellent footballer. Geordie girlfriend ?

[Ronaldo]

Do you rate him, Madras?

yes, not the finished article by any means but has all the attributes and is quickly coming to grips with the premier league. wish he'd shoot now and again though when he cuts in as he could easily have had a couple of goals last season with the positions he got himself in.

 

If Madras rates him, he really is a player.

[Weezertron]

My favourite

[madras]

Interesting thought from ronaldo as I'm probably one of, if not the most likely to defend our players and give them time, especially in light of some if the ridiculous slaggings off dished out on here. (obertan, Harper recently, best, raylor,perch a bit further back)

[Shayno]

Interesting thought from ronaldo as I'm probably one of, if not the most likely to defend our players and give them time, especially in light of some if the ridiculous slaggings off dished out on here. (obertan, Harper recently, best, raylor,perch a bit further back)

 

Is this a joke?

[madras]

Nope.

[ATB]

Don´t understand why he always runs into players really starts to be quite annoying.

[Hanshithispantz]

I often find with end product as far as fullbacks go at least that it's the last thing to improve in their development.

 

Take Baines for example, at Wigan he was a good player but his end product is no where close like it is now.

 

The more experienced Santon gets and the more confidence he gets from playing every week is likely when things like end product will come.

 

But the rest of his game is coming along fantastically and surely won't be too long before he starts to get international recognition.

 

 

He's always had a wand of a left foot though so that was always going to come.

[Lush Vlad]

Not meaning to start up the tedious left back/right back debate again.  But.................

 

I prefer Santon at left back. 

[Ishmael]

Yeah, he seems much better suited to the left side of defence.  His performance, in both attack and defence from right back tonight wasn't great.  Whether that is down to a lack of familiarity or not, I can't say.  He didn't once look capable of whipping in a cross and didn't look as assured in 1 on 1 situations.