Newcastle United 1 - 2 Everton - 02/01/13 - post-match reaction from page 53

[johnnypd]

I'm just back from the game, my first actually being inside the stadium and now I can't wait to go to Brazil as I won't have to be disappointed. As soon as the second goal went in you could see the players head drop and then the crowd began to turn on them.

We started brightly, there was a lot of passing and building up the play as opposed to Everton who spent the first half aiming balls towards Fellaini who would either flick it on or win a free kick. However we looked poor in the defense and lacked ideas going forward. If the ball went out wide whoever had the ball was left exposed and we had to pass the ball backwards. Not many of our players looked like the wanted the ball aside from Anita. One problem we had was that when Williamson was turned or lost out in the aerial battle we had Collocini caught between closing his man down or holding his position as they often had a runner. It was only when Bigi came on that we had one of our midfielders track back towards our own box to help cover the space.The referee did give a lot of fouls against us, especially the one that Everton got the equalizer from, but I think a lot of the pressure on the referee was the crowds frustrations towards the team. I thought Sammy came on and did well when attacking players, but we don't have many options in reserve to deal with our injuries. Ultimately it is disappointing to watch the team capitulate like that and unless we can strengthen this month (hopefully some injured players return) then we will be in trouble.

 

I think you've made some very good points, but I wanted to highlight that particular one. I'm reliant on the TV, so it's not easy to see the overall picture, but I've been wondering why our back four gets so regularly exposed when we're actually playing with two defensive midfield players. Is dividing the responsibility creating confusion, and are they leaving things to one another? Would we be better off with someone just sitting permanently in front of the CBs? Or is Bigi the only one of the three with the pace to get back? Does having two DMs simply mean a waste of a player, and a greater likelihood of losing the ball? I don't know.

 

 

 

Pardew seems a bit confused in his game plan sometimes so it's hard to tell what he telling the players, but I think that 3-0 home win to Man Utd sticks in his mind as a kind of 'ideal' team performance. It's all about high pressing, aggressive closing down, winning the ball in advanced areas and direct percentage football into the box. If you can disrupt the rhythm of the opposition this way then it's the first step to winning the game.

 

So when it comes to our defensive midfielders - Tiote and Anita, and to an extent Jonas, this season - it's all about using their physical attributes to chase the game. Anita's recent good performances have seen him occupy areas of the pitch just behind Demba Ba - not because he's an attacking presence but because Pardew is telling him to close down to a massive extent. Tiote's recent games have been similar- there was an Everton attack that he managed to repel all the way back to their defence simply by harrassing whoever was on the ball and it got a round of applause from the fans.

 

The downside to this strategy is it means your defensive midfielders often vacate their deep position - leaving the defence vulnerable and giving opposition playmakers time to pick a pass over the top. You see this less when Bigirimana and Cabaye are on the pitch, ironically because Pardew doesn't see them as game-chasers but more elegant players who can stroke the ball around. It's ironic that our more attacking players, our passers, end up sitting deeper - but that's what happened nearly every time Cabaye and Tiote lined up together in a 4-4-2, for instance.

 

In some ways a quick centre-half would make this less of an issue as none of our current bunch have any recovery pace to speak of.

[Unbelievable]

Good post johnnypd. I think there's a lot of truth in that. What I would want Pardew to do is make it clear to Tiote that he just needs to sit deep, get the ball of the opposition as they get near our area and lay it off to more skilful players, whilst the more advanced central midfield players (Anita, Cabaye, Marveaux) do the pressing higher up the pitch. As it is, Tiote isn't very effective at all at protecting the back four.

[toon25]

Great post johnny. Agree entirely.