Mick Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 I think Decky said we had just over 30% possession in the first half. I think that says everything it needs to. It does, we could hardly get the ball and gave it away when we did. They always had players in space and always had on outlet in good areas, our movement was terrible. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 I didn't see too many complains with the team selection today, and I can't for the life of me believe that a manager as experienced as Benitez is ignoring a solution to our home form as simple as some make it out to be; just play two up front and attack more and it'll be easy. I agree we've not been playing brilliant football for quite some time but we've been very organised. Something that seems to go out of the window at home, we make some ludicrous mistakes and that encourages the opposition. There's got to be some deeper issues at play. For example it wouldn't amaze me in the slightest if it's actually our players that get intimidated by playing at SJP. Nearly every other ground in this league is much smaller and the pressure on us to blow teams away on our own patch is huge. And it increases with every point we drop. On the flip side the opposition players get to come here and enjoy themselves, and crank up the pressure. I'd bet any money that every opposition manager makes the same point to their team about how the fans might get nervy if they just get through the first 15mins. If they lose, so what? It's Newcastle away. Definitely needs sorting out, but I can't see it happening in a hurry. Might not even happen this season. Just have to hope it doesn't come back to haunt us. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minhosa Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 I didn't see too many complains with the team selection today, and I can't for the life of me believe that a manager as experienced as Benitez is ignoring a solution to our home form as simple as some make it out to be; just play two up front and attack more and it'll be easy. I agree we've not been playing brilliant football for quite some time but we've been very organised. Something that seems to go out of the window at home, we make some ludicrous mistakes and that encourages the opposition. There's got to be some deeper issues at play. For example it wouldn't amaze me in the slightest if it's actually our players that get intimidated by playing at SJP. Nearly every other ground in this league is much smaller and the pressure on us to blow teams away on our own patch is huge. And it increases with every point we drop. On the flip side the opposition players get to come here and enjoy themselves, and crank up the pressure. If they lose, so what? It's Newcastle away. Definitely needs sorting out, but I can't see it happening in a hurry. Might not even happen this season. Just have to hope it doesn't come back to haunt us. This is it imho. We really need some leaders if we do go up. A proper central midfield leader to drag us through games. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 That post isn't meant as a criticism of the home support btw, not in the slightest. It's just the way things are, we're getting ludicrously large crowds and we're one of the very biggest clubs in the Championship. Everyone expects, and rightly so. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nufc4eva Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 I didn't see too many complains with the team selection today, and I can't for the life of me believe that a manager as experienced as Benitez is ignoring a solution to our home form as simple as some make it out to be; just play two up front and attack more and it'll be easy. I agree we've not been playing brilliant football for quite some time but we've been very organised. Something that seems to go out of the window at home, we make some ludicrous mistakes and that encourages the opposition. There's got to be some deeper issues at play. For example it wouldn't amaze me in the slightest if it's actually our players that get intimidated by playing at SJP. Nearly every other ground in this league is much smaller and the pressure on us to blow teams away on our own patch is huge. And it increases with every point we drop. On the flip side the opposition players get to come here and enjoy themselves, and crank up the pressure. If they lose, so what? It's Newcastle away. Definitely needs sorting out, but I can't see it happening in a hurry. Might not even happen this season. Just have to hope it doesn't come back to haunt us. This is it imho. We really need some leaders if we do go up. A proper central midfield leader to drag us through games. It doesn't help that the fans boo as soon as we misplace a pass. Away from home they get supported, at home they get slated for every bad pass. The fans turn up expecting the other team to just rollover and it doesn't work that way. The amount of sheer shit I heard behind me today was unreal. We didn't have the best game but I repeated to a few that we had only lost 1 fucking game this year and no matter how good you thought our rivals play we are still top of this league. What do people actually want? Keegan football ain't happening Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeyt Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 They probably don't want to be 0-2 down to Bristol City and 0-3 down to Fulham at home mind Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nufc4eva Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 They probably don't want to be 0-2 down to Bristol City and 0-3 down to Fulham at home mind They were grumbling at 0-0 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 I don't think he is rotating the squad as well as he did earlier in the season. Granted there are injuries but we did seem to thrive on every player being on their toes. The squad is being more static and complacent and it's time to make a change. This is why we needed to invest in January, that could be a £200m+ mistake. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 I don't think he is rotating the squad as well as he did earlier in the season. Granted there are injuries but we did seem to thrive on every player being on their toes. The squad is being more static and complacent and it's time to make a change. This is why we needed to invest in January, that could be a £200m+ mistake. We haven't had a proper attacking midfielder or left winger all season. It's pretty indefensible, like. No fault of Rafa's either. He made it clear we needed both before the window opened. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 In the absence of transfers I would like to see Barlaser involved a bit more, I think he is good enough to compete on a rotation. Also if Gouffran and Atsu can't do the business then Lazaar should be brought in from the cold. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neesy111 Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 I don't think he is rotating the squad as well as he did earlier in the season. Granted there are injuries but we did seem to thrive on every player being on their toes. The squad is being more static and complacent and it's time to make a change. This is why we needed to invest in January, that could be a £200m+ mistake. We haven't had a proper attacking midfielder or left winger all season. It's pretty indefensible, like. No fault of Rafa's either. He made it clear we needed both before the window opened. Midfield squad depth is ridiculously poor. Literally today the 2 options through squad to change the midfield today is Gouffran or put Diame deeper. Nowhere good enough. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
madras Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 Weird suggestion fair enough, but maybe if he looked at the squad and tried to get the best from it as it seems like he tries to shoehorn everything into a certain formation. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 Weird suggestion fair enough, but maybe if he looked at the squad and tried to get the best from it as it seems like he tries to shoehorn everything into a certain formation. Perhaps we need a different system at home only as it seems to be working away from home Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheInfiniteOdyssey Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 I didn't see too many complains with the team selection today, and I can't for the life of me believe that a manager as experienced as Benitez is ignoring a solution to our home form as simple as some make it out to be; just play two up front and attack more and it'll be easy. I agree we've not been playing brilliant football for quite some time but we've been very organised. Something that seems to go out of the window at home, we make some ludicrous mistakes and that encourages the opposition. There's got to be some deeper issues at play. For example it wouldn't amaze me in the slightest if it's actually our players that get intimidated by playing at SJP. Nearly every other ground in this league is much smaller and the pressure on us to blow teams away on our own patch is huge. And it increases with every point we drop. On the flip side the opposition players get to come here and enjoy themselves, and crank up the pressure. If they lose, so what? It's Newcastle away. Definitely needs sorting out, but I can't see it happening in a hurry. Might not even happen this season. Just have to hope it doesn't come back to haunt us. This is it imho. We really need some leaders if we do go up. A proper central midfield leader to drag us through games. It doesn't help that the fans boo as soon as we misplace a pass. Away from home they get supported, at home they get slated for every bad pass. The fans turn up expecting the other team to just rollover and it doesn't work that way. The amount of sheer s*** I heard behind me today was unreal. We didn't have the best game but I repeated to a few that we had only lost 1 f***ing game this year and no matter how good you thought our rivals play we are still top of this league. What do people actually want? Keegan football ain't happening I get that the home crowd don't help at times, but I was at the game today and most of the groans were at the team not being able to do the basics right i.e. simple 10 yard balls and whatnot. We looked clueless out there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wallsendmag Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 I didn't see too many complains with the team selection today, and I can't for the life of me believe that a manager as experienced as Benitez is ignoring a solution to our home form as simple as some make it out to be; just play two up front and attack more and it'll be easy. I agree we've not been playing brilliant football for quite some time but we've been very organised. Something that seems to go out of the window at home, we make some ludicrous mistakes and that encourages the opposition. There's got to be some deeper issues at play. For example it wouldn't amaze me in the slightest if it's actually our players that get intimidated by playing at SJP. Nearly every other ground in this league is much smaller and the pressure on us to blow teams away on our own patch is huge. And it increases with every point we drop. On the flip side the opposition players get to come here and enjoy themselves, and crank up the pressure. If they lose, so what? It's Newcastle away. Definitely needs sorting out, but I can't see it happening in a hurry. Might not even happen this season. Just have to hope it doesn't come back to haunt us. This is it imho. We really need some leaders if we do go up. A proper central midfield leader to drag us through games. It doesn't help that the fans boo as soon as we misplace a pass. Away from home they get supported, at home they get slated for every bad pass. The fans turn up expecting the other team to just rollover and it doesn't work that way. The amount of sheer s*** I heard behind me today was unreal. We didn't have the best game but I repeated to a few that we had only lost 1 f***ing game this year and no matter how good you thought our rivals play we are still top of this league. What do people actually want? Keegan football ain't happening I get that the home crowd don't help at times, but I was at the game today and most of the groans were at the team not being able to do the basics right i.e. simple 10 yard balls and whatnot. We looked clueless out there. Every home crowd in the country moans. Don't blame the crowd for that display today. That's just avoiding what the main issue is here Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shintonsghost Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 fuck all to do with the crowd, we get behind the team if they do the basic of putting it in, today everything they did fucked up Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neesy111 Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 I didn't see too many complains with the team selection today, and I can't for the life of me believe that a manager as experienced as Benitez is ignoring a solution to our home form as simple as some make it out to be; just play two up front and attack more and it'll be easy. I agree we've not been playing brilliant football for quite some time but we've been very organised. Something that seems to go out of the window at home, we make some ludicrous mistakes and that encourages the opposition. There's got to be some deeper issues at play. For example it wouldn't amaze me in the slightest if it's actually our players that get intimidated by playing at SJP. Nearly every other ground in this league is much smaller and the pressure on us to blow teams away on our own patch is huge. And it increases with every point we drop. On the flip side the opposition players get to come here and enjoy themselves, and crank up the pressure. If they lose, so what? It's Newcastle away. Definitely needs sorting out, but I can't see it happening in a hurry. Might not even happen this season. Just have to hope it doesn't come back to haunt us. This is it imho. We really need some leaders if we do go up. A proper central midfield leader to drag us through games. It doesn't help that the fans boo as soon as we misplace a pass. Away from home they get supported, at home they get slated for every bad pass. The fans turn up expecting the other team to just rollover and it doesn't work that way. The amount of sheer s*** I heard behind me today was unreal. We didn't have the best game but I repeated to a few that we had only lost 1 f***ing game this year and no matter how good you thought our rivals play we are still top of this league. What do people actually want? Keegan football ain't happening I get that the home crowd don't help at times, but I was at the game today and most of the groans were at the team not being able to do the basics right i.e. simple 10 yard balls and whatnot. We looked clueless out there. Every home crowd in the country moans. Don't blame the crowd for that display today. That's just avoiding what the main issue is here Aye. If players have got issues at playing at SJP, then by god they are mentally weak. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Figures 1-0 Football Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 A professional footballer at this level should not wet themselves because they are playing in front of 50k and there are a few moans and groans when mistakes are made. A completely daft excuse and the easy way out. We lost todays game because we were out fought for the entire match, nowt to do with the crowd. Fulham closed us down and were first to everything. We were subdued and looked uninterested for most of it. The fact that Ritchie was screaming at his team mates 5 minutes in because he had no support closing down suggested early on it was going to be a long day. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
madras Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 I didn't see too many complains with the team selection today, and I can't for the life of me believe that a manager as experienced as Benitez is ignoring a solution to our home form as simple as some make it out to be; just play two up front and attack more and it'll be easy. I agree we've not been playing brilliant football for quite some time but we've been very organised. Something that seems to go out of the window at home, we make some ludicrous mistakes and that encourages the opposition. There's got to be some deeper issues at play. For example it wouldn't amaze me in the slightest if it's actually our players that get intimidated by playing at SJP. Nearly every other ground in this league is much smaller and the pressure on us to blow teams away on our own patch is huge. And it increases with every point we drop. On the flip side the opposition players get to come here and enjoy themselves, and crank up the pressure. I'd bet any money that every opposition manager makes the same point to their team about how the fans might get nervy if they just get through the first 15mins. If they lose, so what? It's Newcastle away. Definitely needs sorting out, but I can't see it happening in a hurry. Might not even happen this season. Just have to hope it doesn't come back to haunt us. Maybe when people are predicting line up they are so used to it being 4-2-3-1 that they just pick personnel to fit that ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wallsendmag Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 A professional footballer at this level should not wet themselves because they are playing in front of 50k and there are a few moans and groans when mistakes are made. A completely daft excuse and the easy way out. We lost todays game because we were out fought for the entire match, nowt to do with the crowd. Fulham closed us down and were first to everything. We were subdued and looked uninterested for most of it. The fact that Ritchie was screaming at his team mates 5 minutes in because he had no support closing down suggested early on it was going to be a long day. I said this in the pub before the match. We had to start well today if we were to win the game. When you have Ritchie (rightly so) screaming at his team mates a few minutes in because we were so lethargic and 2nd to every ball it was inevitable what was coming. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
madras Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 A professional footballer at this level should not wet themselves because they are playing in front of 50k and there are a few moans and groans when mistakes are made. A completely daft excuse and the easy way out. We lost todays game because we were out fought for the entire match, nowt to do with the crowd. Fulham closed us down and were first to everything. We were subdued and looked uninterested for most of it. The fact that Ritchie was screaming at his team mates 5 minutes in because he had no support closing down suggested early on it was going to be a long day. I said this in the pub before the match. We had to start well today if we were to win the game. When you have Ritchie (rightly so) screaming at his team mates a few minutes in because we were so lethargic and 2nd to every ball it was inevitable what was coming. It was funny when Ritchie pressed high and waved for us to press with him, the tactics don't allow it! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wallsendmag Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 A professional footballer at this level should not wet themselves because they are playing in front of 50k and there are a few moans and groans when mistakes are made. A completely daft excuse and the easy way out. We lost todays game because we were out fought for the entire match, nowt to do with the crowd. Fulham closed us down and were first to everything. We were subdued and looked uninterested for most of it. The fact that Ritchie was screaming at his team mates 5 minutes in because he had no support closing down suggested early on it was going to be a long day. I said this in the pub before the match. We had to start well today if we were to win the game. When you have Ritchie (rightly so) screaming at his team mates a few minutes in because we were so lethargic and 2nd to every ball it was inevitable what was coming. It was funny when Ritchie pressed high and waved for us to press with him, the tactics don't allow it! It's so rigid and almost militarily style at home it's just awful to watch. Literally an atmosphere killer if ever there was one. I can understand it on the road but it's very tedious at home now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ElCid Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 I didn't see too many complains with the team selection today, and I can't for the life of me believe that a manager as experienced as Benitez is ignoring a solution to our home form as simple as some make it out to be; just play two up front and attack more and it'll be easy. I agree we've not been playing brilliant football for quite some time but we've been very organised. Something that seems to go out of the window at home, we make some ludicrous mistakes and that encourages the opposition. There's got to be some deeper issues at play. For example it wouldn't amaze me in the slightest if it's actually our players that get intimidated by playing at SJP. Nearly every other ground in this league is much smaller and the pressure on us to blow teams away on our own patch is huge. And it increases with every point we drop. On the flip side the opposition players get to come here and enjoy themselves, and crank up the pressure. If they lose, so what? It's Newcastle away. Definitely needs sorting out, but I can't see it happening in a hurry. Might not even happen this season. Just have to hope it doesn't come back to haunt us. This is it imho. We really need some leaders if we do go up. A proper central midfield leader to drag us through games. Well if that is the case every single one of those players should be outed as it is no use at all to have players who are intimatated in playing in front of their own fans. Sorry don't buy it at all that squad has been assembled at a cost which blows away most other clubs in this league. The tactics do not work at home as has been proven in many a game this season and good teams should be able to find away past teams who are 'parking the bus' or 'giving it a go' especially on your home ground. This game is not a one off at home this season and yet the same system is still maintained and the same problems occur. It's up to Rafa to sort it out and sort it out quickly before it is too late and to adopt a more positive method of playing the game through the middle of the pitch where we are currently seriously lacking. You are not going to control games with the likes of Colback playing in this team week in and week out - sick of me saying it to be honest and the fact that he consistently gets a game when he offers nothing (and I mean NOTHING) at all has to be questioned.. Today we were found out big time at full back also as neither Dummett or Anita are capable of providing any quality support in the slightest to our attacking play. The number 10 role is clearly also not working at home either with both Diame and Perez being in the main poor and not being able to keep hold of the ball consistenly to offer genuine support. The tactics at home and away are pretty much identical and it works away from home when playing the counter attack but they clearly don't at home when the opposition is quite happy to let you play that formation as the pressure is on the home team to force the game. It's not working Rafa and needs to change as I said this was not a 'one off' game and the signs at home have been there since the first game against Huddersfield. The comic duo sold Rafa short in January when they refused to sanction the signing of a 'midfielder' and a 'winger' which had been highlighted as two weak areas. I do have sympathy with that and maybe that is the reason these tactics are being persisted with as he does not have full confidence in certain players. Still not working though and every team now comes to St James thinking they can get a result and sorry but that should not be the case and they should be shitting it when the come onto the ptich. You look at other forums and to a tee they are all confident of getting a result due to our home form. Rafa has had all season to sort this out but he still maintains playing in the same formation and I am certainly asking why as it's so obvious it's not working. Hopefully today is a wake up call but I don't buy this excuse of players being unable to play in front of their home crowd and I never will. It does need sorting out but we can't wait for it to come into place as we are at the business end of the sason and failure to get promoted this season would be shocking especially as just one short week ago we were a minimum of 8 points clear of 3rd place. Keep hearing Fulham are a good team blah blah blah they're obviously not that good looking at the league position and the fact they are 17 points behind but they found it so easy today in every area. Is Rafa the best we could have currently? - yes but he is not a god either and is deserving of criticism with the continuation of the home formation and tactics. Needs to change or come May this club may not be playing in the Premier League next season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 If you're going off league position we're fucking mint. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wallsendmag Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 If you're going off league position we're f***ing mint. Home form table? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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