Newcastle United 0-1 Sheffield Wednesday - 26/12/16 - Match Thread

[HaydnNUFC]

Is Fulham the only other game we've played where Shelvey didn't start?

[Klaus]

Biggest thing this squad lacks (compared to the last Championship squad we had) is heart. We had some real characters in the squad last time around, and that clearly made a difference.

[huss9]

if you're going to start with what were essentially 3 defensive midfielders then you have to play the likes of yedlin to give some cut and thrust from the back.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Awful performance, the triangle of Dummett/Colback/Gouffran is genuinely appalling at times. Half the pitch with no attacking threat at all.

[Pilko]

Was like watching a Steve McClaren performance tonight. No tempo, lazily passing the ball sideways and backwards around the back four, punting it up with no real purpose.

 

Everyone pretty much had an off night apart from Darlow tbh. Utter shite and worrying for the next four games; without Shelvey, we have no invention.

[Guest neesy111]

Biggest thing this squad lacks (compared to the last Championship squad we had) is heart. We had some real characters in the squad last time around, and that clearly made a difference.

 

Hmm, not sure it's totally heart but it's a combination of heart/commitment/put your foot in type of mentality.

[Parsley]

It's a mentality issue more than anything IMO. When we take the lead, we go on to win in the main; when we lose the first goal and have to chase the game, we look desperate and bereft of ideas. It'll take time to address, especially considering that we have only gone behind on a few occasions.  Also helps to explain why we have only drawn a single game this season, which is a pretty remarkable stat in itself.

 

Disagree with it being a mentality issue.

 

We set up to score a goal and hang on to it every single week, then when we don't get the first goal we have no idea what to do about it and end up defending a 1-0 defeat.

We're the top scorers in the division for God's sake - hardly emblematic of a side who sets up to win 1-0 'every single week' is it?

 

11 of our 16 wins in the league have been by 1 or 2 goals.

 

We've hardly set the league alight and put teams to the sword, especially considering there is such a huge gap in quality between us and them.

 

There have been so many examples this season where we have scored and then quickly clearly retreated down the pitch and allowed the opposition to play football.

 

The most successful teams win and win well.

Chelsea have just won 3 games on the bounce 1-0 - are they a 'successful' enough side in your book? They've also won by a single goal 7 times in the PL so far this season out of 15 total wins but ah well, Conte should probably sacked for not 'putting teams to the sword' enough eh?

 

Actually, 12 of our 16 wins have been by 1-2 goal margins but half of those have been by 2 goals rather than 1. Is a 2-0 win not convincing enough for you like? To put this into perspective, 10 of Brighton's 14 wins have been by 1 or 2 goals and 7 of those were by only 1 goal.

 

Our last stint in this league was built on scrappy wins away at Sheffield United, Preston and the like, and that was with a squad that had mostly played with each other for at least a solid half season in the Premier League. We more or less have a completely new squad for this season and yet somehow it is unacceptable that we're not dishing out batterings every week in what is arguably a far more competitive division than it was back then. 

[Disco]

Wednesday fans were superb tonight too. Atmosphere, from the best fans in the land even before 0-1 bar a bit of Benitezing was fairly shite given the drink in time.

[Parsley]

We look absolutely lost at sea when we're chasing the game, like. We've been in a losing position in 7 games this season and lost 6 of them.

This is it in a nutshell. We're too reliant on the first goal falling our way.

[Figures 1-0 Football]

It's a mentality issue more than anything IMO. When we take the lead, we go on to win in the main; when we lose the first goal and have to chase the game, we look desperate and bereft of ideas. It'll take time to address, especially considering that we have only gone behind on a few occasions.  Also helps to explain why we have only drawn a single game this season, which is a pretty remarkable stat in itself.

 

Disagree with it being a mentality issue.

 

We set up to score a goal and hang on to it every single week, then when we don't get the first goal we have no idea what to do about it and end up defending a 1-0 defeat.

We're the top scorers in the division for God's sake - hardly emblematic of a side who sets up to win 1-0 'every single week' is it?

 

11 of our 16 wins in the league have been by 1 or 2 goals.

 

We've hardly set the league alight and put teams to the sword, especially considering there is such a huge gap in quality between us and them.

 

There have been so many examples this season where we have scored and then quickly clearly retreated down the pitch and allowed the opposition to play football.

 

The most successful teams win and win well.

Chelsea have just won 3 games on the bounce 1-0 - are they a 'successful' enough side in your book? They've also won by a single goal 7 times in the PL so far this season out of 15 total wins but ah well, Conte should probably sacked for not 'putting teams to the sword' enough eh?

 

Actually, 12 of our 16 wins have been by 1-2 goal margins but half of those have been by 2 goals rather than 1. Is a 2-0 win not convincing enough for you like? To put this into perspective, 10 of Brighton's 14 wins have been by 1 or 2 goals and 7 of those were by only 1 goal.

 

Our last stint in this league was built on scrappy wins away at Sheffield United, Preston and the like, and that was with a squad that had mostly played with each other for at least a solid half season in the Premier League. We more or less have a completely new squad for this season and yet somehow it is unacceptable that we're not dishing out batterings every week in what is arguably a far more competitive division than it was back then.

 

Chelsea might win 1-0, but they dont go a goal up against teams severely inferior to them and then sit back and hand them the initiative. They keep moving the ball quickly and putting the opposition under pressure. There have been countless games this season where we have scored and then seemingly sat back and done nowt.

 

I'm probably overreacting to a defeat but I think we put ourselves under unnecessary pressure and our attacking play at 0-0 suffers because we are so used to just defending and hanging onto games.

[madras]

We've played just as bad with Shelvey though on various occasions, tactics were poor. Simple as that for me.

It's been the same tactics all season. Can't say it's good tactics when we win and bad tactics when we lose..

[Tiotes Witch Doctor]

We've played just as bad with Shelvey though on various occasions, tactics were poor. Simple as that for me.

It's been the same tactics all season. Can't say it's good tactics when we win and bad tactics when we lose..

Even when we've won a large percentage of the time our general play has been poor, everyone is afraid to say it after a win though because its classed as negativity and you get pelters.

[madras]

We've played just as bad with Shelvey though on various occasions, tactics were poor. Simple as that for me.

It's been the same tactics all season. Can't say it's good tactics when we win and bad tactics when we lose..

Even when we've won a large percentage of the time our general play has been poor, everyone is afraid to say it after a win though because its classed as negativity and you get pelters.

You're talking to the wrong person.

[duo]

Colback just adds nothing - intact just his presence make the team poorer.  Amazing how much we missed Shelvey.

[Bimpy474]

We've played just as bad with Shelvey though on various occasions, tactics were poor. Simple as that for me.

It's been the same tactics all season. Can't say it's good tactics when we win and bad tactics when we lose..

 

Well you can sort of. When a team is good enough to exploit our tactic, we do absolutely nothing, or should i say Rafa does nothing to change it. We look completely unable to approach games differently.

 

Now i love Rafa but that is not a good thing from him imo, it's only a minor issue if you look at the table but our limited flair and creativity are shown up terribly if the opposition get it right against us.

[madras]

We've played just as bad with Shelvey though on various occasions, tactics were poor. Simple as that for me.

It's been the same tactics all season. Can't say it's good tactics when we win and bad tactics when we lose..

 

Well you can sort of. When a team is good enough to exploit our tactic, we do absolutely nothing, or should i say Rafa does nothing to change it. We look completely unable to approach games differently.

 

Now i love Rafa but that is not a good thing from him imo, it's only a minor issue if you look at the table but our limited flair and creativity are shown up terribly if the opposition get it right against us.

Come on man, he's a world class manager isn't he but he can't adjust tactically in the championship ?

[Tiotes Witch Doctor]

We had no answer today, just as we had no answer against Blackburn and with a very different tactical approach from both teams, it seems we are easily outfoxed tactically and I'm quite surprised at that, Rafa's general in game management has left me puzzled at times, we approached the game no differently at any point in the game to try and get something from it.

 

It's confusing and a bit worrying.

[madras]

We had no answer today, just as we had no answer against Blackburn and with a very different tactical approach from both teams, it seems we are easily outfoxed tactically and I'm quite surprised at that, Rafa's general in game management has left me puzzled at times, we approached the game no differently at any point in the game to try and get something from it.

 

It's confusing and a bit worrying.

It's almost as if he can only play one way really and possibly isn't getting the best out of what he has available.

[Guest neesy111]

We've played just as bad with Shelvey though on various occasions, tactics were poor. Simple as that for me.

It's been the same tactics all season. Can't say it's good tactics when we win and bad tactics when we lose..

 

Well you can sort of. When a team is good enough to exploit our tactic, we do absolutely nothing, or should i say Rafa does nothing to change it. We look completely unable to approach games differently.

 

Now i love Rafa but that is not a good thing from him imo, it's only a minor issue if you look at the table but our limited flair and creativity are shown up terribly if the opposition get it right against us.

Come on man, he's a world class manager isn't he but he can't adjust tactically in the championship ?

 

He's too stubborn to his 4231.

[Bimpy474]

We've played just as bad with Shelvey though on various occasions, tactics were poor. Simple as that for me.

It's been the same tactics all season. Can't say it's good tactics when we win and bad tactics when we lose..

 

Well you can sort of. When a team is good enough to exploit our tactic, we do absolutely nothing, or should i say Rafa does nothing to change it. We look completely unable to approach games differently.

 

Now i love Rafa but that is not a good thing from him imo, it's only a minor issue if you look at the table but our limited flair and creativity are shown up terribly if the opposition get it right against us.

Come on man, he's a world class manager isn't he but he can't adjust tactically in the championship ?

 

Your sentence is completely correct, he is world class and so far has shown he can't adjust in the Championship tactically when a team plays a certain way. I know the first point should rule out the 2nd but it hasn't as we've seen so far.

 

He's been overly cautious so far in some respects but i've no doubt he'll see it and change. But so far for the 1st half of the season he hasn't, but with the window and him learning more about his players in certain situations i've no doubt he'll tweak it.

[madras]

We've played just as bad with Shelvey though on various occasions, tactics were poor. Simple as that for me.

It's been the same tactics all season. Can't say it's good tactics when we win and bad tactics when we lose..

 

Well you can sort of. When a team is good enough to exploit our tactic, we do absolutely nothing, or should i say Rafa does nothing to change it. We look completely unable to approach games differently.

 

Now i love Rafa but that is not a good thing from him imo, it's only a minor issue if you look at the table but our limited flair and creativity are shown up terribly if the opposition get it right against us.

Come on man, he's a world class manager isn't he but he can't adjust tactically in the championship ?

 

Your sentence is completely correct, he is world class and so far has shown he can't adjust in the Championship tactically when a team plays a certain way. I know the first point should rule out the 2nd but it hasn't as we've seen so far.

 

He's been overly cautious so far in some respects but i've no doubt he'll see it and change. But so far for the 1st half of the season he hasn't, but with window and him learning more about his players in certain situations i've no doubt he'll tweak it.

I don't think he'll tweak it. We have a better squad than everyone else, we'll improve it in January and we'll keep on going as we are, which will still be enough to get promoted.

[Bimpy474]

We've played just as bad with Shelvey though on various occasions, tactics were poor. Simple as that for me.

It's been the same tactics all season. Can't say it's good tactics when we win and bad tactics when we lose..

 

Well you can sort of. When a team is good enough to exploit our tactic, we do absolutely nothing, or should i say Rafa does nothing to change it. We look completely unable to approach games differently.

 

Now i love Rafa but that is not a good thing from him imo, it's only a minor issue if you look at the table but our limited flair and creativity are shown up terribly if the opposition get it right against us.

Come on man, he's a world class manager isn't he but he can't adjust tactically in the championship ?

 

Your sentence is completely correct, he is world class and so far has shown he can't adjust in the Championship tactically when a team plays a certain way. I know the first point should rule out the 2nd but it hasn't as we've seen so far.

 

He's been overly cautious so far in some respects but i've no doubt he'll see it and change. But so far for the 1st half of the season he hasn't, but with window and him learning more about his players in certain situations i've no doubt he'll tweak it.

I don't think he'll tweak it. We have a better squad than everyone else, we'll improve it in January and we'll keep on going as we are, which will still be enough to get promoted.

 

We do, but in central midfield we are weak as piss for numbers and quality (Shelvey and Hayden aside). We must strengthen in CM, simply must.

[Dave]

[Tiotes Witch Doctor]

Hayden seems to have no inbetween though, hes either class and running the game or completely shit.

 

Would ideally like someone better to partner Shelvey for the rest of the season, we were absolutely rank in midfield tonight, but mind you I thought it looked like both Hayden and Colback were told to sit deep, which is utterly ridiculous as Hayden has looked effective when getting forward, we're in the championship, we don't need two sitting CM's unless one of them has a ridiculous passing range (Shelvey)

 

We need improvements in Jan, we shouldn't, but we do.

 

It's alright saying we're top and Rafa is world class, but we're slipping, and 6 points isn't a huge margin.

[madras]

We've played just as bad with Shelvey though on various occasions, tactics were poor. Simple as that for me.

It's been the same tactics all season. Can't say it's good tactics when we win and bad tactics when we lose..

 

Well you can sort of. When a team is good enough to exploit our tactic, we do absolutely nothing, or should i say Rafa does nothing to change it. We look completely unable to approach games differently.

 

Now i love Rafa but that is not a good thing from him imo, it's only a minor issue if you look at the table but our limited flair and creativity are shown up terribly if the opposition get it right against us.

Come on man, he's a world class manager isn't he but he can't adjust tactically in the championship ?

 

Your sentence is completely correct, he is world class and so far has shown he can't adjust in the Championship tactically when a team plays a certain way. I know the first point should rule out the 2nd but it hasn't as we've seen so far.

 

He's been overly cautious so far in some respects but i've no doubt he'll see it and change. But so far for the 1st half of the season he hasn't, but with window and him learning more about his players in certain situations i've no doubt he'll tweak it.

I don't think he'll tweak it. We have a better squad than everyone else, we'll improve it in January and we'll keep on going as we are, which will still be enough to get promoted.

 

We do, but in central midfield we are weak as p*ss for numbers and quality (Shelvey and Hayden aside). We must strengthen in CM, simply must.

Sure ? After Shelvey and Hayden we have Colback and Anita. Doesn't sound good to us but as third and fourth choice in this division that's very good. Not helped by the tactics I'd say.