SUPERTOON Posted August 11, 2017 Share Posted August 11, 2017 Anyone except Man City? At full strength maybe, but they are expected to have Harry Winks, and sissoko in midfield and Dier playing right back. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeDubbleYoo Posted August 11, 2017 Share Posted August 11, 2017 Won't that young Walker clone be playing RB? Surely better option than Dier. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicane Posted August 11, 2017 Share Posted August 11, 2017 Scenes when Sissoko tears us apart. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUPERTOON Posted August 11, 2017 Share Posted August 11, 2017 Won't that young Walker clone be playing RB? Surely better option than Dier. According to their fans, Pochettino has said he isnt quite ready to start regularly, and they are saying their is no chance he will throw him in away to us. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeDubbleYoo Posted August 11, 2017 Share Posted August 11, 2017 Won't that young Walker clone be playing RB? Surely better option than Dier. According to their fans, Pochettino has said he isnt quite ready to start regularly, and they are saying their is no chance he will throw him in away to us. Ah shame, I was considering him for Fantasy PL. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeyt Posted August 11, 2017 Share Posted August 11, 2017 They could play Dier, Vertonghen and Alderweireld as a back 3 with Sissoko and Davies as wing backs. Sure they did it at Leicester last season and won 1-6 or something like that Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LFEE Posted August 11, 2017 Share Posted August 11, 2017 Before anything I will say, think we'll get beat this weekend. But the thing is all these pundits paid little to no attention to us last year, so their view on our squad is based on what the players did the last time they paid any attention: Clark - He was a bag a s**** at Villa, according to them, Newcastle are relying on him to be their main CB, they are screwed. LeJuene - Failed at Man City, bargain basement signing, not going to be any good. Manquillo - Awful at the worst club in the division last year. Ritchie - Was OK at Bournemouth but they let him go to a Championship team last season and still had a decent season without him. Atsu - Was crap at Everton, failed at Chelsea. Shelvey - A lot of promise that never materialised in stints at Liverpool and Swansea, was ineffective in trying to keep Newcastle up. Hayden - Never heard of him, he's a failed Arsenal youth player. Gayle - Couldn't get into the Palace team, he's their main striker, wtf. The truth is though, if they had watched us last season, a lot of these players have improved immensely under Rafa, it's good to be a little under the radar and keep these perceptions going for now, because if they for example dismiss Shelvey as a threat and give him the space he was afforded against Verona or Bradford, he'll have a field day. Spuds though are a class above us for sure, no point in disguising that, it's amazing that our last PL game was against them and we thrashed them. Lighting isn't going to strike twice, just hope we don't get embarrassed or not turn up, like the Fulham game last year. Improved or played in a lower division? That's where some of our fans need to think twice before getting ahead of themselves. WTF man. Who is getting ahead of himself ? Are you suggesting that Rafa influence on the players is non existent ? Then why are we all clamouring for him to not leave ? Are you seriously telling me that Clark is not a better player now than he was before he joined us ? Or that Shelvey is still the same player he was when he left Swansea ? The point I was making was that these so called pundits know f*** all about our squad and are basing their views on their hazy memories of a year or two, because they live in a PL bubble, they may be proved right in the end and these players never improved but they are talking from positions of no education. Stop with the considending s*** and use some reading comprehension before mouthing off next time. Never recall saying Rafa has had a non existent influence. I was referring to the point you were making about the perception of our players. Clark. Can't judge yet other than say he looked better in a poorer league. Shelvey. Exactly the same player as he was at Swansea with same strengths and weaknesses. My point about fans getting carried away was originally was directed in a broader but after reading your response then yes it also now includes you Calm down Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUPERTOON Posted August 11, 2017 Share Posted August 11, 2017 Is Rafa doing a pre match press conference today? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nufc4eva Posted August 11, 2017 Share Posted August 11, 2017 Before anything I will say, think we'll get beat this weekend. But the thing is all these pundits paid little to no attention to us last year, so their view on our squad is based on what the players did the last time they paid any attention: Clark - He was a bag a s**** at Villa, according to them, Newcastle are relying on him to be their main CB, they are screwed. LeJuene - Failed at Man City, bargain basement signing, not going to be any good. Manquillo - Awful at the worst club in the division last year. Ritchie - Was OK at Bournemouth but they let him go to a Championship team last season and still had a decent season without him. Atsu - Was crap at Everton, failed at Chelsea. Shelvey - A lot of promise that never materialised in stints at Liverpool and Swansea, was ineffective in trying to keep Newcastle up. Hayden - Never heard of him, he's a failed Arsenal youth player. Gayle - Couldn't get into the Palace team, he's their main striker, wtf. The truth is though, if they had watched us last season, a lot of these players have improved immensely under Rafa, it's good to be a little under the radar and keep these perceptions going for now, because if they for example dismiss Shelvey as a threat and give him the space he was afforded against Verona or Bradford, he'll have a field day. Spuds though are a class above us for sure, no point in disguising that, it's amazing that our last PL game was against them and we thrashed them. Lighting isn't going to strike twice, just hope we don't get embarrassed or not turn up, like the Fulham game last year. Improved or played in a lower division? That's where some of our fans need to think twice before getting ahead of themselves. WTF man. Who is getting ahead of himself ? Are you suggesting that Rafa influence on the players is non existent ? Then why are we all clamouring for him to not leave ? Are you seriously telling me that Clark is not a better player now than he was before he joined us ? Or that Shelvey is still the same player he was when he left Swansea ? The point I was making was that these so called pundits know f*** all about our squad and are basing their views on their hazy memories of a year or two, because they live in a PL bubble, they may be proved right in the end and these players never improved but they are talking from positions of no education. Stop with the considending s*** and use some reading comprehension before mouthing off next time. Never recall saying Rafa has had a non existent influence. I was referring to the point you were making about the perception of our players. Clark. Can't judge yet other than say he looked better in a poorer league. Shelvey. Exactly the same player as he was at Swansea with same strengths and weaknesses. My point about fans getting carried away was originally was directed in a broader but after reading your response then yes it also now includes you Calm down I personally think we are in a lot better shape than the last time we were in this league and carry more of a threat. It will be tough at times but I bet we don't get hammered. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaydnNUFC Posted August 11, 2017 Share Posted August 11, 2017 Is Rafa doing a pre match press conference today? We usually do press conferences the day before a game, so it'll be tomorrow. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted August 11, 2017 Share Posted August 11, 2017 Before anything I will say, think we'll get beat this weekend. But the thing is all these pundits paid little to no attention to us last year, so their view on our squad is based on what the players did the last time they paid any attention: Clark - He was a bag a s**** at Villa, according to them, Newcastle are relying on him to be their main CB, they are screwed. LeJuene - Failed at Man City, bargain basement signing, not going to be any good. Manquillo - Awful at the worst club in the division last year. Ritchie - Was OK at Bournemouth but they let him go to a Championship team last season and still had a decent season without him. Atsu - Was crap at Everton, failed at Chelsea. Shelvey - A lot of promise that never materialised in stints at Liverpool and Swansea, was ineffective in trying to keep Newcastle up. Hayden - Never heard of him, he's a failed Arsenal youth player. Gayle - Couldn't get into the Palace team, he's their main striker, wtf. The truth is though, if they had watched us last season, a lot of these players have improved immensely under Rafa, it's good to be a little under the radar and keep these perceptions going for now, because if they for example dismiss Shelvey as a threat and give him the space he was afforded against Verona or Bradford, he'll have a field day. Spuds though are a class above us for sure, no point in disguising that, it's amazing that our last PL game was against them and we thrashed them. Lighting isn't going to strike twice, just hope we don't get embarrassed or not turn up, like the Fulham game last year. Improved or played in a lower division? That's where some of our fans need to think twice before getting ahead of themselves. WTF man. Who is getting ahead of himself ? Are you suggesting that Rafa influence on the players is non existent ? Then why are we all clamouring for him to not leave ? Are you seriously telling me that Clark is not a better player now than he was before he joined us ? Or that Shelvey is still the same player he was when he left Swansea ? The point I was making was that these so called pundits know f*** all about our squad and are basing their views on their hazy memories of a year or two, because they live in a PL bubble, they may be proved right in the end and these players never improved but they are talking from positions of no education. Stop with the considending s*** and use some reading comprehension before mouthing off next time. Never recall saying Rafa has had a non existent influence. I was referring to the point you were making about the perception of our players. Clark. Can't judge yet other than say he looked better in a poorer league. Shelvey. Exactly the same player as he was at Swansea with same strengths and weaknesses. My point about fans getting carried away was originally was directed in a broader but after reading your response then yes it also now includes you Calm down I personally think we are in a lot better shape than the last time we were in this league and carry more of a threat. It will be tough at times but I bet we don't get hammered. I don't know about carrying more threat, we had Townsend, Sissoko and Wijnaldum in that side, but I do think we will be better organised at the back so we should be able to make it hard for them as long as we don't concede early. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LFEE Posted August 11, 2017 Share Posted August 11, 2017 Before anything I will say, think we'll get beat this weekend. But the thing is all these pundits paid little to no attention to us last year, so their view on our squad is based on what the players did the last time they paid any attention: Clark - He was a bag a s**** at Villa, according to them, Newcastle are relying on him to be their main CB, they are screwed. LeJuene - Failed at Man City, bargain basement signing, not going to be any good. Manquillo - Awful at the worst club in the division last year. Ritchie - Was OK at Bournemouth but they let him go to a Championship team last season and still had a decent season without him. Atsu - Was crap at Everton, failed at Chelsea. Shelvey - A lot of promise that never materialised in stints at Liverpool and Swansea, was ineffective in trying to keep Newcastle up. Hayden - Never heard of him, he's a failed Arsenal youth player. Gayle - Couldn't get into the Palace team, he's their main striker, wtf. The truth is though, if they had watched us last season, a lot of these players have improved immensely under Rafa, it's good to be a little under the radar and keep these perceptions going for now, because if they for example dismiss Shelvey as a threat and give him the space he was afforded against Verona or Bradford, he'll have a field day. Spuds though are a class above us for sure, no point in disguising that, it's amazing that our last PL game was against them and we thrashed them. Lighting isn't going to strike twice, just hope we don't get embarrassed or not turn up, like the Fulham game last year. Improved or played in a lower division? That's where some of our fans need to think twice before getting ahead of themselves. WTF man. Who is getting ahead of himself ? Are you suggesting that Rafa influence on the players is non existent ? Then why are we all clamouring for him to not leave ? Are you seriously telling me that Clark is not a better player now than he was before he joined us ? Or that Shelvey is still the same player he was when he left Swansea ? The point I was making was that these so called pundits know f*** all about our squad and are basing their views on their hazy memories of a year or two, because they live in a PL bubble, they may be proved right in the end and these players never improved but they are talking from positions of no education. Stop with the considending s*** and use some reading comprehension before mouthing off next time. Never recall saying Rafa has had a non existent influence. I was referring to the point you were making about the perception of our players. Clark. Can't judge yet other than say he looked better in a poorer league. Shelvey. Exactly the same player as he was at Swansea with same strengths and weaknesses. My point about fans getting carried away was originally was directed in a broader but after reading your response then yes it also now includes you Calm down I personally think we are in a lot better shape than the last time we were in this league and carry more of a threat. It will be tough at times but I bet we don't get hammered. I don't know about carrying more threat, we had Townsend, Sissoko and Wijnaldum in that side, but I do think we will be better organised at the back so we should be able to make it hard for them as long as we don't concede early. I'm hoping our team spirit gets us through some tough times in games along with the new additions. What I struggle to get out my head is we played Hull in the cup at a time when we were flying and they were horrendous and had a few injuries yet they beat us with 10 ultimately. I know it's just one example but it was a reminder that we shouldn't expect a comfortable season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanji Posted August 11, 2017 Share Posted August 11, 2017 We also had that noodle handed Sels in goal and easily should have put the match away much sooner. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JP Posted August 11, 2017 Share Posted August 11, 2017 Is Rafa doing a pre match press conference today? We usually do press conferences the day before a game, so it'll be tomorrow. It'll be today, 1pm at an educated guess. PL press conferences never on a Saturday. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaydnNUFC Posted August 11, 2017 Share Posted August 11, 2017 Is Rafa doing a pre match press conference today? We usually do press conferences the day before a game, so it'll be tomorrow. It'll be today, 1pm at an educated guess. PL press conferences never on a Saturday. You're correct. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted August 11, 2017 Share Posted August 11, 2017 Before anything I will say, think we'll get beat this weekend. But the thing is all these pundits paid little to no attention to us last year, so their view on our squad is based on what the players did the last time they paid any attention: Clark - He was a bag a s**** at Villa, according to them, Newcastle are relying on him to be their main CB, they are screwed. LeJuene - Failed at Man City, bargain basement signing, not going to be any good. Manquillo - Awful at the worst club in the division last year. Ritchie - Was OK at Bournemouth but they let him go to a Championship team last season and still had a decent season without him. Atsu - Was crap at Everton, failed at Chelsea. Shelvey - A lot of promise that never materialised in stints at Liverpool and Swansea, was ineffective in trying to keep Newcastle up. Hayden - Never heard of him, he's a failed Arsenal youth player. Gayle - Couldn't get into the Palace team, he's their main striker, wtf. The truth is though, if they had watched us last season, a lot of these players have improved immensely under Rafa, it's good to be a little under the radar and keep these perceptions going for now, because if they for example dismiss Shelvey as a threat and give him the space he was afforded against Verona or Bradford, he'll have a field day. Spuds though are a class above us for sure, no point in disguising that, it's amazing that our last PL game was against them and we thrashed them. Lighting isn't going to strike twice, just hope we don't get embarrassed or not turn up, like the Fulham game last year. Improved or played in a lower division? That's where some of our fans need to think twice before getting ahead of themselves. WTF man. Who is getting ahead of himself ? Are you suggesting that Rafa influence on the players is non existent ? Then why are we all clamouring for him to not leave ? Are you seriously telling me that Clark is not a better player now than he was before he joined us ? Or that Shelvey is still the same player he was when he left Swansea ? The point I was making was that these so called pundits know f*** all about our squad and are basing their views on their hazy memories of a year or two, because they live in a PL bubble, they may be proved right in the end and these players never improved but they are talking from positions of no education. Stop with the considending s*** and use some reading comprehension before mouthing off next time. Never recall saying Rafa has had a non existent influence. I was referring to the point you were making about the perception of our players. Clark. Can't judge yet other than say he looked better in a poorer league. Shelvey. Exactly the same player as he was at Swansea with same strengths and weaknesses. My point about fans getting carried away was originally was directed in a broader but after reading your response then yes it also now includes you Calm down I personally think we are in a lot better shape than the last time we were in this league and carry more of a threat. It will be tough at times but I bet we don't get hammered. I don't know about carrying more threat, we had Townsend, Sissoko and Wijnaldum in that side, but I do think we will be better organised at the back so we should be able to make it hard for them as long as we don't concede early. I'm hoping our team spirit gets us through some tough times in games along with the new additions. What I struggle to get out my head is we played Hull in the cup at a time when we were flying and they were horrendous and had a few injuries yet they beat us with 10 ultimately. I know it's just one example but it was a reminder that we shouldn't expect a comfortable season. Well the one good thing I've heard this season is that the players seem to think the spirit in the squad is absolutely sky high going off the interviews given by Lascelles and Jacob Murphy. I think that will go a long way. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nufc4eva Posted August 11, 2017 Share Posted August 11, 2017 Before anything I will say, think we'll get beat this weekend. But the thing is all these pundits paid little to no attention to us last year, so their view on our squad is based on what the players did the last time they paid any attention: Clark - He was a bag a s**** at Villa, according to them, Newcastle are relying on him to be their main CB, they are screwed. LeJuene - Failed at Man City, bargain basement signing, not going to be any good. Manquillo - Awful at the worst club in the division last year. Ritchie - Was OK at Bournemouth but they let him go to a Championship team last season and still had a decent season without him. Atsu - Was crap at Everton, failed at Chelsea. Shelvey - A lot of promise that never materialised in stints at Liverpool and Swansea, was ineffective in trying to keep Newcastle up. Hayden - Never heard of him, he's a failed Arsenal youth player. Gayle - Couldn't get into the Palace team, he's their main striker, wtf. The truth is though, if they had watched us last season, a lot of these players have improved immensely under Rafa, it's good to be a little under the radar and keep these perceptions going for now, because if they for example dismiss Shelvey as a threat and give him the space he was afforded against Verona or Bradford, he'll have a field day. Spuds though are a class above us for sure, no point in disguising that, it's amazing that our last PL game was against them and we thrashed them. Lighting isn't going to strike twice, just hope we don't get embarrassed or not turn up, like the Fulham game last year. Improved or played in a lower division? That's where some of our fans need to think twice before getting ahead of themselves. WTF man. Who is getting ahead of himself ? Are you suggesting that Rafa influence on the players is non existent ? Then why are we all clamouring for him to not leave ? Are you seriously telling me that Clark is not a better player now than he was before he joined us ? Or that Shelvey is still the same player he was when he left Swansea ? The point I was making was that these so called pundits know f*** all about our squad and are basing their views on their hazy memories of a year or two, because they live in a PL bubble, they may be proved right in the end and these players never improved but they are talking from positions of no education. Stop with the considending s*** and use some reading comprehension before mouthing off next time. Never recall saying Rafa has had a non existent influence. I was referring to the point you were making about the perception of our players. Clark. Can't judge yet other than say he looked better in a poorer league. Shelvey. Exactly the same player as he was at Swansea with same strengths and weaknesses. My point about fans getting carried away was originally was directed in a broader but after reading your response then yes it also now includes you Calm down I personally think we are in a lot better shape than the last time we were in this league and carry more of a threat. It will be tough at times but I bet we don't get hammered. I don't know about carrying more threat, we had Townsend, Sissoko and Wijnaldum in that side, but I do think we will be better organised at the back so we should be able to make it hard for them as long as we don't concede early. True but that team was so lopsided, didn't work as a unit and we had no threat from the wings other than Townsend that it rendered it useless. We now have reasonable wing options, a good functional midfield, physical presence in defence and midfield and players like Ritchie, Shelvey and Lejuene with good passing range. Compare that with Colback and Wijnaldum in midfield and Gouffran / Sissoko out wide and imho we are a better team. It might not be enough and certainly the level is a massive step up, however are we worse than Burnley, Bournemouth, Brighton, West Brom, Huddersfield, Watford really? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy84 Posted August 11, 2017 Share Posted August 11, 2017 Interesting comparing this squad to 15/16, we are better now imo. Who can forget that in that season our starting CM's were Colback and Anita ffs. We had a weak as piss uninterested Colocinni as captain, the squad was horribly imbalanced and the dressing room was split. Steve was an absolute disaster as a manager. This current squad undoubtedly needs work but we are far better now than we were at the start of that season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
afar Posted August 11, 2017 Share Posted August 11, 2017 Before anything I will say, think we'll get beat this weekend. But the thing is all these pundits paid little to no attention to us last year, so their view on our squad is based on what the players did the last time they paid any attention: Clark - He was a bag a s**** at Villa, according to them, Newcastle are relying on him to be their main CB, they are screwed. LeJuene - Failed at Man City, bargain basement signing, not going to be any good. Manquillo - Awful at the worst club in the division last year. Ritchie - Was OK at Bournemouth but they let him go to a Championship team last season and still had a decent season without him. Atsu - Was crap at Everton, failed at Chelsea. Shelvey - A lot of promise that never materialised in stints at Liverpool and Swansea, was ineffective in trying to keep Newcastle up. Hayden - Never heard of him, he's a failed Arsenal youth player. Gayle - Couldn't get into the Palace team, he's their main striker, wtf. The truth is though, if they had watched us last season, a lot of these players have improved immensely under Rafa, it's good to be a little under the radar and keep these perceptions going for now, because if they for example dismiss Shelvey as a threat and give him the space he was afforded against Verona or Bradford, he'll have a field day. Spuds though are a class above us for sure, no point in disguising that, it's amazing that our last PL game was against them and we thrashed them. Lighting isn't going to strike twice, just hope we don't get embarrassed or not turn up, like the Fulham game last year. Improved or played in a lower division? That's where some of our fans need to think twice before getting ahead of themselves. WTF man. Who is getting ahead of himself ? Are you suggesting that Rafa influence on the players is non existent ? Then why are we all clamouring for him to not leave ? Are you seriously telling me that Clark is not a better player now than he was before he joined us ? Or that Shelvey is still the same player he was when he left Swansea ? The point I was making was that these so called pundits know f*** all about our squad and are basing their views on their hazy memories of a year or two, because they live in a PL bubble, they may be proved right in the end and these players never improved but they are talking from positions of no education. Stop with the considending s*** and use some reading comprehension before mouthing off next time. Never recall saying Rafa has had a non existent influence. I was referring to the point you were making about the perception of our players. Clark. Can't judge yet other than say he looked better in a poorer league. Shelvey. Exactly the same player as he was at Swansea with same strengths and weaknesses. My point about fans getting carried away was originally was directed in a broader but after reading your response then yes it also now includes you Calm down You're a f***ing idiot with zero reading comprehension, how's that for calming down ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xLiaaamx Posted August 11, 2017 Share Posted August 11, 2017 Comparing us to last time we were here - It's important to note we didn't have Townsend or Shelvey for more half of the season. Wijnaldum's impact wasn't that great either. Non-Existent almost everytime we were away from home. We started with Cisse up top. We're clearly in a better place. Defence and Defensive Midfield is obviously better, Gayle's better than Cisse, so we're better up top. Maybe Sissoko and Wijnaldum are better players than what we'll have on the wings, but they didn't show it often enough. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
U2 Posted August 11, 2017 Share Posted August 11, 2017 I reckon Ritchie will do more than Sissoko managed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeDubbleYoo Posted August 11, 2017 Share Posted August 11, 2017 It's literally impossible for a team with Rafael Benitez as manager (for a whole season) to be relegated IMO, so in a way the season should be quite enjoyable. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted August 11, 2017 Share Posted August 11, 2017 Before anything I will say, think we'll get beat this weekend. But the thing is all these pundits paid little to no attention to us last year, so their view on our squad is based on what the players did the last time they paid any attention: Clark - He was a bag a s**** at Villa, according to them, Newcastle are relying on him to be their main CB, they are screwed. LeJuene - Failed at Man City, bargain basement signing, not going to be any good. Manquillo - Awful at the worst club in the division last year. Ritchie - Was OK at Bournemouth but they let him go to a Championship team last season and still had a decent season without him. Atsu - Was crap at Everton, failed at Chelsea. Shelvey - A lot of promise that never materialised in stints at Liverpool and Swansea, was ineffective in trying to keep Newcastle up. Hayden - Never heard of him, he's a failed Arsenal youth player. Gayle - Couldn't get into the Palace team, he's their main striker, wtf. The truth is though, if they had watched us last season, a lot of these players have improved immensely under Rafa, it's good to be a little under the radar and keep these perceptions going for now, because if they for example dismiss Shelvey as a threat and give him the space he was afforded against Verona or Bradford, he'll have a field day. Spuds though are a class above us for sure, no point in disguising that, it's amazing that our last PL game was against them and we thrashed them. Lighting isn't going to strike twice, just hope we don't get embarrassed or not turn up, like the Fulham game last year. Improved or played in a lower division? That's where some of our fans need to think twice before getting ahead of themselves. WTF man. Who is getting ahead of himself ? Are you suggesting that Rafa influence on the players is non existent ? Then why are we all clamouring for him to not leave ? Are you seriously telling me that Clark is not a better player now than he was before he joined us ? Or that Shelvey is still the same player he was when he left Swansea ? The point I was making was that these so called pundits know f*** all about our squad and are basing their views on their hazy memories of a year or two, because they live in a PL bubble, they may be proved right in the end and these players never improved but they are talking from positions of no education. Stop with the considending s*** and use some reading comprehension before mouthing off next time. Never recall saying Rafa has had a non existent influence. I was referring to the point you were making about the perception of our players. Clark. Can't judge yet other than say he looked better in a poorer league. Shelvey. Exactly the same player as he was at Swansea with same strengths and weaknesses. My point about fans getting carried away was originally was directed in a broader but after reading your response then yes it also now includes you Calm down I personally think we are in a lot better shape than the last time we were in this league and carry more of a threat. It will be tough at times but I bet we don't get hammered. I don't know about carrying more threat, we had Townsend, Sissoko and Wijnaldum in that side, but I do think we will be better organised at the back so we should be able to make it hard for them as long as we don't concede early. True but that team was so lopsided, didn't work as a unit and we had no threat from the wings other than Townsend that it rendered it useless. We now have reasonable wing options, a good functional midfield, physical presence in defence and midfield and players like Ritchie, Shelvey and Lejuene with good passing range. Compare that with Colback and Wijnaldum in midfield and Gouffran / Sissoko out wide and imho we are a better team. It might not be enough and certainly the level is a massive step up, however are we worse than Burnley, Bournemouth, Brighton, West Brom, Huddersfield, Watford really? We are better balanced that's for sure. I don't think we are worse than any of those teams, I just don't think there's that much difference at this point to separate us. All of them are strengthening, Watford have just bought Andre Gray haven't they? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole_Toonfan Posted August 11, 2017 Share Posted August 11, 2017 It's literally impossible for a team with Rafael Benitez as manager (for a whole season) to be relegated IMO, so in a way the season should be quite enjoyable. Depends on your definition of enjoyment, i think we'll be comfortable but it will still be a frustrating season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Posted August 11, 2017 Share Posted August 11, 2017 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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