Allan Saint-Maximin (now playing for Fenerbahce, on loan from Al-Ahli)

[Cookie1892]

5 minutes ago, ManDoon said:

He scored the only goal that nearly won us the game? wild to think of dropping him,

 

But wasted possession or lost possession countless other times allowing Watford to continuously counter attack and put us in danger.

 

 

[r0cafella]

Definitely should be dropped and sold imo. 
 

I want to see a team of 11 plodders week in week out. 

 

 

Edited January 17, 2022 by r0cafella

[MrRaspberryJam]

16 minutes ago, Mahoneyâs tache said:

Ketsbaia 78 apps, 8 goals. 
st Max 71 app, 11 goals. 
pretty similar return. 

 

14 goals for HBA as well in 86 apps. I wouldn't say he was another Ketsbaia either regardless of the stats.

 

Both ASM & HBA were/are exceptionally talented footballers who were managed by dinosaurs during their time at NUFC.

[Guest neesy111]

He was poor minus the goal on Saturday but you don't drop him at all with our current squad.

 

Now if we were to have genuine options, then having him as an option from the bench might be good at times.

 

 

Edited January 17, 2022 by neesy111

[Big River]

Just now, Mr Raspberry Jam said:

 

14 goals for HBA as well in 86 apps. I wouldn't say he was another Ketsbaia either regardless of the stats.

 

Both ASM & HBA were/are exceptionally talented footballers who were managed by dinosaurs during their time at NUFC.

 

Sorry like, but ASM shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as Hatem.

[MrRaspberryJam]

Just now, HUGZ said:

 

Sorry like, but ASM shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as Hatem.

 

I agree HBA was a lot better than ASM but that's most definitely not the point I was trying to make.

[WillingtonMag]

Cant believe people are even suggesting dropping him, he's probably the only player in the squad who can create something out of nothing. He's far from perfect and wouldn't be against replacing him in the long term but not at the minute. Who we gonna play instead or him anyways? Murphy or Almiron?

 

 

Edited January 17, 2022 by WillingtonMag

[MrRaspberryJam]

1 minute ago, WillingtonMag said:

Cant believe people are even suggesting dropping him, he's probably the only player in the squad who can create something out of nothing. He's far from perfect and wouldn't be against replacing him in the long term but not at the minute. Who we gonna play instead or him anyways? Murphy or Almiron?

 

 

 

 

I think if we weren't in a relegation fight and in a position of comfort he'd most likely be taken out of the XI. 

 

We're most likely sticking with him as he can produce something out of nothing, even when having a poor game - like he did at the weekend. And as you were getting at, the alternatives are shit.

[Andy]

Hmm. Think he looks poor a lot of the time because teams know we have literally no other outlet and can just double or even treble up on him. His end product is very hit and miss but he's capable of creating chances out of nothing, which we're completely reliant on at the moment. I'd be very hesitant to drop him, and that's not even taking into account how dire the alternative options are.

 

 

[triggs]

As it stands he's our best and almost only hope of creating anything. Fraser actually had a decent game the other day but that just meant he kept the ball when he had it generally and flung in a few crosses. There was nothing particularly threatening about it. 

[Stottie]

I think we have to play him. He'd look better with a full back in the same postcode and other options around him but its rarely the case. He offers a geniune threat and teams are terrified of him.

 

The obvious complaint is that he should not be dribbling near the halfway line. We saw what that does against West Ham, and it was our biggest scare in the first half on Saturday.

[Disco]

2 minutes ago, triggs said:

As it stands he's our best and almost only hope of creating anything. Fraser actually had a decent game the other day but that just meant he kept the ball when he had it generally and flung in a few crosses. There was nothing particularly threatening about it. 

 

Fraser has lost a yard of pace massively from when he was at Bournemouth it looks like to me and he was never a beat a man with a trick type player. 

[xLiaaamx]

I know XG will say it was a hard chance, but Longstaff for example should at least be testing the keeper with the one ASM set him up with in the first half. There's another one in the second half where he breaks in behind them and no one's bothered to try get in the box. He's a scapegoat right now, simple as. If he doesn't win us every game people just complain.

[triggs]

5 minutes ago, Stottie said:

I think we have to play him. He'd look better with a full back in the same postcode and other options around him but its rarely the case. He offers a geniune threat and teams are terrified of him.

 

The obvious complaint is that he should not be dribbling near the halfway line. We saw what that does against West Ham, and it was our biggest scare in the first half on Saturday.

I do think it's also notable just on your first point about full backs being terrified that neither of the right backs Watford had got forward much while he was on the pitch but then Femenia put the cross in for the goal basically straight away after he went off.

[Wullie]

Any time we have any sort of player with immense mercurial talent, going back to Ginola (and possibly beyond) there's a weird subsection of our support that insists they don't work hard enough and should be bombed out in favour of someone who'll track back a bit. Spent far too much of my youth arguing with boring arseholes who wanted Laurent Robert binned off in favour of a mythical player who would definitely get as many goals and assists but also work like a dog at all times and be easily affordable for Newcastle United.

 

In conclusion, yes we should definitely bench our best player and rely on Ryan Fraser instead. FFS.

[Fantail Breeze]

I don’t get why people insist in football you are either one or another with opinions.

 

You either want ASM carried around SJP on a throne or ostracised to the U23s.

You either thought the takeover definitely would happen, or it never will in a million years.

You either support Howe or want him sacked after 10 games.

 

There is the ability to sort of be in the middle.

 

ASM is our most creative player and the only one at times who looks like making something happen.

But he also has a number of significant flaws that are often to the detriment to the team.

He’ll either win us the game or contribute so poorly that he’s a big part of the reason why we don’t win.

 

I think he’s brilliant but I’m also incredibly annoyed watching him run down dead ends or lose the ball on the halfway line, ignoring a team mate in space, leading to an opposition chance.

 

For every moment of magic, there is also a moment where he prevents us from getting a chance or concedes possession to the opposition. That can be very dangerous for a team fighting relegation.

 

Personally I think he needs to be managed better and our team set up in a way that will benefit him rather than hinder him and us as a collective.

[LRD]

Should sign Blas or Cantwell if the rumours are true. We so desperately need an option outside ASM, and through the middle and on the other flank. Will also free up more space for ASM.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

FWIW I think ASM has the potential to adapt his game still, he’s fairly young.
 

He spent his newcastle career being specifically told to do everything on his own. 

[TRon]

That goal that Watford scored, no way could you do that if ASM was involved. One touch passing? I think he'd rather chop his own leg off. 

[Lush Vlad]

3 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

FWIW I think ASM has the potential to adapt his game still, he’s fairly young.
 

He spent his newcastle career being specifically told to do everything on his own. 

 

Not saying I disagree.  But if he is genuinely always as knackered as he is making out, whether that is various knocks or just being out of puff.  Then he is going to need a lot of fitness work and it's also hard to stop him being injury prone.  If it's that he is just sulking and being a lazy fucker.  Then he'd need a personality transplant.  Truth as always, is probably somewhere in-between.  

 

It's not even meant as a dig at him.  Flair players like him are not going to have the same mindset and physical attributes as someone like Isaac Hayden or Paul Dummet, for example.  Nor would I want them to.  

 

I suppose the $100m (or whatever relegation costs these days) question is.  What do you do to get the best out of ASM?  As he is currently the only match winner in our squad.  We'd be worse off without him this season and at times, he is just completely unplayable for the opposition.  But then he often looks totally uninterested, his decision making is usually awful and the current system just isn't getting the best out of him.  Then when we play with a midfield 4, he looks just as bad and stroppy.  He wants to play centrally, but has never excelled there.  

 

Feels like when he has space on the counter, or because our team are capable of creating space for him.  He is incredibly good.  This current slow motion passing game and inability to open teams up, isn't really helping him and he's not really helping the team.

[greydos]

 

2 hours ago, Wullie said:

Any time we have any sort of player with immense mercurial talent, going back to Ginola (and possibly beyond) there's a weird subsection of our support that insists they don't work hard enough and should be bombed out in favour of someone who'll track back a bit. Spent far too much of my youth arguing with boring arseholes who wanted Laurent Robert binned off in favour of a mythical player who would definitely get as many goals and assists but also work like a dog at all times and be easily affordable for Newcastle United.

 

In conclusion, yes we should definitely bench our best player and rely on Ryan Fraser instead. FFS.

You’re absolutely right. It’s like those England cricket fans who loved Kevin Pietersen’s centuries in India or against the Aussies but used to cry that he’s not a team player because he dared try hit a spinner for 6 (usually when on 90-odd, so he’d already contributed). 
 

ASM is about the only good thing we have got (with Trippier). Of course he’s got to dribble on half way, how else will we get our slow, no mobility pass-shy team up the pitch? Hoof it to Wood and see if it’ll stick, with no-one having legs in and around him?

 

This team has fundamental issues. All the best teams have players who can rotate positions or be dynamic. In the 2000s under SBR we had Dyer, a central midfielder who could break position to run behind the last man onto one of Nobby’s through balls. He could do it as he had the legs to get back in position and he could trust the whole team to keep a highish line and slow play down til he could get back.
 

This team has nobody who is dynamic and can exploit other areas of the pitch from their starting position. That’s the noticeable thing about Ryan Fraser. His Bournemouth play showed him interchanging with Wilson, getting in behind the last man and running the shoulder of the CB in the half space. He clearly hasn’t got the legs to do that now. Nobody in midfield has the legs or ability to move up the pitch quickly (Willock did it a bit last year).

 

If we kept drawing 0-0 because we couldn’t score I’d accept some complaint about ASM. The fact is, you can fix 142 problems with this newcastle team, and only *then* would you need to fix ASM. 

[Lush Vlad]

2 hours ago, Disco said:

 

Fraser has lost a yard of pace massively from when he was at Bournemouth it looks like to me and he was never a beat a man with a trick type player. 

 

Yep.  Love his work off the ball.  But then Almiron also brings that, without doing anything on it and he isn't in the team at the minute.  Rightfully so, I'd say.   

 

I know the fans views on him are a bit marmite.  But I'd play Murphy, purely for the fact he has pace, looks to drive with the ball and will attempt the odd shot and cross.  Which are usually either Solano/Shearer in quality or as bad as Obertan/Riviere.  No in-between. 

[alexf]

41 minutes ago, TRon said:

That goal that Watford scored, no way could you do that if ASM was involved. One touch passing? I think he'd rather chop his own leg off. 

ASM has had plenty of decent assists in his time here. Especially to Wilson with good first time passes. ASM is not a problem. We just need more options going forward to not rely on his individual talents. 

[mofo]

2 hours ago, Wullie said:

Any time we have any sort of player with immense mercurial talent, going back to Ginola (and possibly beyond) there's a weird subsection of our support that insists they don't work hard enough and should be bombed out in favour of someone who'll track back a bit. Spent far too much of my youth arguing with boring arseholes who wanted Laurent Robert binned off in favour of a mythical player who would definitely get as many goals and assists but also work like a dog at all times and be easily affordable for Newcastle United.

 

In conclusion, yes we should definitely bench our best player and rely on Ryan Fraser instead. FFS.

Some of the shit he got from the crowd on Saturday was ridiculous.. The amount of time's I heard 'Just pass the fucking ball'!! Same as when he tried to beat a man and it didn't come off... 

In my opinion we are a better team when ASM is in it, simple as that.

[Lush Vlad]

2 hours ago, Fantail Breeze said:

I don’t get why people insist in football you are either one or another with opinions.

 

It's not just football.  Nuance and proper, polite debate seems dead on the internet and in a lot of society these days.  Seems like it's got worse since Covid and the current state of the UK government, for example.