Guest Knightrider Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 It was a welcome sign to see Viduka finally pull on the black & white shirt and although he only played 45 minutes and wasn't too involved, he did give us something different to which we lack and produced some good moments with his close control and strength. In the air he won his fair share and I thought he shielded the ball extremely well at times, again things our other strikers aren't very strong at (with the exception of Smith). He lacks sharpness though and I doubt he'll start next week. Good to see him in action. Smith played the full 90 minutes and looks as fit as anyone else, he was very bright throughout although in the first half he struggled to make much of an impact as a striker and on this performance, looks better playing as an attacking midfielder which is where he played after the break. His passing was good, tempo high, tackling at times reckless but crunching at others while his pressing play brought rewards too. Overall he looks sharp and well up for it. He's not a bad player you know, as he demonstrated today. Smith, Butt and Geremi in the middle were very strong and it will take a lot to break through the trio if they play together. Add Barton and Emre to the mix and centrally, we look well covered with good options, importantly complimentary options too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChezGiven Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest eyeball_tickler Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 there's an encouraging stat is the programme today about these 2 upfront together. its something like played 100 together and scored 70 between them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shak Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 Didn't look sharp at all, Viduka, but you could see in flashes the ability he's got when we feed the ball into his feet, his touch is quality. Smith looks a great signing, great squad member. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baggio Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 Don't take any notice of Chez, HTT. Good post. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
STM Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 Wasn't too happy with them as a pair but Viduka is a good player and Smith will fit in elsewhere. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 Linked up well once where Viduka's effort was saved but other than that nothing happened. First match together in years though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skirge Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 OBA, OBA, OBA, OBA Viduka and Martins with Smith in midfield alongside Geremi for me.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stozo Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 We looked much better in the 2nd half playing 4-3-3. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Knightrider Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 Tell you what though, with N'Zogbia at left-back and Viduka and Smith up front, we didn't half lack pace in attacking positions which is a concern. Contrast that to the second half with N'Zogbia down the left and Martins down the right, we got behind them a few times and looked much brighter going forward. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baggio Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 Tell you what though, with N'Zogbia at left-back and Viduka and Smith up front, we didn't half lack pace in attacking positions which is a concern. Contrast that to the second half with N'Zogbia down the left and Martins down the right, we got behind them a few times and looked much brighter going forward. http://www.newcastle-online.com/nufcforum/index.php?topic=43628.msg952349#msg952349 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Knightrider Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 BTW I thought Martins played intelligently as the right sided forward in the second-half and even looked comfortable at right back once or twice when he was covering for Carr I'm not so sure he can play in a 4-3-3 thgough, not the 4-3-3 Sam deploys anyway, but he was quite disciplined when he came on, if not infuriating at times. Why he didn't show their full-back a clean pair of heels when he had ample opportunity to do so, I don't know. Maybe he lacks the confidence on the right. Cutting inside just slowed us down and he lost control a few times. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wullie Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 BTW I thought Martins played intelligently as the right sided forward in the second-half and even looked comfortable at right back once or twice when he was covering for Carr I'm not so sure he can play in a 4-3-3 thgough, not the 4-3-3 Sam deploys anyway, but he was quite disciplined when he came on, if not infuriating at times. Why he didn't show their full-back a clean pair of heels when he had ample opportunity to do so, I don't know. Maybe he lacks the confidence on the right. Cutting inside just slowed us down and he lost control a few times. I thought it would have made more sense to swap the pair over, but Sam clearly fancies Milner on the left and presumably Martins was there so he could cut in on his left foot and shoot, something he never got a chance to do. Thought he did ok but he didn't really know where to put himself, hugged the touchline too much. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 Martins had one chance to pull the trigger after working himself an opening and didn't. Strange. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cajun Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 there's an encouraging stat is the programme today about these 2 upfront together. its something like played 100 together and scored 70 between them. Played 90 scored 74. Viduka 50, Smith 24. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Daishi Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 Must say, sat where i was, in the second half when Martins was playing outside right, the few times he bombed forward, the ball to him was lacking, and other times there was enough room infront of him to land a helicopter in, he didn't take the chance. Did any replays show whether he was actually caught in the eye? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 there's an encouraging stat is the programme today about these 2 upfront together. its something like played 100 together and scored 70 between them. I'll put a £100 on that they'll not score 70 between them here even if they play 200 games together. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnypd Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 i think smith would be better up front than in midfield. as an attacking midfielder i think the game by passed him, he was rarely in possession of the ball. the moments where he impressed are when he broke into the box and put himself in the striker's position. viduka looked pretty unfit i thought and the reason Smith didn't impress in the first half was that him and viduka are not a good match. they may have had a good scoring record 5 years ago but both are very different players now and i hope they are never paired together in the league. saying that smith could be a good back-up as attacking midfielder if Barton is injured, some of his runs were cahill-esque. tho he would need a creative playmaker behind him as he doesn't have enough class to be the creative nexus of the team. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baggio Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 there's an encouraging stat is the programme today about these 2 upfront together. its something like played 100 together and scored 70 between them. It means about as much to us as Cole and Yorke's record at Man Utd mean to the Mackems tbh. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scribble Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 We looked much better in the 2nd half playing 4-3-3. How freaky is it to see that? I think out of any of our players, Viduka would probably be the one that needed a full Allardyce pre-season training, shame he was away in the asian cup. Agree that he will be good for us after a bit more fitness work. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 Viduka looked like Shearer for holding the ball up but hes nothing like shearers quality if you know what i mean Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewellander Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 It will take a few games to build chemistry in the team, with all the new players, so I'm not going to panic if Viduka didn't shine on his debut. Smith should definately be in an attacking midfield role, and I believe he will be from now on, with Viduka and Oba up front together, until Owen gets fit. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChezGiven Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 Don't take any notice of Chez, HTT. Good post. twat! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Coubury Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 What was the line up today? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 What was the line up today? Given N'Zogbia Taylor Rozenhal Carr Milner Geremi Butt Solano Viduka Smith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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