Match Thread Newcastle v Everton - Wed 13th December

[banno]

we need some trickery on the pitch like vlasic or lookman to kill this game

Love to see them on. When Rooney is knackered I hope Vlasic comes on in his position.

 

[Big Fat Sam]

I know we look abysmal at the moment but I guess we need to realise that the manager really has very few options to choose from.

I'm sure he'd rather not have to play the terrible pairing of Schneiderlin and Gueye, but Davies had been very poor this season and there literally is nobody else.

We have one winger in the entire squad in Lennon.

We have two strikers in the squad in Niasse and DCL.

The football is awful, but at the moment it has to be Martina at left back and Williams or Jagielka at centre back as Keane has been atrocious this season.

There are so few options available to Allardyce. Somehow we've picked up some points recently, god knows how we'll maintain this lead playing like this in the second half.

Sort it out Everton.

 

[hktoffee]

We look complacent and lazy. At least we are winning.

The midfielders failed to give pressure on the oppositions in our own half.

 

[zaitken]

Don't give their Merino any space in our half, whatsoever. He will score a 30 yard cracker eventually if we do.

 

[blue to the bone]

We were a lot less lucky a month ago....

You make your luck too though..
Against Southampton luck was nothing to do with it. We are set up better now.

 

[Death]

Christ almighty. A couple of wins and yis are now bored and are annoyed we ain't playing like Barca.

 

[navidson]

If we don’t concede we get at least a point
If we don’t concede and we score at least 1 goal we get 3 points
Simple philosophy considering the players available to us
We won’t outscore too many teams in this league

We certainly won't playing 7 defenders

And we've been doing it since Martinez - It's not an Allardyce thing - It's just a horsesh*t 'modern football' thing

Midfielders used to do everything - Now we have to clog the centre of the pitch up with glorified centrebacks

 

[hktoffee]

2 defensive midfielders, and the 2 of them back off the Geordies every time they come forward.

Exactly this. Just let them had these long shots.

 

[Brisan123]

Anyone got a link

I got one on vip box

 

[zzr45]

Santa won't be happy with the amount of wet bedsheets tonight.

 

[mites]

I hate nbc

 

[TommyDavo]

He has held it well on occasion but to be honest I would prefer Niasse then maybe we would keep it on the floor a bit more. Getting like the big dunc days for my liking.

Ah big dunc, the tallest left winger I’ve seen at Goodison in 50 years

 

[ProZ]

If we get an away win after almost a year I want a statue erecting for big Sam if possible.

 

[oliverwri]

Honestly while we haven't has as many chances as I would have liked, I'm overall not too displeased about what I've seen so far. Defensively we look a little bit shaky – some of Williams' clearances have been misjudged and I'd prefer to see him hit it into row Z rather than head it towards an onrushing forward. Need a bit better screening from Schneiderlin as well, but it isn't too terrible. Gana has been all action, hasn't been outstanding but has seen a lot of the ball and done decently enough with it, particularly in linking the defence to the front 4. If, collectively, we can learn when to press the opposition and when to hold back, we'll be looking a lot more stable and tougher to beat. Too many times I saw Williams pulled out of position by some quick touches around the box, which almost gifted Atsu(?) a goal early on. Similarly, our reluctance to press Merino, leaving him in acres of space, almost cost us dearly with that cracker of a shot. You'd think that with two defensive midfielders we wouldn't be having these problems, but alas.

Rooney and Sigurdsson though, I've liked what I've seen from them. Fluid movement from the latter and some slick touches and interplay from both have been crucial in our attacking play so far and though we've registered few shots, we've looked a lot more adept in pulling apart the defence than we have at other times this season, in my opinion. DCL's hold up play to bring those two into the play has been integral to this, as well. While the goal was fortuitous, the buildup was a great example of what I'm talking about.

Need Sam to drill in a bit of defensive knowledge to the lads during the half so we can come out and be just a bit less porous for the next forty five minutes. While yes, we should be looking to attack these, I'd rather see us be compact and keep a clean sheet than be too gung-ho and have it come back to haunt us.

 

[Sarnia Kevin]

let off twice by the post and bar

I think you're confusing your games. It's cricket where you have to hit the pieces of wood, in football you should try to miss them lollol