2021/22 Rafael Benitez

[bluesboyjoe]

Benitez first season with the reds they got beaten by Allardyce’s Bolton, and the two have hated each other since. Kevin Davies supposedly broke Hyypias nose.

A few years later the reds beat Bolton with that Kyrgiakos at the back. Kevin Davies knocked one of his teeth out in that game. The difference in the result was by that point Benitez changed his approach against physical teams, and I presume he’s done it ever since.

I think we can expect him to change to a more physical setup a few times a season for these kind of games. I don’t think this was him “trying” a new formation. He’s also always had a reputation for changing things game by game. He’s a pragmatic manager and his teams don’t play the most attacking football in the world, so there will be times we don’t win and will wonder why he changed a winning formula, and also times where we don’t create a lot. What we will get is every player being 100% prepared for their opponent and knowing what their job is, and because he knows exactly what he wants from his players we will hopefully be more shrewd in the market.

And of course he likes to fall out with the owners, but we’ll have to wait and see if he’s here long enough…

 

[davek]

Anymore more in the vaults Tommy?

Are you bringing the show back on the road ?

It was *hilarious* last time.

Lol.

 

[Rob17896]

If you wanna go down that road, the performance has not been great this season. Appalling 1st half vs Saints, 60 mins of dirge tonight, only 30% possession vs Leeds. We haven't sparkled by any stretch

But we are tending to win which will do for me at the moment.

 

[EverTheOptimist]

Agree there have been periods where we have been poor, but Rafael has fixed it and I don’t believe it’s luck, he’s a very clued up manager. Possession doesn’t count for to much as we seen to be very good atm scoring on the break.

Possession is the most annoying stat in football, its a stat that academies at grassroots don't don't even tally up, they go for the possession in the final third as a barometer.

 

[tommye]

Anymore more in the vaults Tommy?

Are you bringing the show back on the road ?

It was *hilarious* last time.

Lol.

Not tonight mate.
Gonna spend the rest of the night throwing darts at my Daddy Pig dart board

 

[tommye]

Anymore more in the vaults Tommy?

Are you bringing the show back on the road ?

It was *hilarious* last time.

Lol.

Oh and don't get upset mate, I was just playing x

 

[Barnfred 55]

Sometimes you have to sacrifice 45 and hold on. Gomes is NOT good for 90 minutes. If Dom were healthy I think it would have been 442

We could have gone 433 and replaced Gomes with Davies or Gbamin after 60. Or gone 442 with Iwobi and replacing him with Rondon. He could have had James on the bench as another alternative.

There really is no excuse for playing 3/5 at the back. Hopefully he's learned his lesson.

 

[Kev50]

newcastleonline's gonna be a goddam morgue tonight.

 

[davek]

Oh and don't get upset mate, I was just playing x

Ha Ha.

Upset over what happens on here?

Lol.

 

[Librarian]

Tbh the FFP might have been a blessing to a degree, Rafael has half a season to assess what he has no I’m sure the board will treat him if he wants, to a couple in January. Way we are going he might not need them.

Need Allan and Doucoure to stay healthy, full backs too. The manager knows where the holes are though.

 

[tommye]

Ha Ha.

Upset over what happens on here?

Lol.

 

[svenboss]

If you wanna go down that road, the performance has not been great this season. Appalling 1st half vs Saints, 60 mins of dirge tonight, only 30% possession vs Leeds. We haven't sparkled by any stretch

Not saying we have sparkled but we look better than last season. Fans being back does make a difference. I was impressed by our away performances last season. Hopefully Rafael can blend home wins with away wins. At the end of the day we all want our team to win. I’d rather Benitez than BFS.

 

[Toff33Blues99]

But we are tending to win which will do for me at the moment.

We did first 5 games last yr

 

[AmericasToffee]

We could have gone 433 and replaced Gomes with Davies or Gbamin after 60. Or gone 442 with Iwobi and replacing him with Rondon. He could have had James on the bench as another alternative.

There really is no excuse for playing 3/5 at the back. Hopefully he's learned his lesson.

Pretty difficult to argue with his results. Davies is often proved a liability and so is Gomes when asked to play 90. Gbamin who knows, he's been the glass man so far. Rondon probably needs conditioning work.

 

[blue to the bone]

Remember when matty burned his season ticket In protest. They were good times