Thoughts on Newcastle game (long!)

[Ordar]

I thought it was another great performance from the lads. Not in the spectacular Spurs attacking display, but in the way they battled for the win, against a side content to stifle us. Thats exactly the type of game we would have lost 1-0 under Hodgson.

I thought Newcastle were poor. Wasnt impressed with the amount of time wasting they were doing, as early as the 7th minute when it took well over a minute for Harper to take a freekick. The margin of victory could have been greater if the referee (who had a poor game) had seen the 2 blatant fouls on Hangeland.

I was actually disappointed that Schwarzer started. Thought it was very tough on Stockdale. Great save at the end, and didnt have alot to do. I just hope David isnt too downbeat. He's done brilliantly deputising and I wouldnt be surprised to see someone put in a bid for him in the summer (Arsenal?) Hopefully he'll stay and become No1 next season.

The back 4 was solid as normal. I thought Hughes especially had a good game. JP still worries me at RB. No major concerns though.

I thought the match was won in midfield. Sidwell has received some criticism on here for some reason, but I thought he was superb. Consistently broke up the play in the midfield. He doesnt have the physical presence of Etuhu, but he seems to be a real enforcer, which we're been missing. He also made a couple good defensive headers. In the role he's asked to play he's never going to look spectacular, (ala Makelele) and the less you notice him the better he's probably doing. Pardew (who I thought spoke well after the game) and even the Newcastle players to be fair, had no complaints about the collision with Ameobi. Was just an unfortunate collision and I wish him a speedy recovery.

Murphy was pretty quiet in the first half as he usually is when teams press as hard as Newcastle were. After the break we started to dominate midfield which gave Murphy the room to pick Newcastle apart.

Dempsey did alright. Lively in spells, but is starting to look tired. I'm glad he's reduced his amount of random 35 yard shots. Probably should have scored when put through by Kakuta, but seemed tired towards the end.

I was actually saying Duff should be replaced before his goal. He had lots of the ball, but his time in possession was very hit and miss. You could see that he really wanted to play well against them, and I was delighted that he scored. How he missed the chance from 3 yards I will never know.

The 2 starting strikers worked really hard as normal. Dembele is really class and always looks dangerous. The first half saw alot of those aimless long balls to Johnson. Kakuta came on and looked really lively. Missed a good chance, but even in his brief showing he looked great, and played a good through ball to Demps.

Overall more good stuff from the lads. You can really see now how Hughes to trying to get the boys playing. The attacking play is more fluid with the effective front 4 interchanging well and causing problems. I can see us slaughtering someone before the end of the season.

Will be interesting to see how Bobby fits into the scheme. Him being in the line up will add a new dimension to our play, and give more threat in the box from crossing.

Only worry I have is Murph was talking about being tired after the game, which probably doesnt bode well for Villa. The way the team are playing though, as long as we can keep Bent quiet, I believe we can get at least a point there.

COYW!

[mrska]

Good summary. I agree with you about Sidwell. He's looking great in midfield, he's not afraid to roll up his sleeves and mix it  with a physical side like Newcastle.

Duff ran tirelessly... really look back to form of old..  the same could be said of Andy Johnson.  Hughes does seem to getting the best out of the players now.

[Lighthouse]

Long or not it was very interesting.

Tiredness must be a factor after our record games last season and now a run in the FA CUP. Which is why it would be good to see how we play without Murph and Demps. They are hard working players but at least we have a squad that is close to being able to cover players. But a poor Murphy is a poor Fulham. Lets hope he can have a good sleep before Villa.

[ImperialWhite]

Interesting, thanks for the writeup.

Disagree that this was a game we would have lost under Hodgson - to me it felt like a Hodgson game! I suspect a year ago, it would have been almost identical a result.

[White Noise]

Excellent write-up, thanks.

I agree we are looking a far more impressive attacking proposition. We are also much more unpredictable in the way we attack. All sorts of different players are switching sides and positions and putting in different sorts of crosses and through balls - it is a lot more exciting to watch.

I think that we are certainly worth the entrance fee again. People complained all through the Coleman years, Sanchez's spell and some of Hodgson's that we never played football that got you out of your seat - and lets face it there were a lot of games when you felt you hadn't moved once all game. Now I am up and down much more and we have much more pace, trickery and intent about us. Geuinely entertaining football!! :54: