Kev was walking back half the time which is acceptable cos he’s our main creator but rodri does get exposed when it’s kdb and Ilkay in there .
That big circular space that we had pre Jan a couple of seasons ago, defence left unguarded by Rodri having to do 3 players jobs.I couldn’t help but notice the lack of midfield every time Newcastle went forward. Gundo and Kevin was far to slow coming back!
No level of mobility can help when you are alone in a huge space against 2/3 strong opponents.When teams sit back and he's allowed to pass or nick the ball then he's the best in the world.
When he's in the midfield by himself and teams press he is steamrolled as he isn't mobile enough.
He needs another midfielder alongside him. Unfair to him today.
Also seemed to me that Guimaraes was asked to almost man mark Rodri which made life very difficult for himI think most of the trouble was the shape of the team and lack of numbers when Newcastle broke down the flanks bypassing our inverted fullbacks. At times Rodri was having to cope with multiple runners and was a little stranded. Not every team will have the bottle and the skill/speed/physicality to do what the Toons did yesterday but CP will have looked at that with interest. I have little doubt that at this moment lots of people a great deal smarter than us are pouring over the footage so they can present conclusions to Pep.
He was quietly a metronome and a fixer, in equal measures.He made that game look incredibly easy and simple.
He just sat back and mopped up any shite with next to no fuss while recycling the play.
Another getting back to his best.
Once, but broke their attack countless times.Horrendous performance... how many times did he get caught on the ball? Forgot how to defend too.