Newcastle United (A) | PL | Post Match Thread

Stevieatlasblue said:
With Kev I think it’s about game management now. Personally I’m back playing again now after tearing my ankle ligaments and I’m clever in the fact that I scan a lot to ride those tackles and see what’s coming in at me. I don’t go in for any tackles that I don’t think I can win clean. For me it’s about longevity and playing for as long as I can and I’m no spring chicken anymore believe me. I think Kev has gone into tackles sometimes where I don’t think he needed to get involved in. For the love of this world class player I hope he can now manage his time on the pitch and in training to have a good few years in the game of football from here on in. He’s one of the best players I’ve ever seen in my life..long may he reign.
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Agreed. Not sure how many 90 minute performances we can realistically expect from him going forward from here. Didn't he even allude to that himself?
 
Bluearmy said:
Yep. Our results with him in the side are great. Our results with him and Rodri together are exceptional. When Kovacic wasnt starting we went on a very dodgy run, he allows Rodri to have licence at times to influence us up the pitch.

I do wonder what some people watch at times… We dominated 80% of that match and he contributed massively to that. No easy task away at Newcastle
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Best I’ve seen Kovacic play.
 
jimharri said:
Agreed. Not sure how many 90 minute performances we can realistically expect from him going forward from here. Didn't he even allude to that himself?
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I took his comments to mean he's not physically ready for more than 25 mins or so yet.
Not that he's going to be an impact sub long term.
However we, and kev himself are going to have to manage his appearances to keep him in the best condition possible,even more than in past recent seasons.
 
lust overlord said:
I took his comments to mean he's not physically ready for more than 25 mins or so yet.
Not that he's going to be an impact sub long term.
However we, and kev himself are going to have to manage his appearances to keep him in the best condition possible,even more than in past recent seasons.
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I'd be more worried about how he explained that he enjoyed his time away from the game to do things he wanted to do.
 
oldhamblue said:
He's said in recent interviews he's been able to pick the kids up from school more often, watch them play football, put them to bed every night while he's been injured
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Good on him for getting his priorities right.
He's an intelligent guy and I'm pretty certain he's got plans for the rest of his life beyond playing football.
Hopefully we will get at least a couple more seasons out of him though.
 
mexico1970 said:
I'd be more worried about how he explained that he enjoyed his time away from the game to do things he wanted to do.
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What he was alluding to was the amount of non stop football he's played over the years without a break.

Albeit he was injured, there wasn't much he could do outside of getting himself fit, so he enjoyed his brain break & the physical rest as he built up his fitness.

People don't realise the level of physical & mental fatigue top sportspeople endure to remain at the apex of their chosen discipline.

Kev looks totally refreshed & invigorated, albeit lacking full match sharpness. As he said, he felt it physically, but he rose above that because of his mental will to win.

The football authorities just aren't listening. In the drive for more money, they're increasing the amount of top level games they want players to compete in, whilst putting onerous squad restrictions on all clubs in the pursuit of FFP to protect the hegemony of the elite clubs.

Something has to give, because the amount of pointless games in today's football is beyond ridiculous. Why can't mid-season International breaks be combined into end of season mini tournaments?

What's the point in the Nations League? Why expand the World Cup, Champions League & Club World Cup? It's all about the greed of the games governing bodies, & player welfare doesn't come into it.
 
Haha. Lost in that yesterday was Pep sticking his tongue out in disgust at some of the officiating decisions.
 

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Dribble said:
Something has to give, because the amount of pointless games is beyond ridiculous. Why can't mid-season International breaks be combined into end of season mini tournaments?

What's the point in the Nations League? Why expand the World Cup, Champions League & Club World Cup? It's all about the greed of the games governing bodies, & player welfare doesn't come into it.
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It doesn't matter if these games exist because if there is a break in games clubs fill the gap with club friendlies, football is big business and the clubs will milk it.

Players have some power here, they also have a union and they should spend less time flapping their gums and more time telling their clubs no.
 
lust overlord said:
I took his comments to mean he's not physically ready for more than 25 mins or so yet.
Not that he's going to be an impact sub long term.
However we, and kev himself are going to have to manage his appearances to keep him in the best condition possible,even more than in past recent seasons.
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Yep. He's 32 now. With careful game management, we could (at a push) get two more seasons (after this one) out of him. He shouldn't be starting games against the likes of Luton or Burnley. We've pretty much kept pace (somehow!) with the leaders in the opening half of the season without him. I'm sure Pep and the medical bods will be having lengthy discussions about him.
 
Just had a look at the Toon match day thread on their forum. It’s like a carbon copy of here, but with added pro City bias moaning. The pages where Bobb scored. lol.
 
TrentGrisham said:
Haha. Lost in that yesterday was Pep sticking his tongue out in disgust at some of the officiating decisions.
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Watching Pep on the touch line is as interesting as watching the players at times. He talks at 100 mph when he is giving instructions to the players entering the game.
 
KingGeorge said:
Watching Pep on the touch line is as interesting as watching the players as times. He talks at 100 mph when he is giving instructions to the players entering the game.
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Loved his celebrations yesterday. Was it OTT? Of course it was. But watch Bingo at the cultists; the bald fra Pep is a shrinking violet in comparison!
 
mexico1970 said:
It doesn't matter if these games exist because if there is a break in games clubs fill the gap with club friendlies, football is big business and the clubs will milk it.

Players have some power here, they also have a union and they should spend less time flapping their gums and more time telling their clubs no.
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We've got a couple of weeks off & we're taking the break, not playing money-spinning friendlies abroad.

Pep complains about the ridiculous amount of games our players are expected to compete in. If we'd arranged friendlies during this break, he'd be a hypocrite, but he's embracing the break & we saw the rise in our physicality against Newcastle as a result of only playing one game per week this year so far.

In years gone by we'd have played on New Years' Day, then in the FA Cup, then had a PL match, then a Caraboa Cup semi, then another FA Cup match & another PL match in January alone.

Enough is enough.
 
Great performance yesterday don't let the fact that they scored 2 worldies disguise that Limited a very good team to 2 half chances and a very good chance away from home while totally dominating the game.
 
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