Newcastle (H) Post Match Thread

Not a great performance, but a win is a win. Walker's strike deserved to win the game, struck it with precision and pace, wonderful goal. Stones was excellent once more and is developing a good partnership with Laporte. Bernardo made us a greater threat and we improved in the Second half


Dhino worries me, very sloppy in possession and is no where near last season's level of performance.
 
Went to match and have now watched the TV version. We were definitely better than the portrayal given on this thread.

I feel that Pep is using the period as an extension of preseason and that renders a lot of points made null and void; although people are naturally free to disagree with such an approach.

I also think Pep is right to try different approaches to dealing with the all the double-deckers that that are going to keep driving onto the Etihad turf.

I'm still not convinced that all our supporters have grasped how hard it is to get properly up to speed on positional play or take that into account when assessing the likes of Mahrez and Mendy. Mahrez had his best game yet for us, which is progress, and Mendy, although it seems a waste at first glance, did well playing inside. Bendy needs to practice that role in a way that Delph doesn't, hence why I think he got the nod yesterday, but Mendy can spot a pass and his contribution in that regard was undervalued. His defensive positioning was all over the place on their goal but that was far from the sole poor contribution from our side on that action as Pep called it.

Credit also needs to be given to Newcastle and Benitez for a lot of solid defensive work.

At this stage of the proceedings, that was a good win.
 
As things 'currently' stand, I see us falling well short of the required it will maybe take this season.

If anything, the early performaces remind me of the defence under Pellegrini, winning games such as Southampton on the opening day, more through some of our individuals, than as a cohesive team with the intensity a couple notches down?

Granted, a World Cup is a valid excuse but nobody can console themselves with that if we can't crank into top gear very soon.

Sorry, but Mendy doesn't cut it for me. His delivery is phenomenal but I never rated Beckham that highly either.

Teams are already keeping the pitch wide against his side of the pitch and Mendy is rendered effectively useless when a winger is occupying his space.

He simply becomes a body caught too far up the pitch or inside when a team with some modicum of passing transition can get the ball.

We miss De Bruyne like a hole in the head, obviously, but we need to be closer to fifth gear than third these next couple of months to hopefully welcome him back and see Sane click.

Massive positives are Stones and Laporte.

Stones makes this team considerably better. His outstretched leg near the end saved a certain goal.
 
Last edited:
I don't think you can play 2 forwards with an over lapping Mendy. His runs pull everyone out of position ever so slightly as they try to cover the space. Laporte moves over, Fernandinho has to drop in so then the only link between defence and attack is Silva (if the Mendy run isn't used), or a slow pass out to the wide right. Because Mahrez is literally just getting the ball rolled to him, he has to generate his own momentum from a standing start, and given how packed defences are, he has little chance to actually do anything. Reminds me so much of the Bernardo on the right conundrum.

I'd like to see Delph get a run in centre midfield I think at this point just to see if he looks fresher/sharper than Ferns. Failing that, Gundogan at the 6 (he's half the player at the 8).

I'm starting to think Jesus' potential isn't much higher than his current level and I tend to think his partnership with Aguero will always look like it works on the scoresheet, but not so much on the pitch. As an aside, I would love to see Mendy in the team with a taller centre forward as I think it would be ridiculously effective.

Positives, I think Aguero looks a new player. He looks so sharp. He's had a few brain farts with decision making at times and actually I think the whole team is suffering with being a bit too selfish in decisive moments (having a big squad can create this feeling because players become more obsessed with their individual performance as they want to stay in the team). But that aside, he looks great. His touch and build up looks much better. Sterling and both Silva's both look very good, as do Stones, Laporte and Walker. Gundogan has carved out a niche of being under rated by the people who dislike him but then over rated by the people who are trying to protect him. Feel a bit for Otamendi and Sane but sure they will get a chance soon.

All in all, not great, but not bad either. Solid enough. We had performances like this last season so I'm not too worried.
 
I I love Mendy, I think he’s such a special attacking talent, but he cannot defend. He has 0 positional awaresess and this is why I think we need to play 352 when he’s in the team. A back three of Kompany, Stones and Laporte, with Stones stepping up into DM when in possession. Mendy and Walker wing backs. Dave, Kev and Berny or Gundogan in a midfield three, and Serg with any one of Jesus, Sterling, Sane or Mahrez up top.

With this formation there is a little less pressure on Mendy defensively, but it would still be a little worrying as he really is useless at defending.

Fernandinho needs to be used more sparingly this year.
 
tolmie's hairdoo said:
As things 'currently' stand, I see us falling well short of the required it will maybe take this season.

If anything, the early performaces remind me of the defence under Pellegrini, winning games such as Southampton on the opening day, more through some of our individuals, than as a cohesive team with the intensity a couple notches down?

Granted, a World Cup is a valid excuse but nobody can console themselves with that if we can't crank into top gear very soon.

Sorry, but Mendy doesn't cut it for me. His delivery is phenomenal but I never rated Beckham that highly either.

Teams are already keeping the pitch wide against his side of the pitch and Mendy is rendered effectively useless when a winger is occupying his space.

He simply becomes a body caught too far up the pitch or inside when a team with some modicum of passing transition can get the ball.

We miss De Bruyne like a hole in the head, obviously, but we need to be closer to fifth gear than third these next couple of months to hopefully welcome him back and see Sane click.
Click to expand...

Agreed. We're not playing badly but not to last seasons standards and we look disjointed. Playing like we did under Pellegrini and Pep's first years.

Is this down to one player in Mendy though?

Too early to tell of course but I fear we've made the same mistake we've made twice already, after winning the league, and not improving the squad enough in the summer.
 
tolmie's hairdoo said:
As things 'currently' stand, I see us falling well short of the required it will maybe take this season.

If anything, the early performaces remind me of the defence under Pellegrini, winning games such as Southampton on the opening day, more through some of our individuals, than as a cohesive team with the intensity a couple notches down?

Granted, a World Cup is a valid excuse but nobody can console themselves with that if we can't crank into top gear very soon.

Sorry, but Mendy doesn't cut it for me. His delivery is phenomenal but I never rated Beckham that highly either.

Teams are already keeping the pitch wide against his side of the pitch and Mendy is rendered effectively useless when a winger is occupying his space.

He simply becomes a body caught too far up the pitch or inside when a team with some modicum of passing transition can get the ball.

We miss De Bruyne like a hole in the head, obviously, but we need to be closer to fifth gear than third these next couple of months to hopefully welcome him back and see Sane click.
Click to expand...

We didn’t look much better at this stage last season after arguably easier fixtures.

Seriously bizarre to write Mendy off given he has 4 assists in 3 games.

Team selection was off yesterday, think we would have fared better with Bernardo in from the start instead of playing both forwards. Nothing wrong with winning games without playing well mind.
 
argyle said:
Agreed. We're not playing badly but not to last seasons standards and we look disjointed. Playing like we did under Pellegrini and Pep's first years.

Is this down to one player in Mendy though?

Too early to tell of course but I fear we've made the same mistake we've made twice already, after winning the league, and not improving the squad enough in the summer.
Click to expand...
No we are playing like we did this time last season.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Unread Posts

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top
✖
  AdBlock Detected
Bluemoon relies on advertising to pay our hosting fees. Please support the site by disabling your ad blocking software to help keep the forum sustainable. Thanks.