Newcastle United (A) | Post Match thread

First half was probably one of the worst ones we played in recent years. The amount of chances we conceded was shocking compared to our usual standard. In terms of xG, the amount of expected goals we had against us in that half is what we normally concede in 4 full games on average, with other words almost 8 times as bad defensively as we normally perform, stats wise. Cant remember a single time since Pep took over we conceded that many chances in one half alone, at least not in a PL game. Stats obviously doesnt tell the full story, but when you play that bad for half the game, its hard to win. Much better second half, but unfortunately that shocking first half made the task to big today.

I love Foden and he is one of my favorite players in this team, but he was poor today and for the 2nd straight game he for some unexplainable reason refused to pass Haaland for an easy goal. Last game it didnt hurt us, this game it did. Expect more from him going forward, and I'm sure he will perform better. Because if he doesnt, he will soon be on the bench.

No need to say Pep got our tactics completely wrong in the first half, but he showed why he is a world class manager in the 2nd with tweaks to our tactics which made us take over the game. Why he refused to make any subs, at least in the last 10-15 minutes, I have no idea. Only logical reason must be that our players on the bench are either injuried or not good enough to make an impact when chasing a goal. Hopefully its the former, that would at least be a problem thats not a long term one.
All things considered it was a bad day at the office. But I would rather come back from being 3-1 down, than the other way around. Newcastle away is not an easy fixture and a draw is not a terrible result. And with a little bit of luck we could even have gone home with all 3 points.

Hopefully we will just send the EDS to Barcelona since the last thing we need is another fixture ahead of Palace next weekend. Why we complain all year about it being to many fixtures and then schedule a charity one in the middle of the season, I dont know. Seems like this one could easily have been scheduled after last season, during preseason, or even during the World Cup break. If the club wants to help this charity, we could also just have donated some money instead of playing a game in the middle of the season when we cant even fill our bench with senior players as it is. Going Gomez over Cucurella saved us pretty much, donate some of that money and focus on Palace instead. I know it wont happen, I'm just a little annoyed about it. Hopefully it wont have any impact on our performance in the upcoming fixtures that actually matters.
 
crossbar said:
Don’t people see the problem with Rodri in games like these? When we have the ball with 70-80% possesion in games, he’s loving life. With time on his side and no pressure from the opposition, he could pick out anyone to pass to. But in games like these when they are closing him down, his weaknesses are shown very clearly. His defensive contributions are a problem. That’s always been my view.
Not saying this is on him, but Newcastle just sliced through our midfield today.
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A problem? We’ve won back to back league titles and just finished a season with 93 points having also reached the CL and CL semi finals. There isn’t a better play than him in that position right now.
 
citymad said:
I wonder why Pep didn't change it up. Mahrez, Spider may have made a difference. maybe he felt taking Foden off would've really affected the lad.
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I think it was really physical game and maybe that was the reason. I thought they were dirty at times.
 
Fair play to Newcastle they were class and we managed to get a point and would have won if it wasn't for a wonderful free kick. The challenge by trippier was a red in my opinion but its one of them just on the borderline.
 
crossbar said:
So fkng uneccessary. Defence was shocking. Rodri can’t play against teams with speed. He stands no chance. He’s so slow.
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Rodri has been here a while, I think Pep might have noticed that? Bad day at the office, nothing more, don't overreact
 
lust overlord said:
It's funny how others view the same game,and players differently.

Everyone's shit when we're losing and should be subbed off.
The vast majority of the comments are typical fans immediate reactions and aren't to be taken seriously.
Some of the hysteria is amusing though.
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Why people sit in the match day thread rather than sit n watch the game baffles me
 
Trojan1962 said:
Cup final for Newcastle today. They won’t play like that in the first half again this season. Very good result today for us considering we went 3-1 down.
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We have won four of the last five league titles and will be everybody's cup final.
I'll reserve judgement on today until I see what Newcastle do over the next couple of months. They were fighting relegation last season but had a good transfer window. I'm certainly not convinced they'll take a lot of points off top clubs though as their defence looks a bit open.
 
LIBlue said:
i haven’t read the thread but Haaland has changed us, a year ago we would not have won this game. We didn’t have a player that we could turn too. The team will see this as we go on with the season and start picking him out. The way he draws space for the team and then a finish like today. A point gained and remember we take 2 months to get into gear and if this is where we are now we are in for a ride…
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I love that fact he looks so disinterested and then bam he bursts into space. It's almost as if he saves his energy for those quick bursts of pace. That something different he''ll haver to change getting used to operating in small spaces. He's deadly, he could've easily had a hat trick.
 
give it to gordon said:
I'll take that

Pope played well should be England number 1.

Newcastle were never going to keep up that work rate.

Fair play to Newcastle play well, City looked abit lost and confused. But City began to get it together from about the hour mark.
Not to sure about or defence at times lol.

After Newcastles 3rd I dont remember them get another shot, but still looked dangerous with their pace.
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Once we got it together at the hour, like you say, we created a lot of good quality chances, enough to get the three goals needed for the win. That is a big positive from today, matches are won over 90 minutes and the Geordies were time wasting for a reason, they knew only one team was going to win it in the end.
 
Few thoughts…

- Good point. Not many teams will win at SJP this season.
- Fucking weird how many times Sky mentioned the Grealish comment about Almiron- pathetic !
- Andy Hinchcliffe is a c**t
- KDB best midfielder in the world and it’s an embarrassment Given/Micah haven’t mentioned the assist from KDB for the equaliser. You literally won’t see a better pass all season.
- Pep interview was class.
 
ChicagoBlue said:
It is patently ridiculous that a knee high professional foul on a player sprinting by you is NOT a red card. It’s one thing to pull his shirt, trip/ankle tap him, but when he’s so far past you you have to take him out knee height…which was OBVIOUS from the VAR WE COULD SEE ON TV…is ridiculous.

New ref bottled it!

That said, too many players didn’t deserve to be on a winning team today. Back four, which is our supposed “best line up,” looked weak, disorganized and deathly afraid of runners!

Called it before the game: St Maximin on the left & cutting in, Wilson or another cutting in on the diagonal, and the chance of a worldie! GOT ALL THREE!!

If I can see it from prior NUFC highlights, WTF?!

On the City side of the ledger, it is clear that if you put pressure on Rodri, Cancelo & Walker as a midfield 3, then you’re going to get some change out of at least 2 of 3 all game! It takes balls, because we are then playing with 5 attackers, but with willing runners, NUFC showed it’s doable…esp when Walker & Cancelo are having stinkers.

Have to say, Haaland had a few chances to win the game, but to be fair, only one was a clear cut “should have scored” chance. In addition, the service we give him beggars belief!

Howe has ALWAYS set up his teams to try to exploit our CLEAR weaknesses, and he’s finally got the players to do it…and did in the first half. Once we got going, we pinned them back a bit, but (apart from the Pass of the Season), we were very poor in and around the box!

Second in the League after that performance? I’ll take it, but…
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Posted at 18:1718:17

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David: Inconsistent VAR strikes again. Trippier incident identical to Allan sending off against Newcastle last season. One saw straight red, the other saw red and VAR review. Unbelievable.
Referee Jarred Gillett checks the pitchside monitor
 
Something that needs to be addressed - City's defensive system is really poor. Not all the time, but when we have a bad game upfront, the defense fell apart heavily. Concede 3 goals easily.
That's the key reason why City has failed in the Champions League.
To make a comparison: 2018-19 Liverpool concede two goals or more in PL matches only three times in their entire campaign. 2019-20 Liverpool is the same. Until their title win match, just before the match against us, they only had conceded 2 goals or more in two opportunities in league matches.
Man City cannot realistically think they will win UCL with such fragile defensive system.
 
Haha, Pep!

“Did you enjoy it, we’ll that’s all…” *and he’s off*
 
give it to gordon said:
The new ref didnt bottle it he gave it. It was VAR that put him in an awkward position
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“Awkward position?” He’s the ACTUAL ref, and he saw it….and then he bottled it!!!

Should have simply said “Yep, a knee high challenge on sprinting player, go take a shower!”

IF it had been studs up, they’d have had to stretcher KDB off! Is THAT the threshold now???

Maybe, as an old centre forward, I’m a little biased, but shit like that CAN BE season/career ending if he catches you a second earlier/later/higher/lower or you fall badly.

We all love the speed and physicality of the Premier League, and we know the refs have been told not to cut the physicality out of the game if it’s “fair,” but there were numerous professional fouls today (they used to be a red!) but that one stood out for crossing the line…for me. It wasn’t a trip or a shirt pull, but remember last week, when a hair pull came with demands for a “red card for violent conduct”? That Trippier tackle was waaaay more violent than the hair pull!!!
 
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