Although we conceded two very silly goals, overall I thought we actually played pretty well. The first goal is hard to tell who should be stopping it, but for the second there was a number of errors that lead to it. O'Hara, Henry and Johnson all played their part. Jamie O'Hara was way to casual on the edge of the area, giving away possession while Karl Henry, who had twice recovered the ball brilliantly, played the ball to Stephen Hunt who was looking the over way. To cap it off, Roger Johnson is turned inside out by Gutierrez who then finishes. A lot for Mick to work on in that area.
Attacking wise, we were threatening but wasteful. 25 attempts on goal, one scored. There are a number of factors for that. Firstly, we were miscuing our headers, volleys and shots. Doyle dragged a couple wide, Fletcher and Johnson both had very good opportunities and O'Hara had several shots wide and blocked. Secondly the Newcastle defenders and keeper were excellent. All day long they threw themselves in front of the ball, while Tim Krul had an unbelievable game in goal.Finally, the major talking point, the officials. I'm at loss to how Mark Halsey thinks Steven Taylor's challenge on O'Hara is outside the area. It was clearly inside, and to make it worse minutes later we were denied once again when Jarvis was tripped. And then the disallowed goal. It had never, ever, entered my mind that when Jarvis brilliantly headed Hammill's cross back into the six yard box that it had gone out of play. It's truly unbelievable. How can the referee be sure that it has gone out, if it hasn't? Overall, not just the the key decisions, the officials were poor.
Hennessey - 6
Stearman - 6
Johnson - 6
Berra - 6
Ward - 7
Hunt - 5
Henry - 6
O'Hara - 6
Jarvis - 6
Doyle - 7
Fletcher - 7
Subs: Guedioura - 8, Hammill - 7
It will be very interesting to see how we line up next week due to the impressive performances of both our subs. Adlene Guedioura in particular was excellent, playing well next to Jamie O'Hara in midfield. He won the ball, took players on and fed the ball into our attackers. He must be pushing for a start, the only question is who does he replace? We have seen him play well in the middle in a 4-5-1, but that would mean breaking up the Doyle-Fletcher partnership. In a 4-4-2, it seems unlikely that he would drop Karl Henry who had a decent game today.
Whatever we go with, we desperately need a result in a tough game at our nearest rivals.
Agreed on that last point! Wolves are long overdue for some points!
ReplyDeleteAs for today... yeah, bad defending but to be denied a point in the way that we were...
Newcastle fan here. I can honestly hand on heart say that we never deserved that and that the ref conned you out of a draw. Personally I'm delighted by it although I can understand why you guys will be annoyed.
ReplyDeleteIt shouldn't detract from the fact that you still had enough chances to win the game but still
Rubbish. When you are playing well, you get the calls... this isnt a new theory, this is how it is. We were wank the first half, markedly better in the second one that waste of space henry was replaced. Hammil and Gedioura are far better options in the midifeld, and i think its time to bench O hara, his shit passing and wayward shooting is largely to blame for todays defeat. i dont think we deserved anything out the game, the Geordies took their chances and defended their lead well. Mccarthys poor team selection and failure to strengthen our defence is directly to blame for 4 straight defeats... absolute toss.
ReplyDeleteGuedioura is an execellent option for the second half in the position of Karl Henry. He runs everywhere and wants the ball all the time. He tries to play the ball forward, and when there are no good alternatives he tries to advance to a position where he can play it forward, preferably on the wing. He also tried to play some balls over their defence. Karl Henry plays well defensively, but lacks the creativity. But I don't think Newcastle actually created more chances after Guedioura replaced Henry.
ReplyDeleteThe same goes for Hammill. Hunt's strength is in his defensive play. Hammill played today as he played for Barnsley, with no respect for the opposition. He's confident, he's strong and pacey, and his assist was magnifisent. He and Guedioura are very similar types as players - very good/confident with the ball - but Hammill is, in my opinion, more of a typical wing player. These two players added so much in the second half: flow. Hunt and Karl Henry was/is practically invisible in our offensive play. And I would claim we don't afford to have both those players on the field at once if we're gonna increase our score rate.
25 shots on goal, that's entertainment. At the same time the referee destroyed our chances and sky sports raised the question if the referee should use video recordings in such situations. The answer is yes, of course.
It took McCarthy too long to realize Hunt was way off the boil. After ten minutes we saw his body language was wrong.
ReplyDeleteWe were a much better team after the substitutions, doesn't McCarthy know what his players are capable of?
I cant stand Mcmuppet, he's a fookin idiot... but ive accepted that we are stuck with him, cos the accountants love him due to him being a cheap manager with cheap ideals. That doesnt detract from the fact we will get relegated this season. even against newbie teams like the canaries and qpr.... mcmuppet, such a fuckin moron
ReplyDelete