Jump to content
  • Sign up for free and receive a month's subscription

    You are viewing this page as a guest. That means you are either a member who has not logged in, or you have not yet registered with us. Signing up for an account only takes a minute and it means you will no longer see this annoying box! It will also allow you to get involved with our friendly(ish!) community and take part in the discussions on our forums. And because we're feeling generous, if you sign up for a free account we will give you a month's free trial access to our subscriber only content with no obligation to commit. Register an account and then send a private message to @dave u and he'll hook you up with a subscription.

Newcastle (A) - 06/12/15


ZonkoVille77
 Share

Recommended Posts

Just finished watching that and like all reds, I'm gutted and frustrated. I hate it when we lose. I'll go back and see what others thought, but here are my observations having just finished a recording of the game:

 

1. There's a reason why they say, "One game at a time." Things have been looking up under Klopp and after some tricky fixtures we had a fairly 'easy' run of games to the end of the year. Like a lot of fans I was looking ahead and imagining we were going to be practically within touching distance of the top of the league by the turn of the year. 

 

2. Benteke will get some stick as the team didn't play very well with him in it, but let's be fair - we didn't play very well after he left the pitch either. If people want to have a go at Benteke, it was 0-0 for 60 mins with him, and 0-2 for 30 mins without. He was feeding off scraps. Mind you, he still should have poked that shot in under the bar.

 

3. Ibe. Started very well. Took it to them. However, his final ball was lacking. I'd like to see a bit more end product from him. Having said that, he was still one of the better players on display today. 

 

4. Sturridge. How many headers did he chicken out of? We were pumping the ball forward and Daniel the Brave jumped under most of them as he just didn't want to know. The irony is Benteke would have flicked most of those on and it might have amounted to something as we were chasing the game late on and trying to pour forward. And what the heck was that right foot finish? Sturridge scuffed it well wide. Must work on that right foot.

 

5. Allen. Neat and tidy. Not a bad player and I'm not going to have a go at him, but there's not enough there to drive us on. We really missed Can. We also missed Henderson, who has obviously been out for a while now. 

 

6. Firmino. We might have to make a rule that he only plays when Coutinho does! Obviously I'm being ridiculous, but the two Brazilians clicked and were on the same wavelength and it looked great. On his own it's nowhere near the same and he's not clicking with anyone else yet.  

 

7. Moreno. Goal was incorrectly called for offside. Great finish. Might have changed the whole game, as I think if we had equalized we'd have gone on to win that. 

 

8. Milner. I'd probably trust him more than any other player we have with a penalty. But that sort of bottle is not enough. He's a decent player, but we don't have room for 'just' decent, or at most, we need one decent midfielder with two good ones. When all three are only 'meh' - Lucas, Milner and Allen (none bad, but none exactly that you can't wait to see play) then you will have problems. We just didn't have enough in the engine room with those three. 

 

I could say more but I'll stop for now. A deeply frustrating day. The balance in the side was wrong, there was no drive in the engine room, and up front it wasn't clicking. At all.

 

Bad day at the office. And a timely reminder to all of us that you have to take it one game at a time.  

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

 

3. Ibe. Started very well. Took it to them. However, his final ball was lacking. I'd like to see a bit more end product from him. Having said that, he was still one of the better players on display today. 

 

4. Sturridge. How many headers did he chicken out of? We were pumping the ball forward and Daniel the Brave jumped under most of them as he just didn't want to know. The irony is Benteke would have flicked most of those on and it might have amounted to something as we were chasing the game late on and trying to pour forward. And what the heck was that right foot finish? Sturridge scuffed it well wide. Must work on that right foot.

 

 

Agree with these two points in particular.

 

Ibe (though with the obvious caveat that he is young) is an extremely talented yet at this point incredibly frustrating footballer who needs to work a great deal on his final ball/decision making.

 

And I thought Sturridge's body language was all wrong from the moment he came on; he just didn't look up for it today for whatever reason.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just finished watching that and like all reds, I'm gutted and frustrated. I hate it when we lose. I'll go back and see what others thought, but here are my observations having just finished a recording of the game:

 

1. There's a reason why they say, "One game at a time." Things have been looking up under Klopp and after some tricky fixtures we had a fairly 'easy' run of games to the end of the year. Like a lot of fans I was looking ahead and imagining we were going to be practically within touching distance of the top of the league by the turn of the year.

 

2. Benteke will get some stick as the team didn't play very well with him in it, but let's be fair - we didn't play very well after he left the pitch either. If people want to have a go at Benteke, it was 0-0 for 60 mins with him, and 0-2 for 30 mins without. He was feeding off scraps. Mind you, he still should have poked that shot in under the bar.

 

3. Ibe. Started very well. Took it to them. However, his final ball was lacking. I'd like to see a bit more end product from him. Having said that, he was still one of the better players on display today.

 

4. Sturridge. How many headers did he chicken out of? We were pumping the ball forward and Daniel the Brave jumped under most of them as he just didn't want to know. The irony is Benteke would have flicked most of those on and it might have amounted to something as we were chasing the game late on and trying to pour forward. And what the heck was that right foot finish? Sturridge scuffed it well wide. Must work on that right foot.

 

5. Allen. Neat and tidy. Not a bad player and I'm not going to have a go at him, but there's not enough there to drive us on. We really missed Can. We also missed Henderson, who has obviously been out for a while now.

 

6. Firmino. We might have to make a rule that he only plays when Coutinho does! Obviously I'm being ridiculous, but the two Brazilians clicked and were on the same wavelength and it looked great. On his own it's nowhere near the same and he's not clicking with anyone else yet.

 

7. Moreno. Goal was incorrectly called for offside. Great finish. Might have changed the whole game, as I think if we had equalized we'd have gone on to win that.

 

8. Milner. I'd probably trust him more than any other player we have with a penalty. But that sort of bottle is not enough. He's a decent player, but we don't have room for 'just' decent, or at most, we need one decent midfielder with two good ones. When all three are only 'meh' - Lucas, Milner and Allen (none bad, but none exactly that you can't wait to see play) then you will have problems. We just didn't have enough in the engine room with those three.

 

I could say more but I'll stop for now. A deeply frustrating day. The balance in the side was wrong, there was no drive in the engine room, and up front it wasn't clicking. At all.

 

Bad day at the office. And a timely reminder to all of us that you have to take it one game at a time.

in fairness to sturridge he probably couldnt believe that we were pumping long balls up to him.

  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I remember a few years ago we went down to Wolves and we were expected to walk it,although we won 3 nil I think, I remember Kenny saying you have to fight to be able to play football. You have to win the midfield and we just did'nt do that today.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was a disaster zone of a result but this team isn't anything like the finished product that we'll see once Klopp has left his mark, both in terms of personnel and the all important mentality. I'll put it out there, that was a complacent and lazy performance today. We reckoned all we had to do was turn up and win. That shit needs to get cut out and soon. It's a poor league and Newcastle are a poor team but we got found out today.

 

I didn't like the team because the midfield felt unbalanced but it still should have been enough. Benteke was highly ordinary, Firmino was catastrophic but you can point fingers in most places today although bizarrely not at Lovren.

 

Back to square one and down to earth with a bang. Once again, the football gods can all sod off and die.

  • Upvote 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

in fairness to sturridge he probably couldnt believe that we were pumping long balls up to him.

Fair point. That's not his game. 

 

I think we had this one the wrong way around. In hindsight we should have started with Sturridge and given him another hour, and then bringing Benteke off the bench would have been the way to go for the last half hour.  

  • Upvote 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think sturridge should have started,I know he played mid week but he scored and his confidence would have been high.

 

Klopp said that after the southampton game, sturridge was aching all over. He clearly doesnt want to push sturridge into another game from the off in those circumstances.

 

Before people have a go at sturridge, henderson also didnt start (or get on) in the game today.

 

I dont get all these internet managers saying 'this is down to klopp.' he's been here what, 8 weeks and still working with a squad he didnt buy. He likes the pressing game but despite what we'd all like, he hasnt got the players to do that every week. And i doubt he will ever get the players he wants to do that every week in the PL where there's no winter break.

 

We shit the bed today. Shit happens. Neither is today another 'false dawn.' We're just at the start of klopp's journey. It appears too many people have been listening to jamie redknapp and co who started saying we're title contenders.

 

Yes, its a shit league up for grabs but we arent title contenders. We're a work in progress.

  • Upvote 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

i have to laugh when Skrtel is getting picked on again. Even though our attack have failed to test the opposition keeper.

 

5 different LFC managers keep picking him................

It was Skrtel's fault Benteke put it over the bar from 3 yards, dontcha know.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Disappointing performance, nowhere near as bad as some are making out though.We had enough control and possession to win that game, Newcastle scored from a rare chance and it was one of those days.

 

The game has shown Benteke cant play up front alone as we need someone with pace and technical ability who is good at linking up, we have a few options up front who can do that.I don't think there's a problem with our ams either, they do their roles well we just need to add a star player like a Reus who gets goals regularly.

  • Downvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Shit result. Shit performance.

 

I think Lallana will be starting most games from now on. Of our fit players he seems to be the only one able to combine the workrate and technique needed.

 

I have no doubt the players will be getting both barrels this week.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very strange reactions to Allens performance today, not much difference from his performance the other night apart from when he gave the ball to others players they weren't doing anything with it.The other night he was getting praise while today he was apparently shit, sounds like he's being made a scapegoat to me.

 

He was our best midfielder today and Klopp seemed to recognise that aswell by moving him further forward late on, probably because he was the only one keeping the ball in tight spaces and when he did move forward he pressed them well causing mistakes.I did feel he could have been more dominant in the first half but he improved in the second half and wasn't being helped by Lucas defensively.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fair point. That's not his game. 

 

I think we had this one the wrong way around. In hindsight we should have started with Sturridge and given him another hour, and then bringing Benteke off the bench would have been the way to go for the last half hour.  

Indeed. In my opinion Benteke would be better employed as an impact sub - see the Chelsea match.

 

£32 million is an awful lot to pay for an impact sub though.

  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very strange reactions to Allens performance today, not much difference from his performance the other night apart from when he gave the ball to others players they weren't doing anything with it.The other night he was getting praise while today he was apparently shit, sounds like he's being made a scapegoat to me.

 

He was our best midfielder today and Klopp seemed to recognise that aswell by moving him further forward late on, probably because he was the only one keeping the ball in tight spaces and when he did move forward he pressed them well causing mistakes.I did feel he could have been more dominant in the first half but he improved in the second half and wasn't being helped by Lucas defensively.

That, right there, is damning.

 

It's never a good sign when a powderpuff like Joe Allen is your best midfielder.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I missed this today because of a race, but I caught the 2nd half on the radio. Sounds like they went there expecting Newcastle to crumble and then couldn't shake themselves out of the malaise. It's a sign of weak character and has to be rooted out if the team is to progress.

 

Under Rodgers, I would have shrugged it off as just another day, today I wanted to rip the headrest off the car seat and fuck it out the window. I guess it's nice to truly care again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can't believe the amount of people having a go at Klopp! (and yes I know some of you are joking!)

Why? He completely fucked up today. How many of us would have put that team out and we aren't paid millions a year. If he fucked up today then he must take the criticism along with the plaudits.

 

I just hope he learns from it. Will he? I don't think he will as no one has in 25 years!

 

For some fucking bizarre reason this club turns good players and managers into shite

  • Downvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share


×
×
  • Create New...