Cheick mate ready for debut.
Posted on September 15th, 2010 | 169 Comments |
Tiote was an unused substitute during the 2-0 home loss against Blackpool, which isn’t really surprising considering the lad had been in Africa during the week playing for his country and hadn’t really had a lot of time to get acquanted with the squad.
This week is different, and after a poor result against Blackpool, and some poor performances from some of our players in midfield, Tiote will be looking to get the nod to start the match at Goodison on Saturday. Even if he doesn’t get to start in place of Alan Smith at Everton, Tiote’s debut won’t be too far around the corner and he will surely make his bow against in the daunting League Cup match away at Chelsea in midweek.
It seems that Cheick can’t wait to make his debut for United.
“It is different here. The fans seem to be so passionate, and I’ve heard a lot about them,” Tiote told the Shelds Gazette. “There were nearly 50,000 here for the Blackpool game, which is amazing. The club is very professional, and I’m very happy here.”
“I am settling in very well. I’m happy, everything is good. It has been quite a special summer for me. To be Dutch champions and then to play in the World Cup is a big deal. It was a lot of fun, and now I hope the fun will continue with Newcastle.”
“For me, Newcastle is perfect. Firstly, it is a club I love, and it is a big club. It isn’t a small team – it’s Newcastle. I know the history of the club well.”
Right, so there goes the usual new signing spiel that gets trotted out by most players, albeit it has come a little bit later than usual due to the international break. No offence to Tiote, but deep down most of us know that he, and most players in fact, will say much the same thing when they move on to their next club. Tiote continued;
“The language is no problem,” added Tiote. “I’ve had English coaches before, Steve McClaren at Twente for two years, and then Sven-Goran Eriksson at the World Cup. I cope fine with the terminology of football, it’s not a problem at all.
“Steve McClaren is a real coach. Players work hard for him, and I think that experience will be helpful for me at Newcastle. I do think English coaches have a different approach to the game. They expect a different work ethic. That suits me.”
Time will tell whether or not the English game suits the lad, but I am sure he will have been well drilled about the English game by some of his compatriots who also ply their trade in the Premier League.
I have to be honest and say that I still don’t know that much about Cheick Tiote personally and have only used what other people have said about him to form the opinion that he is a phsically strong and athletic player. It seems what was said wasn’t wrong, and Tiote describes himself in much the same way as the sketchy reports have described him.
“I would say I’m physical, I have good technique, I’m very determined and I’m very competitive. I always want to win – that’s my style.”
To be honest, and despite not seeing much of the lad in action, I have high hopes for him at Newcastle. It’s been a long time since we have had legs in midfield, well legs that can work at decent speed anyway, and in Tiote and Ben Arfa I feel we now have that in spades.
It’s up to those two to take the chances they are offered in the first-team. If they can do that then it can only be good for Newcastle United, and I like that a lot!
We’ve been crying out for years for an athletic combatitive midfielder an as most of the best ones seem to be African or of African descent then maybe this guy is it. Haven’t seen him play but from what everyone seems to say, McClaren especially, he’s very good.