Steve Bruce: Not a big fan of tactics. Newcastle United currently sit 19th in the Premier League and with Manchester United and Chelsea eagerly waiting around the corner, it seems unlikely Steve Bruce’s men will be rising up the table any time soon. There is an argument that it is too early to worry, as Newcastle were in fact sitting on fewer points this time last season. However, when comparing the same fixtures, Newcastle accumulated 9 points last season, while only picking up 5 this season. This begs the question; where are Newcastle going wrong? (more…)
Yoshinori Muto celebrates a rare goal against Leicester To say that Newcastle have enjoyed a mixed start to the season would be somewhat of an understatement. After Steve Bruce was announced as Rafa Benitez’s successor back in July, it’s clear that the fanbase was divided in their opinions of the future direction that Mike Ashley was looking to take the club in, especially after the departure of Ayoze Perez. An opening day defeat against Arsenal was followed up with a loss against Norwich thanks to three Teemu Pukki goals before the Magpies looked to have found their stride after shocking Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham side with a one-goal victory in London.
With reports of poor warm-ups and much more surrounding Newcastle and their new boss, the win over Spurs injected new hope into their passionate supporters. Although a handful of supporters had hoped for a good run in this season’s Carabao Cup, the spirited display against Leicester City which ended in a penalty shoot-out defeat has highlighted that their application and spirit cannot be questioned. As a result of that, we’re going to consider what the aims should be for the remainder of the season following the recent cup exit. (more…)
Joelinton scoring Newcastle’s first goal of the season. After such a poor performance against Norwich, even the most optimistic fan would be forgiven for thinking that the Toon might be lucky to even pick up one point against Champions League finalists Tottenham on their own turf, let alone three as they did, with Joelinton’s well taken goal separating the sides. However, does the solid performance against the Champions League finalists mean redemption for Steve Bruce?
After two lost games using Steve Bruce’s preferred 3-5-2 formation it was obvious that things weren’t working and at the start it seemed that Bruce’s team had come out with more attacking intent this time with a formation which looked more like an attacking 3-4-3 with Joelinton leading the line alongside Almiron and Saint-Maximin. (more…)
A rare shot of Ashley and Benitez together. Rafa Benitez is undoubtedly one of the most likeable and professional managers in football. Despite operating under one of the tightest budgets in the Premier League, the Spaniard produced a minor miracle in guiding The Magpies to a 13th place finish last campaign and 10th the season before that. After their less than acrimonious split over the summer, Newcastle owner Mike Ashley and managing director Lee Charnley are now locked in a war of words with Rafa Benitez which has so far involved back and forth insults, accusations and other general playground antics. But is Mike Ashley really the bad guy in all of this? Or does Rafa have to take some responsibility for his own actions? (more…)
Son Heung-min clinching it for Spurs in our last gameTime: Sunday 25th August 2019, 4:30 pm Place: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium TV: Sky
With VAR once again making the headlines at the Manchester City’s Etihad and Tottenham being handed another get out of jail free card, it has without question been the talking point from last Saturday’s heavyweight encounter.
With the defending champions registering no less than thirty efforts on goal and Tottenham managing just three, the stats will point to the fact that City should have won the game at an absolute canter.
At the same time, if there was ever a game that proved that it is not all about the stats surrounding the game and more about the final number of goals that were scored, then Saturday’s evening offering was the one. (more…)
