No defeat is good, but at least we once again showed improvement in terms of performance and actually looked threatening in attack with Hatem Ben Arfa causing the most problems for Fulham before his planned withdrawal due to lack of training on 65 minutes.
However ultimately it was mistakes in defence which cost us the game once more and it’s those mistakes that need to be eradicated if we are to start picking up the points required to drag us away from the relegation zone. I’m not worried yet, but with a tough run of fixtures to come there is a sense of danger around St James’ Park although if our performances match the level we saw at the start of the second half we’ll be fine and will avoid being drawn into a relegation battle.
The hosts started off brightly applying pressure and looking dangerous. Danny Simpson had to be on hand to clear an early cross whilst Alex Kacaniklic had tentative claims for an early penalty waved away by Lee Mason.
Another slow start proved costly in the 19th minute when Damien Duff played in Steve Sidwell who saw his shot at goal deflected past Tim Krul and into the back of the net via Mike Williamson and the crossbar. Krul would have saved it comfortably but such is the way things are going for us at the moment it proved costly and Fulham grabbed a deserved lead.
It could have been worse minutes later when Cheik Tiote gifted possession to Fulham forcing Tim Krul into a smart save from Dimitar Berbatov. It was one of a number of occasions where Tiote gave the ball away in dangerous areas by simply just not looking at what he was doing.
However United did start to offer a threat themselves as the half went on. Fabricio Coloccini saw his well worked header from a Hatem Ben Arfa corner cleared off the line by Sascha Riether before Demba Ba saw himself denied by the same player on the line after Mark Schwarzer flapped at a cross.
Half-time: Fulham 1-0 Newcastle
The threat intensified after the break as United turned the screws. With Hatem Ben Arfa proving ever more purposeful the away side had the bulk of the possession but were unable to find that killer ball. That was until the 54th minute when Ben Arfa unleashed a shot at goal which took a slight deflection off John Arne Riise before wildly dipping in off Mark Scwarzer’s crossbar to level the scores.
Further chances followed for Demba Ba, Vurnon Anita and Papiss Cisse and at this point it looked as though the away side might actually end a run of failing to win away from home.
However Fulham still offered a threat on the break and Hugo Rodallega could have put the hosts ahead once more but was unable to capitalise after breaking from the halfway line. However the former Wigan man wasn’t to be denied and after a needless foul was given away on the corner of our penalty area Rodallega found himself unmarked at the near post and in an ideal position to nod home Damien Duff’s cross. Two assists for Duff on the night, which equal the two he had for us during his entire spell at United.
Papiss Cisse hit the post, albeit from an offside position, while Fabricio Coloccini was unlucky not to restore parity after cutting in from the left and seeing his curling effort bounce back off the frame of the goal and while United continued to press they were unable to take advantage and couldn’t really muster anything but weak shots at Schwarzer’s goal.
At the other end Fulham could have extended the lead as Newcastle committed men forward but they were unable to capitalise and the closest they went was through substitute Mladen Petric who struck the frame of the United goal with a fierce effort.
Full-time: Fulham 2-1 Newcastle
I’ll probably get slated for saying this (I’m used to it by the way) but I was quite happy with the performance last night. It was another improvement after recent improvements against Stoke and Wigan and we certainly offered more threat going forward which I believe was one complaint voiced by a lot of fans not so long back?
We tried a different formation again, which was another complaint I recall from some fans, and apart from a slow start we played well enough to deserve at least a point in my view.
Thing is what you get and what you deserve can be completely different in football. If we are to start robbing points again we need to sort out our defensive side. How many goals in recent weeks have been because of defensive howlers? I don’t mean who made the last howler as quite often that player is trying to cover for another loose pass/loss of possession by another player. I mean as a unit we need to be more solid.
Manchester City at home next this Saturday. Not a good place to start either…
Fulham: Mark Schwarzer, Sascha Riether, Aaron Hughes, Brede Hangeland, John Arne Riise, Damien Duff, Steve Sidwell, Chris Baird, Alexander Kacaniklic, Dimitar Berbatov, Hugo Rodallega
Subs: Neil Etheridge, Kieran Richardson, Philippe Senderos, Giorgos Karagounis, Mahamadou Diarra, Ashkan Dejagah, Mladen Petric
Newcastle: Tim Krul; Danny Simpson, Mike Williamson, Fabricio Coloccini, Davide Santon; Vurnon Anita, Cheik Tiote; Papiss Cisse, Hatem Ben Arfa, Jonas Gutierrez; Demba Ba
Subs: Steve Harper, Shane Ferguson, James Tavernier, James Perch, Gael Bigirimana, Sylvain Marveaux, Shola Ameobi
Attendance: 25,270
We need to attack Man City. I listened to G Neville or perhaps someone else on about them in the Champ league and teams that press them and give them no time on the ball and they have obviously struggled, yet in the league teams stand off them and give them time and they prosper. Mind you, Aguerro and Tevez will keep old Willo busy wont they! Cant see Balotelli playing, but Dzecko will score from the bench to win it I think
Raffo(Quote)
G2 thats part of the problem with BA he doesnt want to play out wide so pardew put cissie out there 🙁
icedog(Quote)
Are we up to pressing them though Raffi @300? Not with players like Jonas who looks fat and lazy recently. Don’t start him Pards. If Tiote can keep control of himself and have a better passing game we might have a better chance. Pace will count against these lads and we don’t have that much in the lineup right now. Colo and Krul will have to have outstanding games at the back. Don’t waste possession with hoofball lads.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
I agree with you ice but surely Pardew will have seen it doesn’t work by now? If not we are in big trouble. Cisse must get the ball near the top of the box to be effective as with last season. Ba will have to sulk but he can help Cisse and the team by moving out to left wing. I don’t think Pardew has a choice anymore. We can hope anyway.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
G2 i agree mate but imo pardew is still trying to keep ba happy hoping he will sign a contract,its fatal to the rest of the attack
icedog(Quote)
If Ba is a team player he must move to the wing. He already has plenty of goals to convince Ashley that he deserves a better contract. Now we need him to shift over. If Cisse can’t cut it as the lone CF after a few games then we have another problem. After last season I don’t think Pardew was prepared to have to handle anything like this. If we push forward from the back we ship goals but if we don’t there is almost no attack. The midfield hasn’t supplied the ammunition either. This is ridiculous. Can old St. Nick bring us something other than a lump of coal?
GeordieTwo(Quote)
G2 my xmas wish is @267 😉
icedog(Quote)
Ice @ 306 your not wishing for much
Big Dave(Quote)
Major blow for us heading into the weekends game as Gareth Barry has been ruled out
Does anyone or has anyone ever rated him at all?
Moreno(Quote)
oh DAVE is talking to me!,never answers his emails to some like 😐
icedog(Quote)
Icedog I like your wish list. I think Ashley might pony up for 2 but not 4 unless we sell someone and get a big pile of dosh so it won’t just be Ba. This is another fine mess Laurel and Hardy have got us into. I would think Arsenal will be very active by the sounds of things and perhaps Man City as well. I don’t rate Barry that highly Moreno so he won’t be a big miss for them agianst us. Their squad is more than big enough to deal with several injuries. Surely Mancini has finally had enough of Balotelli but he seems to have 9 lives. If Falcao comes in for them it will be a big problem for ManU. I wish we had their problems.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Is it not possible for us to just say sod it and put 10 men behind the ball at all times.
Forget attacking, just concede posession and defend like ****.
Other teams have done it and got away with it before.
Or should we just go on the attack from the off and score more goals than them (lol)
😆
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
sorry Ice i’ll check now 😳
Big Dave(Quote)
I know its a tough fixture, but I dont see why we should be beat before kick off.
There has to be a tactic we can employ to beat them, or at the least make it a draw. They’re not invincible ffs, as has been seen in the CL this season.
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
BB i was watching a talk by neville,he said after watching city a lot the best way to play them is to attack,then dont give them a minute on the ball when you dont have it,sounds easy lol
icedog(Quote)
Good comments BB. I think 4-3-3 might work if everyone works hard enough because the 2 wingers can fall back and clog up the middle. But they will have to run their socks off when we have the ball as well. We could try 4-3-1-2 I suppose but Ba and Cisse just don’t click together. Not sure what Pardew will go for but as it stands we have few choices to make for the starting 11 and little on the bench. Not a promising situation. Can’t see Shola or Ranger making a big difference in this one. Tiote has to play his best game of the season.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Yeah I dont think we can play like that ice 🙁
maybe playing shola would make sense tho, we need to slow the game down and hold the ball up when we get the oportunity.
Hoof ball from defence will not work this time, so we better forget that right now.
Jonas should get us plenty of free kicks that we should use to relieve pressure.
We need a PMA from the warm up, and a desire to frustrate the life out of them.
A draw will be a great result imo and we CAN do it.
Howay the Lads
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Do you think we can afford Jonas in there BB? He has been terrible lately. I suppose a midfield of Tiote, Anita , and Ferguson would get over-run even with the wingers falling back to support but we need some pace in the midfield to get into their half. Jonas looks so slow lately. Do we dare start Bigi? I wouldn’t think so here. Ba and Marveaux on the wings might work if both worked hard enough but Cisse would have to score. It’s a lot to ask but not impossible.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
BB ime sorry but i think shola is as much use as a spare pri@k at a wedding given another ten yrs he would still be nee better imo
icedog(Quote)
I would go 4-5-1 for this one.
Stick Ba upfront ON HIS OWN.
Drop Cisse for this one and play the best 5 defensive midfielders we have available.
Dont worry about Benny boy, we need him super fit for the qpr match. (far more important than this one).
The back 4 picks itself.
so:- Krul
simmo – wilt – Colo – Santon
Anita – Perch – Tiote – Bigi – Jonas
Ba
bench :- Harps, Tavs, Marv, Cisse, shola, shammy and fergy.
Ha Ha there’s nobody left is there ffs 👿
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
aye Ice I agree, but he can come on in the last 15/20 if needed.
Thats about what his role is at the mo imo
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
we can’t afford to carry cisse in this game.
He’s not scoring so whats the point.
Bench him and fill the midfield i say.
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Shola can’t hold himself up, never mind the ball.
Groucho(Quote)
Anyone eeckon we have a chance of landing Lampard in the summer? He’s on a free. Unless he goes abroad I think he will stay in London, but he wiuld be a good attacking midfielder. Age dont matter. He knows where the back of the net is and we dont have that with our midfield….
Shamrock(Quote)
No chance of Lampard coming to the Toon…. Highly paid and old is not on Dekka’s shopping list as far as players go… Actually I am pretty sure their are no players on that list 😆 😆
I thought Big Dave may have apologized to me for being so wrong last night but I guess that was wishful thinking 😉
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
🙄 * their =there 🙄
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
(THIS IS A GOVERNMENT HEALTH WARNING. THIS POSTER IS LIABLE TO DISAGREE WITH YOUR POINT OF VIEW. ONLY ENGAGE IF YOU AREN’T SENSITIVE AND DON’T TAKE HISSY FITS)
Oh no it gets worse! Barry is unavailable for Man City. Just when we need him to weaken their side. 😯
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Aussie sorry I made you throw all your toys outta the pram 😆 but I just had to let you know that life isn’t always a nice happy clappy place 😉 i’m just glad I didn’t put my foot in it and mention Santa 😆
Big Dave(Quote)
Bloody long Away Day Hoodoo this! I’ve forgotten what the article was about now.
georgio(Quote)
Looks like everyone else has too!
georgio(Quote)
Reading the Journal this morning, there’s some really puzzling stuff about Benny. He played at Fulham – no problem. He feels fine – no problem. There’s no symptoms – no problem. But Pardew says the scan shows he does have a problem hamstring. Surely AP you must have had a scan before Fulham that showed no problem or you wouldn’t have played him. Right?
Starting to think Pardew is all of our problem.
georgio(Quote)
Big Dave, what are you talking about mate, you always hi-lite the non happy clappy things in life. 🙂 Also, deflection is an age old method of removing the focus from the fact that you were wrong 🙂 🙂 Your secret is safe with me 🙂 🙂 🙂
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
Georgio seems a bit strange 😕
Aussie What was I wrong about ? Arsenal’s bad run last yr not neing as bad as ours this yr ?
Big Dave(Quote)
BD, where did I say it was? I was talking about the fact that they started poorly and then turned it around. No stress on this mate 🙂
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
not bloody happy with comment by pardew y/day ;we hope to bring one player in for jan,bloody one whos he kidding,is that all owlheed going to invest in its a joke
icedog(Quote)
Ice, the one we are getting in is to replace the one we are losing 🙂 🙂
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
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