Yesterday they looked like a team capable of taking a Champions League spot and with Gareth Bale in the form he is in currently they have a player who is right at the top of his game driving them on.
That defeat halted a mini revival that had seen United record back-to-back victories over Chelsea and Aston Villa, but it was always going to be a tough ask going to White Hart Lane and getting something out of the game even though, in my my very humble opinion, we matched them for periods and could have got something out of the game ourselves. No real complaints though, the better team won.
The question really is how does the defeat leave you feeling? Granted we dropped a place courtesy of Manchester City’s defeat at Southampton (maybe that makes our defeat at St Mary’s seem a bit better?) but we’re still six points clear of the bottom three and four wins and a draw away from the points usually required to guarantee safety.
Did the defeat yesterday set alarm bells ringing again or did we show enough for you not to be so worried about losing knowing that we should have enough throughout the rest of the season to see us safe?
I’m in the latter camp if truth be told. Defeat is always horrible but I think we still showed enough to suggest that we’ll be more than a match for a lot of teams we are due to face in the coming weeks.
However we’re only ever a game away from disaster and suddenly our next league game against Southampton has taken on an extra importance and seemingly some extra difficulty following their win yesterday. Anyone who thinks that match will be a pushover is kidding themselves. Mind you, three points is a must.
So, how are you feeling today?
Pardew has an aversion to playing his strongest team.
He should have put out a team to nullify the threat of Bale and the Spurs attack , planning.for a clean sheet and snatching a couple of goals to win us the game.
This formation was available to start yesterday and was probably our best starting eleven to face Spurs;
…………………Krul
Mbiwa , Taylor , Colo , Santon
……..Debuchy ,…. Tiote
Gouffran, Sissoko , Cabaye
……………..Cisse
sidekick(Quote)
**** FJ you beat me to it 😆
Newkie(Quote)
Elliot, Simpson, Willo, MYM, Haidara, Bigi, Anita, Obertan, Marv, Sammy and Shola is my bet for the XI on Thursday. If Simpson can’t play then Tav or Anita(Perch fills CM spot), if Haidara deemed not ready then Fergie.
Andymag(Quote)
Sidekick
Is Debuchy supposed to be at CM or are you suggesting a back five with Tiote just in front? Also Cabaye doesn’t have the pace, I’d suggest him at CAM with Moussa on the wing.
Andymag(Quote)
Sidekick-Cabaye on the wing? Really?
Newkie(Quote)
@Dave
I think it’s disgusting, especially as Debuchy himself blamed the Lille board, and regardless of “promises” sometimes transfers just don’t materialise fully.
But it is definitely looking as if you called it right. He’s been a different player since he’s come back. I think this is potentially the best he’s been since he joined.
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
Could have just been the injury gave him a forced rest though – still a chance you were wrong 😉
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
Thanks TAE @145 I didn’t realize Debuchy can’t play in Europa for us. Andymag surely not such a weak lineup mate! We won’t get anywhere with that many inexperienced players. If Pardew goes with that lineup we will be out of the competition. Has Simpson recovered from his thumping of a few days ago? Sammy has been so poor lately I wouldn’t dare start him. Shola has been downright poor for quite a while now. Please not that lineup Pardew (no offense Andymag) but surely we want to give the supporters something decent to watch. Am I asking for too much? I’m not sure now.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
How about this for a team
——————————-Krul—————————-
————S.Taylor—-Colocinni—-M’biwa———–
Debuchy—-Cabaye—-Tiote—-Anita——Santon
————-Ben Arfa——————-Sissoko———
Spain doesn’t need a striker so why do we? We can bring Cissé of from the bench if we need a goal at the end of a match.
Andymag(Quote)
@ GEORDIETWO
think pards might name the team the day before the match also, if toon puting out there 1st team, they ganna get a lot more money from the game.no i dint think you asking to much bud lol 😆
TOONARMYELITE(Quote)
GT
I like Pardew just worry about injuries so I’ve put out a safe team that I genuinely believe has enough to do it.
Andymag(Quote)
ST were all our players injuried as they all seem to have got a boost from the new players coming in 😉
Even before his injury he just didn’t look right.
I know a lot of people say that players are highly paid professionals and shouldn’t let other things get in their way, But they are only human and its human nature that if you are not happy you can’t give your all.
Big Dave(Quote)
That’s better Andymag especially if Ben Arfa is available. My bet would be Pardew will stick with something like 4-2-3-1. If he doesn’t start Cisse it will be Shola up front. That might be a disaster if Shola doesn’t feel like putting himself about but with the right wingers he might even score. Have we ever played 3-5-2? It’s a bit risky at this stage. I could see 4-4-2 at home with Shola and Ben Arfa or Marveaux up front or 4-4-1-1 with the same players. Some have wondered why we don’t try Obertan as a striker. Maybe this is the time to try it beside Shola or Cisse?
GeordieTwo(Quote)
gotta feel for Shola, especially as he barely got on the pitch in Jan, guess pards was worried Cisse would get injured
stevep(Quote)
Big Dave I think you’re absolutely spot on about Cabaye. He looks a different player now with Debuchy, Cissoko and Gouffran in. That can only be good for us.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
I love pace in the lineup. A player like Bale is unstoppable at times with his pace and control. That’s the main reason I’m not keen on Carroll coming back. It’s a whole different style of play with him up front. It worked well in the Championship but I don’t like the slow big target man personally. It forces the team into playing too many slow buildups and high balls. We look far better with the ball on the ground on the fast break. It can only get better with Ben Arfa back. Some teams are going to be caught flat footed against our new look I’m convinced.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
I can’t believe anyone is talking about Shola like he’s got any credibility. 😯
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
Shola scores 0.17 goals per game in the league and that’s counting the Championship season. Thats a 1 in 6 rate including the Championship! Horrific scoring rate. The lad is geordie through and through but it’s time to get him out of the squad not extend his contract as we did. Peter and Best were both much better. Sad state of affairs. We can’t afford 2 Ameobi’s in the squad. I’m not even sure we can afford 1.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Forgot to say I agree with you @148 Big Dave. Top 8 pushing for top 6 is a must next season. No more excuses about the squad, the youngsters, the agents blah blah blah from Llambias and Pardew.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
I’ve just been reading through the comments and noticed that poor old Perchie has been getting a bit more stick again. I suppose it’s understandable really – we haven’t had Simmo or Willo in the team recently so we’ve lost our two favourite scapegoats, and heaven forbid that we ever blame any of our foreign dreamboats for anything.
In the circumstances I thought it was slightly ironic that JJ @13 suggested that Santon has played BY FAR the most accurate passes this season, because that certainly hasn’t been the case these last few weeks. According to the information I’ve extracted from the whoscored.com website the most accurate passer of the ball over the last few games has been – wait for it – James Perch (although Santon does come in a respectable 3rd place). The stats for Debuchy, unfortunately, are **** poor – you’d have to think that if Simmo had had stats like that he would have been crucified by people on here.
And the less said about Tim Krul the better
PA% (Pass Success%)
from http://www.whoscored.com/Statistics
__________Spurs__Chelsea__Villa__Reading__Average
Perch______97%____86%___92%____83%____89.5%
Coloccini___91%____88%___78%____92%____87.25%
Santon_____73%____93%___93%____80%____84.75%
Cabaye_____84%____83%___65%____84%____79.0%
S Taylor____76%____97%___62%____N/A____78.33%
Jonas______67%____84%___62%____81%____73.5%
Debuchy____58%____72%___63%____76%____67.25%
Tim Krul_____33%____26%___48%____28%____33.75%
Chris G(Quote)
Chris G
I think Perch has been taking more flack for his individual error in the wall against Spurs.
Overall I think he’s done a good job for us this season. I think most on here will agree with that.
However, I also think its known Tiote normally needs a couple games to get into his stride and when he is in his stride, there are no better anchormen in the Premier League. He is far superior to Perch when on form.
Also, Perch’s passing stats are badly distorted by the fact the nearly half of his passes are backwards. So they flatter to deceive really.
Again I think that anyone who is critical of his overall performance is being unfair. For me Perch made one bad mistake. He isn’t the first and won’t be the last player to do that.
JJ(Quote)
Was just about to make the same point as JJ, Perch is the joe allen of our team, doesn’t look for the forward pass just goes for the easy one.
Andymag(Quote)
http://www.themag.co.uk/the-mag-articles/latest-figures-show-worrying-lack-of-newcastle-talent/
That’s worrying only 10 registered PL players are from Newcastle, same as Huddesfield. That needs to be addressed.
Andymag(Quote)
Andymag,
Thing is, there is nothing wrong with the job Perch does, especially when you have players like Ben Arfa, Cabaye, Santon, Debuchy and Coloccini around you who are all capable of a killer pass.
I think he’s a very handy player to have in the squad. But if I had to choose between giving him a run, or giving TIote a run to try get back to his best, I know I’d be picking Tiote every time! He does seriously need to work on the stupid late tackles though.
JJ(Quote)
Andymag,
Think that all boils down to the lack of coaching at the junior levels. Clearly the guys aren’t up to scratch.
JJ(Quote)
ChrisG, please don’t blur JJ’s expert posts with the actual facts on the matter.. 🙂 🙂 you will cause him to back track over multi posts… opps too late 🙂 🙂 🙂
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)