And after picking up just one point in our opening two games of the season it could be argued that the need to pick up points in a traditionally awful fixture for us is actually quite acute. Surely it’s not panic stations just yet though?
Well no it isn’t and shouldn’t be as we’re still in August, but with a recent tendency to drift into excruciatingly long streaks without wins or points it is something I, and I’m sure others, are quite keen to avoid. To make matters worse we have an audience with BT Sport to contend with so many eyes will be watching just how we perform at Old Trafford. Incidentally, it’s the word ‘perform’ I like to focus on in games like this.
It was the performance in the game at Swansea that was sadly lacking closely followed by a lack of discipline by Daryl Janmaat which, when combined, meant we were destined to leave South Wales with nothing. It’s hard enough to play at the Liberty Stadium without going a goal down within ten minutes and playing more than half the match with ten men. But in the end at least we shut up shop tactically and stopped ourselves from being on the end of one of those all to frequent hammerings.
Manchester United:
In a boost for United’s (our United, the proper one) ropey defence, the Red Devils will be without the services of Phil Jones and Marouane Fellaini who miss out through injury and suspension respectively. Also absent will be David de Gea who has been told that he will not be selected by Louis van Gaal until the transfer window is shut and his future is resolved, at least until January.
Newcastle:
As alluded to earlier, Daryl Janmaat will miss out through suspension following his silly antics at the Liberty Stadium. Moussa Sissoko is unlikely to feature after picking up a muscle strain in that same game and being substituted at half-time while Paul Dummett edges closer to a return but is yet to regain match fitness.
New signing Florian Thauvin could be in line to make his debut for the club after the completion of his move from Marseille while Cheik Tiote may make his first start of the campaign meaning that Vurnon Anota will drop back into the right-back slot to cover the absent Janmaat.
Previously…
Look away. Look away now.
We’ve only managed one league win at Old Trafford in the Premier League era which came back in December 2013 courtesy of a goal from Yohan Cabaye. Remember that one? You should because you then have to be of a certain age to remember our previous league victory at Old Trafford which came in February 2012.
In fact in all of our games in all competitions at Manchester United (77 games) we’ve only won on 10 occasions and walked away with a draw on 20 occasions. The other 47 games have ended in defeat with our biggest one being a 6-0 defeat in the 2007/2008 season. Although on a positive note we did once win 7-1 at Old Trafford although I doubt anyone on here witnessed that as it was 1927. Well maybe Icedog did….
Stats and facts…
Newcastle have lost 25 Premier League games against Manchester United. So basically they’ve beaten us more than any other team has managed to beat us.
Manchester United have won 15 of their last 19 league games at Old Trafford.
Wayne Rooney has scored 12 Premier League goals against Newcastle. Only Aston Villa have fared worse having seen the striker score 14 goals against them.
Final thought…
Not quite final though but I’ve been having a chat with the lads over at theunitedpages.com which you can read here and sums up my thoughts on the game and some of my thoughts on NUFC in general.
In short I’m feeling too confident about this weekend and just hope for an improved performance.
Howay the lads!
Date: Saturday, 22nd August, 2015
Time: 12:45pm – Live on BT Sport
Venue: Old Trafford
ERIC SYKES 372
collo done all right today, but they had no real threat in the air, without fellaini
TOONARMYELITE(Quote)
I think Saylor & Colo were excellent today – Saylor made a big difference. But as his display today made the board think twice about buying a new CB?.
I think Perez had a really good game overall and the left side looked far better balanced with him out there. I think when Sissoko is fit we have to play him right, Perez left and Mitrovic through the middle.
Obertan really disappointed me today – done nowt. Only other negative for me was Colback – thought that was defo one of his poorest games for us – he’s much better than that.
Overall though I thought we did really well today, and was happy to see the togetherness of the players & coaches at the end of the game.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I thought it may end up Taylor and Mbemba but yep, Eric, good shout, and Janmaat deserves a spell on the sidelines. Hopefully Colo can keep up that level of focus and commitment.
Lionel(Quote)
good result. Not a good performance (though it was a big improvement defensively on our first 2 fixtures… and good to see Colo rediscover a decent level today)
Pardew’s NUFC drew 1-1 and won 1-0 at OT with far superior all-round footballing displays
So far, Steve Mc has shown me nothing to suggest that he’s an upgrade over Pardew… hopefully he’ll prove me wrong over time
M(Quote)
Eric, In the year we came 5th, our early good defensive run was a pairing of Saylor and Colo, first 10 games if memory serves.
kimtoon(Quote)
<<<<<<<<<< dos not believe man utd will win the title ,they hold the ball well but dont make it count
TOONARMYELITE(Quote)
Lionel – yeah, TAE had a pop at me for saying I was pleased Colo was staying on too – I won’t hold my breath either though 😉
Sharpy17(Quote)
It’s trueTAE, hopefully something for them to build on.
Lionel(Quote)
M, a gnat is an upgrade on Percy.
kimtoon(Quote)
@Kim 😆
Lionel(Quote)
Next game is cup match!
Time for some new players to start scoring.
AngelOfDeath(Quote)
I don’t know what Blackie says to them but it has worked with Colo. His manner, attitude and commitment were chalk and cheese from last week.
Lionel(Quote)
Playing Perez, who only had an ok game, helps the midfield so much, as he is someone who can actually recieve the ball back to goal and beat his man on the turn, something our midfield has been **** at for years. Him and Mitro was the right choice ahead of Cisse, they allowed us more control of the match (not that we had much, but I dread to think what it would have been like otherwise). Pity we couldn’t take one of our few chances and snatch a win, but can’t be greedy, well earned point, although I was glad we didn’t have to cope with Fellani coming in, as those corners were racking up.
Thauvin has talent but made the wrong decision a few times, but not much different from Cabella and Arfa there, still, he has a lot more time than either of them to put it right..
Newkie(Quote)
Yeah, Angel, and a win would be good too. draw away at Man U, mid- week win, would set us up for an even tougher game next week than today.
Lionel(Quote)
Newkie – yeah Mc said they didn’t really learn much from the Swansea game, but it looks like they learned that Cisse is no good as a lone striker. I agree about Perez and hopefully that will be one of the things learned from today’s game.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Newkie – as for Thauvin, he worked harder than Benny did and spent more time on his feet than Cabella ever did 😆
To be fair, it was always going to be a difficult game to come on and influence. But he started that counter attack, and was the furthest forward at the end of it. I think he thought Cisse was going to shoot rather than square it – should have been more on his toes and what a start that would have been for him.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Scum 1.0 down Gomis
kimtoon(Quote)
Sharpy, Thauvin looks happy to get back and help defend too.
kimtoon(Quote)
Kim – he looked quite lively I thought and liked seeing him high fiving Mbemba when they linked up well to win a corner. I know it’s a small thing, but suggests to me he’s a team player and maybe not quite the prima doña he’s been made out to be.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Hammers fans booing their team before they’ve conceded today, must be suicidal by now.
kimtoon(Quote)
I wonder what 5 things Lee Ryder learnt? I learnt:
1. That Perez is PL quality and should always start ahead of Obertan.
2. That Mitrovic should start because we need an outlet for Timmy the hoof and some threat in the air.
3. That Cisse should be an impact sub.
4. That Janmaat is perhaps not quite as good as people gave him credit for – a lot had him as player of the season, although that bar wasn’t very high.
5. That these 5 things we learnt pieces are usually predictable and boring.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Kimtoon: Fat Sam will be laughing his giant **** off. I saw a TV interview recently and he was very angry with the way he was treated.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Sharply, aye he was unlucky there to be fair, one I was thinking of was where he ran diagonally to try and cut across shaw, he should have gone down the line and either taken it to the corner or tried to find space to whip something in, but he is new to the league so he’ll learn. And tbf to benny he worked like hell on his debut, I criticised him at times but he shouldn’t be compared to Cabs IMO, scored some wonderful goals and had several motm showings. Cabella had maybe one?
newkie(Quote)
Newkie – I know exactly when you mean. I think his reason for that was to try and buy a foul from Shaw & when win freekick to slow Man Utd down a bit – but it didn’t come off. I think Shaw realised what he was trying to do though and made sure he didn’t make enough contact with Thauvin.
He probably should have took it down to the corner and kept possession – look for a throw in deep in their half or a corner.
Sharpy17(Quote)
hammers level now
kimtoon(Quote)
**** sake Scum level 👿
kimtoon(Quote)
Bournemouth 3.2 up on the Hammers
kimtoon(Quote)
Scum draw ok, Kim, they are going down anyway!! Just don’t want other teams like Swansea getting too far away from us. I am still looking forward to our late run to at least 8th place. 😀
Lionel(Quote)
Sharpy – Yeah exactly. Shaw is one of the quicker full backs so it will be nice to see him running at some of the older ones
Surely he has to start over Obertan against Arsenal?
Newkie(Quote)
Taylor & Colo as a pair just works, Shame we can’t get them on the pitch together more
Like Mbemba as well, has a brain cart in him but he looks like he will be a good signing in the long run
Mitrovic/Wijnaldum look like the real deal…
CC(Quote)
Krul made an amazing save towards the end, because of that he played his part and helped us get the point. His distribution is terrible though and he’s a bit like Given. He kicks it and I goes anywhere, rather than to a target.
DJG(Quote)
That B’mouth result has done us no favours, Wet Spam will be desperate to win the next home game now.
DJG(Quote)
As great as that result is today, I’m still worried we aren’t taking our chances as well as we should be. We seem to really struggle to score, even teams like Bournemouth are finding the back of the net.
kimtoon(Quote)
Colo is ****. Obviously. That is all…
ToonDarnSarf(Quote)
KIM great result for local club,they have a few quid to spend as well,have you being giving the helping hand like 😉
icedog(Quote)
Great result. Dogged performance and some bright spells.
Mit proved to be a handful but his retention of the ball was poor.
Far better result and performance than I predicted.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Last on motd tonight
icedog(Quote)
Where’s big dave these days?
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Ice@410, Yep it was mate, pleased for them. Bit frustrating for them getting knocked back by Gayle and now Andre Gray too. So nice to see a result today.
kimtoon(Quote)
Get French Football @GFN_France · 3 hrs3 hours ago
Barcelona pull out of the race for Aymen Abdennour, according to Sport, but Juventus
kimtoon(Quote)
Kim – I would love to think that we will get him & Austin before the window ends, but the way Mc was talking the other day & after today’s performance – will we really spend any more?
I believe we should, but will the board?
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy, who knows mate, I didn’t think we’d spend this much tbh.
kimtoon(Quote)
So Benny scores solo thumper for Nice
icedog(Quote)
Kim – yeah, valid point. They’ve surprised us so far so who knows.
Ice – he’s capable of doing that once in a while. If he could do it more frequently he might have been worth keeping. He’ll probably do bot all for 20 games now tho
Sharpy17(Quote)
B’mouth have been excellent today like!! 😯 they’ve played some brilliant footy
Sharpy17(Quote)
Palace have scored 16 goals from set plays under Pardew – the most in the PL during that time 😯
Sharpy17(Quote)
Did I hear that right, Palace have scored 16 goals since Pardew has gone in??!? No way do I believe Allardyce when he says it’s all down to pards, it’s not, but it is food for thought about just how **** our actual coaching of set pieces are – they’ve still been as much a joke so far this season. The short corner we did today where we did nothing except allow a dangerous manure counter attack was embarassing, I was actually cringing in the pub at that.
Newkie(Quote)
16 set piece goals that was*
Newkie(Quote)
Sharpy – wasn’t just me imagining it then 😆 food for thought.
Newkie(Quote)
Colo. ****? Yes or no? As I’ve said, defending is all about defending well as a unit.
And the reason I don’t believe we’ll sign a CB is because McClaren has already committed to Colo, Mbemba and Taylor, he also has Dummett and Lascelles as young back up. It would disrupt team spirit to sign another CB now. So I don’t believe it will happen. Another full back is another matter…
I just think people need to move on and get behind the players that we have.
Still expect Goofy, Marv and Willo to go.
ToonDarnSarf(Quote)
Pards’ comments on the set pieces issue: http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/alan-pardew-suggests-plea-newcastle-8894407
ToonDarnSarf(Quote)
Newkie – no mate you heard right. I knew they’d scored a few, but didn’t realise it was that many. Pardew has only been in charge of 24 games, so he’s really made set players count.
Defo an area of improvement for us.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Colo had a great game fair play, MOTM was close between him and Mbemba I thought, I think maybe a few of Chancel’s clearances let him down but other than that he did really well. So will Colo now be solid with Taylor alongside? We’ve seen it before, and the partnership usually breaks up when Taylor breaks down or decides to rearrange someones face. If he can keep his head clear and stay injury free, do we drop Mbemba and allow Janmaat back in? I think he’s been superb, he’s our future CB for sure, so he just has to play. But where?
Newkie(Quote)
I tell you what. The parsnip knockers are very quiet these days. 😆
YCMIU 😛
Troy Stavers(Quote)
TDS – Fair play to Pards, that interview sounds exactly like the arrogant ******* he is… 😆
Sharpy – we’ve been horrific at it for yonks, but we have always lacked the players. Never rated Cabaye’s deliveries either, I still remember the leeds pre season match where he took over from Barton, they were noticably worse then and we only seemed to get worse. The lads shots from a free kick were immense, but drifted free kicks and corners? Not so much.
Surely now if we can get Mitro, Taylor and Chancel flying at a decent delivery, we have a good chance of scoring some..
Newkie(Quote)
Beam me up Psychs & Betsy. 😛
They predicted relegation for Parsnip. 😆
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Oooooh newkie. The Parsnip is laughing at chew. 😆
Deal widdit like a man. 😉
Troy Stavers(Quote)
NEWKIE
I agree! Never really liked his personality. Just thought he was an average PL manager. Not convinced McClaren is anything better mind you…
ToonDarnSarf(Quote)
I’ve said it many times, I think Taylor or Mbemba will play well with Colo because they can do the running that Colo can’t any more and leave him to work on positioning and organising his defence. The issue with Willo playing with Colo is that Willo can’t do the running either so Colo has to do that too and he’s not very good at it! Has to be Colo with Mbemba or Taylor for me. Haven’t seen enough of Lascelles to know how he fits in but imagine he won’t have the experience to take the Colo role either. Also can’t imagine we could sign anyone to fulfil that role either. Some have talked about Evans but Man U won’t let him go unless they think he’s finished. If he’s deteriorated beyond top 4 at Man U, I don’t want him to deteriorate further as one of our first choice CBs like O’Shea and Brown did for the DMMs…
ToonDarnSarf(Quote)
Well, Steven Taylor is still injury prone so we DO need another centre back. And Coloccini only seems to work well with Taylor. The jury is out on how he does with MBemba, but the first 2 games didn’t look good. If Colo is so great, how was he so **** at the back end of last year – coaching, his attitude and application or Willo?
I hope Coloccini gets a new lease of life, I really do and I hope Taylor stays fit. However, the window is still open and it certainly wouldn’t hurt to get the lad from Monaco. Now that would be a good window and a real statement of intent.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Well I’ve heard it all loudly now. Complete silence from Psychs. He must be dying inside. 😛
Troy Stavers(Quote)
I think I said Pardew would get Palace relegated after he instilled his ideas – I didn’t give a time frame – I know that is a bit of a cop-out Troy. I have been very surprised that Pards has done so well, maybe he has the team to play Pardew ball, Dann is a beast in the air. I have even seen a few of their games and they are not playing that bad football, which is a bit of a shock.
I still think Pardew will revert to type and Palace will end up the same way every other team he has managed.
WHY IS HE STILL TALKING ABOUT NUFC ANYWAY? And let’s see if he keeps this up until Christmas as he has a habit of going on good runs when he establishes a team but then going on death spirals when they no longer believe.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Troy, I was typing 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
ERIC
Like I said, I don’t think Colo could play with Willo now that he’s slowed down so much at his age. He looked good with Taylor last season imo but it rarely happened. The Mbemba partnership is young but should work in theory.
We won’t sign another CB because we’re not going to push Taylor down to 4th choice and Dummett/Lascelles down to 5th. No PL club outside of the top 4 does that.
ToonDarnSarf(Quote)
I was right and you were wrong about Carver.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
One of Colos biggest problems is that he steps out into midfield quite regularly to try and snuff out danger he sees – as a result he is regularly caught out of position. Other than Tiote I don’t think we have a nature holding midfielder. So either Colo has to improve his communication with Colback & Anita or we could possibly play him in there just to sit infront of the CBs and break play down – it would allow the other midfielders to focus on going forward.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Palace are not a big enough club to stay in the PL long term anyway. They’re bound to get relegated eventually! They’re overachieving just being in the PL, let alone being top 10!
ToonDarnSarf(Quote)
If I end up being wrong about Pardew I will be in the same boat as about 90% of our supporters. It should be funny when we play them. I must check the schedule.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
TDS: I watched a documentary on Swansea today called “From Jacks to Kings”. It shows that anything is possible.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
We play Palace Nov 28 and April 30.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
TDS – I was being a bit tongue in cheek there mate, I didn’t think Pards was exactly loveable, but equally I thought he was about as any other average PL manager – Allardyce, Hughes et al. Agree totally with 442 though. Pardew is gone and like the players that leave us, people should probably move on. It’s going to be a bit cringey if people are breaking out the champagne if Palace go down in two or three years, but each to his own I suppose.
Sharpy – agree about the space. Today, despite the clean sheet, we had fucking acres of space in the midfield. Anita can keep a game ticking, but he simply does not have the presence Tiote has. I’m not sure where the **** colback was playing for 90% of today’s game.
Newkie(Quote)
Psychs
As I say, after last season’s outstanding results with palace and this start, you must feel an absolute plum bearing in mind your compulsive obsession with him. 😉
Regarding Carver, I was not wrong. I simply allowed him 10 games or so before I started assessing him. I never once rated him highly. In fact I was critical.
You didn’t rate Pardew and you didn’t rate Carver. You’re consistent if nothing else. 😉
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Psychs
You say you will be in the same boat as 90% of toon fans when it comes to Pardew.
I don’t think so. You were absolutely irrational. Complete hatred. I take it you don’t live on tyneside. The fans I speak to always maintain his hands were tied.
Speak sense my friend. I take it maths wasn’t your strong point. ?
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Off to bed. I’ll pick up any lame responses tomorrow.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Troy: I have moved on from Pardew after 8 months. Remember he also quit and saddled us with Carver 😉 We have a different team now with the new players and injured players returning so I am not bothered about Pards until we play Palace on Nov 28. As I said above, Pards doesn’t seem to be able to let NUFC go and he jilted us 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)