Man Utd 3-1 Newcastle: Performances mean little when you lose games like that…

Our 14th league defeat. Another game and another loss to keep us just three points above the drop zone.

Newcastle lose 3-1 to Manchester United and it has to be said that if we were playing Martin Dubravka, that might not have been the case.

We had a fabulous first half where Man U’s goal was undeserved with the way we were playing. However, the second half led to a capitulation and complete loss of belief and action.

This was a truly gutting game. Hope can be brought forward into the Wolves game but Newcastle have to start playing their best players from the outset. Karl Darlow has filled in wonderfully but it is now time for Dubravka to take back his spot.

It has to be asked, would we have lost this game if Dubravka had started?

Newcastle came into this game with the knowledge that, after Fulham’s win against Sheffield United, only three points separated us from the relegation zone.

Pressure was now on to not only put in a convincing performance but also to pull something out of the bag because, although Manchester United sat high up the league and had recently destroyed Real Sociedad, they had played four days previously in Spain and had been held to a 1-1 draw by West Brom in their last Premier League match. Getting something from this match, despite our injuries, wasn’t an impossible task.

Newcastle only made one change to the line-up against Chelsea with Joelinton replacing Dwight Gayle. The continued exclusions of Fraser and Dubravka also raised more eyebrows.

In one aspect, there was some sense in playing Joelinton as he has more experience not playing as the main striker, but to expect him to play better than the last time he played in a right sided position (against Manchester United) was risky – even if this more forward-thinking formation could work in his favour.

Newcastle started off with some vigour and we were pressing high from the outset. This was a different start to the laboured beginning of the Chelsea game. Pressing, tackling and attacks were prominent from us in the very beginning. Almiron was a constant threat in the first half hour and it was really a testament for how good he can be if played in the correct position.

Manchester United were the team to break the duck however after rinsing Emil Krafth, Rashford beat Karl Darlow at his near post with a goal that should have really been stopped.

A cruel blow based on how the match had been going, but that’s what you get when you continually leave your best goalkeeper on the bench!

We needed to keep our heads up and keep at it. Thankfully, that’s what we did.

Goal! Newcastle didn’t give up and we were rewarded for our efforts with a fully deserved goal from Saint-Maximin! After sustained pressure, Willock put in a ball which then fell nicely to Saint-Maximin to blast into the net.

Half-time arrived and United (That’s Newcastle United, Jermaine Jenas…) played very well and probably deserved more that the 1-1 score line.

Miguel Almiron was the outstanding player in the first half but was outshone by Saint-Maximin’s fantastic goal to equalise.

The goal we conceded reiterated general problems for Newcastle with Emil Krafth showing again why he isn’t a Premier League standard player and Karl Darlow showing why he’s our second-choice goalkeeper.

Hope had been raised from this first half showing, and it was really on Newcastle to keep up the tempo and effort.

Joelinton seemed to pick up a back injury in the first half and was only able to last ten minutes into the second half before being replaced with Ryan Fraser.

Bad defending on our left-hand side and poor goalkeeping led to another Manchester United sucker punch with Daniel James taking advantage of free space and hitting the ball into Darlow’s inside corner… again.

Joe Willock then gave away a silly penalty allowing Fernandes to score an easy goal to take the game to 3-1. Absolutely gutting. Some questions raised about the validity of the penalty but ultimately, Man U took their chance to further the lead.

In the 88th minute, Manchester United decided to rub salt in the wound by handing a league debut to 17-year-old Geordie, Shola Shoretide. Another, more subtle reminder of how far we have fallen that we can’t even secure the services of young, local talent.

Full time and we lose again.

A spirited display that was destroyed by bad defensive play. We continue to be in danger but you wouldn’t know it with Bruce laughing away with Solksjaer.

We need to beat Wolves or we could quickly see ourselves nestled in the Relegation Zone if Fulham beat Palace.

91 thoughts on “Man Utd 3-1 Newcastle: Performances mean little when you lose games like that…

  1. I am going to flog this dead horse even more. They have stats on everything now. They count the number of passes each player completes. They have some weird thing called Xg which stands for expected goals. I have still not got a clue how that works, but anyway. We know chances created and assists by every player in the league.

    Shouldn’t NUFC have stats on Jonjo’s chances created? Corners that reach one of our players? Goals scored on Jonjo floaters (if that is more than 1 I would be surprised), number of times his direct free kicks end up in the stands and do not hit the target. They must have these. Or they can hire an intern to look back at all of our PL games and just do a back of a beer mat reckoning up.

    I have seen it. And my gut tells me that we waste most of our set pieces.

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  2. Anyone notice the young lad coming on v Manu? Shola Shoretire was in our 14 year olds just 2 years ago. Now he’s replacing Rashford against us. He was still 16 last week.
    Sums up the entire ineptitude of the club theses days. Mike Ashley’s United is no longer the team I support.

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  3. georgio:
    Anyone notice the young lad coming on v Manu? Shola Shoretire was in our 14 year olds just 2 years ago. Now he’s replacing Rashford against us. He was still 16 last week.
    Sums up the entire ineptitude of the club theses days. Mike Ashley’s United is no longer the team I support.

    I noticed him. He looked about 12. Not sure if this is a symptom of me getting old or HIM LOOKING 12!!!

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  4. At the risk of repeating myself we have to find a way of getting Fraser on the pitch and getting some others off the pitch – that would be Shelvey, Donkey-Joe, Krafth and I think Lewis. We cannot risk our season on a kid who has erratic form and Dummett has to come in.

    Who can play right back though? I would say Clark because he seems to be Mr Versatility.

    Bruce wont do this though. He will probably only switch Dubs for Darlow and maybe Carroll for the Brazilian Donkey.

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  5. Manquillo back. Great news, even if he doesnt make the Wolves game. I have no confidence in Krafth. The fact we were willing to sell him in Jan says a lot.

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  6. So Supermac on Wraith’s show is saying there is a power struggle between Bruce and Jones. No **** Sherlock. I said this from the start because it was obvious that Graeme Jones was not Bruce’s choice and was his temp-manager-in-waiting. You cannot create this dynamic and expect us do well. Bruce will undermine Jones at every chance he gets because he thinks he (Bruce) is a lot better than he is. He also thinks his coaches are doing a good job when it obvious they arnt. He has dragged them around everywhere he has gone so he trusts them.

    Jones is on an island so I dont know what influence he can really have with the 3 Steves against him. I hope I am wrong and we do have the players to stay up. It is just there has been a dynamic created that never works in Management. One coach pitted against the other. Typical of Ashley though. Remember Keegan being undermined by Wise and Jiminez!!!!!!!

    They have no clue what they are doing.

    But we do have some winnable games. Let’s see if Jones is on the pitch again encouraging the players against Wolves or if Bruce puts him on the naughty step to protect his own ego?

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  7. I mean, I dont care if Graeme Jones was given some authority and say-so when he first came in, the 3 Steves were always going to align against him to protect their own jobs/ego/standing. They know he is caretaker-in-waiting so how can they let him take charge? That would be an admission of defeat and we know Bruce likes to blame so he is never going to admit he is doing a bad job. FFS he touts his record in the PL when it is the worst record of any long term PL manager EVER. He even thinks he is doing great now (delightful) when I think we have lost 12 of the last 16.

    He should be sacked.

    Graeme Jones should not replace him though. What has he ever done?

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  8. Graeme “nobody” Jones replacing Bruce would be typical NUFC though. It would be like Ugly John Carver replacing Pards or us appointing Pards in the 1st place. Or Kinnear twice 🙂 Wasnt McClaren appointed after being sacked in The Championship at Derby? Bruce was sacked by Villa in The Championship…

    I sort of had to write it down to see what a comedy of errors our managerial appointments have been. And now we think this nobody Graeme Jones will save us? Especially when he has been put in an impossible situation.

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  9. So it turns out that Manquillo had only twisted his ankle. I am not predicting it but he could be available for Wolves. I twisted my ankle once and it was pretty bad, so much so that I needed crutches. However, I was fully recovered in about 10 days.

    This is totally different to what the club told us before. They said he had done his ankle ligaments which is usually a months long injury. It put me into a near depression figuring we would have to rely on Krafth for 5 or 6 more games 🙂

    This is not the usual practice for NUFC – they usually UNDERestimate recovery time. But they did put out misinformation that they didnt correct which IS typical of them.

    Let’s see what happens with Wilson as they have been doomsayers about him as well. He says he is recovering so it might not be the 2 months the club said. That would be a big plus as Bruce doesnt seem to have any sort of plan without him. I fully expect to see Carroll start on Saturday which would be the 3rd formation in 3 games. We had Dwight at Chelsea, Donkey-Joe at Man U and I bet it will be Carroll for Wolves.

    You could say swapping the strikers is “horses for courses” or you could say that Bruce doesnt have a clue. And what does Bruce actually do? He has 6 fcn coaches now. I think Dawson is still with the 1st team and you can add him to the 4 Steves and 1 Graeme. No wonder the players seem confused at times.

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  10. Bruce peddling bull again. There aren’t 6/7 teams in the mix for relegation, Steve. Theres us, Fulham, Burnley and Brighton.

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  11. So Amanda has lost her case against Barclays, didn’t she loan the £17m deposit from Jabba against what she might win in her case ? or am i dreaming that .

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  12. From what Bruce has said I think there will only be 2 changes from the Man U team. Dubs will be back and Carroll will replace DonkeyJoe. I think there is an outside chance that he will also start Manquillo, but I doubt it.

    He should start Dummett instead of Lewis if we play 4 at the back but I doubt he will.

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  13. I sort dont know what to predict for Wolves, but will try anyway. We actually have played a bit better since Jones came in despite the EXPECTED losses to Chelsea and Man U.

    Wolves are a team that I think the pundits like to overrate. Jota to Liverpool was a big loss as was that lad who fractured his skull. If this was a home match with fans I might give us the edge but now I will sit on the fence and say draw.

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  14. From Olly’s article on the press conference. Steve Bruce is a liar and a bullsh1tter. I can spot them a mile off because of the work I do. I work with investment and insurance salespeople and most of them will lie to your face flat out.

    The nice guy facade is one of the techniques these people use and it is almost always BS. I think that is Bruce as well because he is always happy to hand out blame. Most Managers are this way but some of them actually win games.

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