A much-improved performance from Newcastle United just wasn’t enough as the Magpies fell to a 3-2 loss against Arsenal in Singapore.
Looking to bounce back from the 4-0 defeat against Celtic last Saturday, Eddie Howe named a slightly-changed XI: Alex Murphy and Jamaal Lascelles were both surprise inclusions in the defence alongside stalwarts Trippier and Burn.
Will Osula of course led the line with Isak absent from the squad, with new signing Anthony Elanga starting on the right whilst Anthony Gordon is still vying to be the starting left winger ahead of Harvey Barnes.
First half XI: Pope; Trippier, Lascelles, A.Murphy, Burn, Tonali, Guimaraes, Willock; Elanga, Osula, Gordon.
Second half XI: Pope; Livramento, Krafth, Schar, Botman, Targett; J Murphy, Miley, Joelinton, Barnes; Osula.
Subs used: Ruddy, Ashby, Neave. (Seung-soo Park, Munda, Vlachodinos did not come on)
An end to end affair, vital minutes played during pre-season in humid conditions and some promising performances, even if Sven Botman’s injury issues may have flaggd up again.
Solid run out in Singapore
Anthony Elanga grabbed his first goal in the black and white stripes as he opened the scoring in Singapore. An excellent counter started by Gordon soon found Tonali, whose low cross met the feet of Elanga, who perhaps fortunately converted from close range with a bobbled effort.
For much of the game, our attack was showing pace and pressing, which could be a major problem for our opponents having to play against the particularly quick trio of Gordon, Elanga and Osula. The Dane in particular was a real pest, working his socks off but showing that slightly raw final product as he glanced one big chance wide.
Though for all the positive signs shown by the attack, the defending does still need some work, with ongoing Botman concerns and the lack of pace highlighting our need for a new centre-back just as they did at Celtic.
A calamitous two minutes helped Arsenal turn the games on its head thanks to a tidy finish from Mikel Merino, before an unfortunate own goal from Alex Murphy who blasted the ball into an empty net from an Arsenal cross. The Irishman did well against Saka for much of the first-half, mind, and showed quality in possession.
An almost completely changed XI emerged for the second half, and Jacob Murphy made a very quick impact as he levelled the score with a lovely left-footed strike from range.
But Gunners youngster Max Dowman, who earned praise midweek against AC Milan, drew a cynical shove in the box from Joelinton in the dying minutes, and Martin Odegaard scored from the spot to make it 3-2 and hand us our second defeat of the pre-season so far.
There’s still signs of rust in some players, and the humidity inside the Singapore National Stadium certainly didn’t help. But some excellent, driven performances in both the midfield and attack will have encouraged Howe, with Tonali a driving force early on and Lewis Miley looking the part in a composed second half display.
As for negatives, Pope’s kicking was horrendous, Willock looked way off the pace once again and Targett was run ragged at times, with all three failing to bounce back from bad days at the office last weekend.
Botman worry for Howe
One downside from the game, however, was the potential injury to Sven Botman, who came off feeling groin just 25 minutes after coming on at the break.
With what looked like a groin problem for the Dutchman, it’s perhaps a positive move from Howe to afford Lascelles some minutes so soon into pre-season, as he’ll definitely be getting some more in South Korea and beyond as things stand.
Schar meanwhile looked to be having some hamstring concerns, but not as much of an issue as a potential fresh injury for Botman – all the more reason for Howe to push the recruitment team to find him a centre back option this summer before the window shuts.
Next up for Newcastle will be the friendlies against the K-League XI, followed up by a much-anticipated game against Spurs in Seoul.
I think it was a good pre season game to be fair. Competitive against PL opposition who ultimately needed an OG and pen to beat us.
I think it just confirmed everything we already knew though 🤷🏼♂️.
Pope is awful with the ball at his feet and needs replacing if he wants to play that way. Don’t get bringing Ruddy on and not either the Greek (can’t spell his name) or young Max Thompson.
We desperately need CB upgrades. Schar & Burn getting old, Lascelles not good enough & Botman is made of glass.
Target & Krafth aren’t great but can do a job 🤷🏼♂️ – but I do think Ashby & A Murphy looked quite decent today.
Miley looked good & will be an upgrade on Longstaff.
Osula will work hard but lack a bit of football intelligence at the moment. We obviously desperately need to replace Wilson and possibly Isak if he eventually leaves.
We played pretty well though – just need to get a grip of this transfer window FFS!!.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Well done the Lionesses 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
What a team 💪🏻
Sharpy17(Quote)
Lionesses h e done it again. Incredible! Well done lasses! Never gave up.
Gilly Toon(Quote)
So the rumour is Liverpool will bid £100m this week – any starting offer under £120m would be totally disrespectful imo. So much so that my response would be it’s £150m and didn’t ring back until you have it – there is no deal to be done here.
If it’s £100m plus Elliott or Nunez then a conversation could be had.
If it’s £120m with add ons there’s a conversation could be had.
But if they are trying to take advantage of this situation – Isak still has 3 years left, we keep him & sell him next summer 🤷🏼♂️.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Talk now of Howe walking,club seem to going backwards since the lady was worked out and them that done it are now going,what a bloody mess
Icedog(Quote)
Ice – I don’t think Howe would ever walk because he has a great relationship with the players … BUT if one of the bigger clubs were to come in for him (or England for that matter) then I think he’s probably fed up enough of what NUFC are doing to seriously consider leaving.
But him throw the towel in – I just don’t see it in him.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I hope you’re right mate
Icedog(Quote)
Toon in loan deal to sign goalkeeper Ramsdale,Why loan?just buy him £25 mil
Icedog(Quote)
Ice – I don’t mind it. I’m not convinced on him so a loan to prove himself before we spend the money on him.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Agree re a loan first on Ramsdale. Interestingly he saved the most pens last year
If we sale Isak for £100m I will not be happy , not when you consider what Grealish went for a couple of seasons ago and what Chelsea value Jackson at.
kimtoon(Quote)
Think we should be looking to get Watkins, at least make an offer , go up against manure cause they are after Sesko too.
kimtoon(Quote)
I have a feeling that Sesko will go to Man united 😡😡. Seriously these septic six are really pi55ing me off now. It’s shocking how they just keep spending and spending.
It’s also shocking just how bad we are. Who is making decisions if we have no CEO and no Sporting director? We keep offering peanuts, perhaps we will end up recruiting monkeys. 🤬
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Even the Mackems are better at getting players in than us! 😡
Gilly Toon(Quote)
s
Yeah, but at least it disproves that players don’t want to play in the north, which is what I keep seeing rival fans say.
kimtoon(Quote)
Xhaka is a very good signing for them. Even at 32 I think he will be good for them unfortunately.
Gilly Toon(Quote)
I guess it does Kim, but I’d rather players coming to us than to the Mackems 😂🤷🏻♂️
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Me too mate.
kimtoon(Quote)
If we give Chelsea £60m for Jackson on top of the £100m they pocketed via the cwc curtesy of PIF then I will be smelling an almighty rat.
kimtoon(Quote)
Absolutely! I don’t want Jackson anywhere near our club.
Gilly Toon(Quote)
I feel like Emery has had a bit of a fall out with Watkins – I’d personally favour him over Sesko. Watkins & Wissa for me.
Let Villa take Jackson.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I wish the media would report honestly about the Man Utd.
They keep writing they are looking to hijack moves for players but the truth is the reason Mbuemo took so long is they have to go cap in hand to Brentford to structure the payments a certain way coz financially they are so up against PSR rules they are struggling – that’s why they ended up paying as much for him – as a sweetener for favourable repayments.
But they are old money, like Liverpool (with City & Chelsea being the new money), and journos seem scared to write negatively about them in any way.
Sharpy17(Quote)
This would be my dream pair mate, I am not convinced by Sesko if I’m honest .
kimtoon(Quote)
Kim – I honestly think any half decent CF scores goals in Howes team – with Gordon, Murphy, Barnes and Elanga creating chances.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think any half decent CF does as well as Isaks 23 – BUT – Wilson as the back up forward chipped in with 0 goals last season.
So in a very Moneyball mentality, if we can get 2 forwards that can score 10-15 goals a season – Wissa got 19 for example – then we will be alright.
I think the likes of Sesko and even Nunez could get 10-15 goals – but it depends what they cost.
Sharpy17(Quote)
So Chelsea get another £43m from Saudi lge for Joao Felix
kimtoon(Quote)
Chelsea want £250m for Cole Palmer … 😮😳. Apparently City want him back 😂😂
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Makes our request of £150m for Isak look positively reasonable .😉
kimtoon(Quote)
I see we have loaned out Cordero. I’d have rather kept him through pre season to see what he’s like before loaning him out. 😡
Gilly Toon(Quote)
It’s pretty simple , Isak either bucks up stays and pulls his finger out or Pool offer what we want and not in installments either.
My preference is he goes .
kimtoon(Quote)
Kimtoon that’s my preference too. He didn’t care much over the end of season with his rubbish performances. This while his team mates were busting a gut to get us into the champions league. He better hope his new manager and team mates give him the same support as ours did. Said before there is a right way and a wrong way of doing things he chouse the way of no return. Once the trust has gone there is no way back!
nutmag(Quote)
Kim – I’m gonna say this with confidence coz I think I’m right, but instalments are good for PSR (I think).
Sharpy17(Quote)
Really?
kimtoon(Quote)
I think so, but if I was saying it rather than typing it I might be less confident 😂.
No I think it’s coz it guaranteed money each window. I think that constant flow of money coming in looks better on paper for PSR.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Well what ever happens , the sports media and Pool along with Isak have totally derailed our pre season and our owners have not helped with their lack of communication and lack luster approach to the window.
kimtoon(Quote)
Absolutely agree Kim
Gilly Toon(Quote)
I reckon Sesko would rather have Man utd, think he’s waiting on them. I really wish we would try for Watkins.
I’m really not sure Sesko is the answer .
kimtoon(Quote)
Happy enough with Ramsey for £4m on loan – prove himself and he’s coming into his best years as a keeper.
Had we spent £40m on Trafford I would have felt that was a huge overspend.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Kim – I think Wissa is nailed on. Just waiting for Brentford to find a replacement, but I’m sure he’ll come in – let’s say that’s the Wilson replacement sorted and I think he’s definitely improving our squad. No disrespect to Wilson but his fitness was a huge issue – Wissa has played over 30 games in the last 2 seasons so that gives us depth.
My preference for the other forward would be Watkins too. I think he’d be the most natural fit – has the experience and would hit the ground running imo.
But if it turns out to be Sesko or Jackson or Nunez even then I think they get goals in this Howe team. I don’t imagine they hit as many as Isak did last season as an individual forward – but teamed up with Wissa I think the forwards get more goals than Isak & Wilson got between them last season – and that to me is an improvement to our squad.
Sharpy17(Quote)
The other thing for me is as much as MU are supposedly ‘hijacking’ our deals – they have no money!!.
IF they go for a Watkins it would have to include a swap deal – they are looking to offload Garnacho as part of the Watkins or Jackson deal.
They don’t have the money to bid for Sesko and will be ultimately looking for favours from Villa or Chelsea.
Players will always be turned on by the idea of playing for MU – even in the current plight. It’s still a huge club and they’ll still pay huge wages.
But the media need to report on this accurately for me, coz the truth is they are in a financial jam.
Sharpy17(Quote)
There is a lot of focus on our striker situation for obvious reasons, but what concerns me more is our centre backs.
We are starting with Lascelles and Krafth there today – Botman seems to be injured again!! So our main pairing remains Schar & Burn – who were both excellent last season but are both older players, lacking in pace and it’s unfair to expect them to player the vast majority of games next season.
For me, with Botmans injuries, I think we need 2 in who are ready. By that I mean mid twenties with PL experience. These young foreign players we have been linked with are a bit of a risk for me and we don’t really have the luxury of time to develop them with CL next season.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Oh my god …we are absolutely sh1te 1-0 down to the Koreans who’ve been better all over the pitch. Miley looks good. Tino and Elanga canny but we are not gelling as a team. Absolutely awful.
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Our defence is really poor and Lascelles is just not good enough. Desperately in need of a defensive improvement
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Gilly – K-League are half way through their season and you can tell – a lot sharper than us.
But our defence is a huge concern for me.
Tino & Hall are class – no issues there.
I don’t mind Alex Murphy & Ashby as back ups from what I’ve seen so far.
But Schar & Burn are at he back end of their careers. Still good enough to do a job, but we don’t want to be in a position where we are dependent on them. Same goes for Trippier.
Botman seems to be made of glass – and probably explains why we had little competition when signing him.
There after you are looking at players like Lascelles, Krafth and Target – who just aren’t good enough imo.
For me we need 2 ready to play CB and get rid of those 3 if we can.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Well that was just dreadful. We lost 1-0. However, Korean ref with a Korean side gave then everything and us almost nothing re fouls. Miley looked good. Ashby looked ok. New Korean winger looked excellent for his cameo. The whole team just looked like they couldn’t be bothered. Unsettled maybe? Spurs up next.
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Agree Sharpy. Defence was really poor today. Murphy will be canny I think, but Krafth and Lascelles should not be anywhere near the first team. Krafth as a fill in maybe but we are very weak in central defence.
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Well that was an awful watch.
The Koreans ran us hard to be fair so in that respect it was a good pre season – I don’t think we get much from blowing a conference team away 10-0 in pre season.
But so far all these games are doing is highlighting the bleedin obvious – our squad isn’t strong enough!!,
I know we have Spurs at the weekend before home for the Sela Cup games, but for me we need at least 2 in before those games – and probably another 5 in before the season kicks off.
Willock looked badly injured at the end there – stretched off, so he won’t be ready for the start of the season I reckon. We maybe needed another midfielder in anyway – but if he’s out for a while we will definitely need another.
2 forwards
2 CBs
1 midfielder
That’s before we even start talking about exits.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sunderland signing players for a past time
kimtoon(Quote)
Sesko wants to go to Manure … there’s a surprise 😂😂🙄
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Giving up CL games to collect more coin then.
Would rather Watkins anyway.
kimtoon(Quote)
So Willock injured again, now we need two mf
kimtoon(Quote)
Looks like seasons over before it starts for Willock, ankle break for the lad.😞
kimtoon(Quote)
Maybe we can beat Villa to Samu Aghehowa ?
kimtoon(Quote)