Newcastle/Tottenham Channel 5 double header

[gatesheadfox]

full of technical ability and the sort of on-the-ground passing football you crave, and you slag them off for it. Priceless.

when do they prove that though? the chance is times such as tonight where they just let themselves down

[Maybes]

uh-oh i may have spoke too soon

[Fez of Mahrez]

when do they prove that though? the chance is times such as tonight where they just let themselves down

To clarify, I meant Alkmaar - and you could see it in the way they were trying to play. They obviously don't play as badly as they did in that first half every week or they wouldn't be second in the Dutch league and wouldn't have such a good recent record in Europe.

[lildave3]

uh-oh i may have spoke too soon

Damn, missed their goal <_<

[lildave3]

uh-oh i may have spoke too soon

Indeed you did

[gatesheadfox]

To clarify, I meant Alkmaar - and you could see it in the way they were trying to play. They obviously don't play as badly as they did in that first half every week or they wouldn't be second in the Dutch league and wouldn't have such a good recent record in Europe.

to clarify, i also meant alkmaar. i thought they were pants when the pressure was on and then when newcastle started coasting they got into it again.

[Maybes]

Damn, missed their goal <_<

ooooooow Its the damn vodoo of posting on here. Now my bet is never coming off. Their first goal wern't a peno either

[Fez of Mahrez]

to clarify, i also meant alkmaar. i thought they were pants when the pressure was on and then when newcastle started coasting they got into it again.

Yeah, tonight they were. Barcelona weren't much cop against Liverpool on Tuesday night but they're hardly Accrington Stanley as a rule.

[gatesheadfox]

Yeah, tonight they were. Barcelona weren't much cop against Liverpool on Tuesday night but they're hardly Accrington Stanley as a rule.

they aren't but most people on his board and in general can only judge on odd performances they can be arsed to watch, such as (kind of) high profile games such as tonight. if the spanish league had the same coverage as the dutch one i would probably be laughing my tits off at the thought of barcelona being a top side after tuesday and more so the previous leg

[Thracian]

You clearly think AZ Alkmaar are some sort of pub team. They defended like it at times in that first half but van Gaal obviously had a word. A Newcastle team that is average in Premiership terms sticks four goals past a very good Dutch team, full of technical ability and the sort of on-the-ground passing football you crave, and you slag them off for it. Priceless.

Quite the contrary. I think AK are an excellent attacking team. And that was exactly the reason Newcastle should have maintained their attacking commitment in an attempt to bury them while they were reeling on the ropes.

[Fez of Mahrez]

Quite the contrary. I think AK are an excellent attacking team. And that was exactly the reason Newcastle should have maintained their attacking commitment in an attempt to bury them while they were reeling on the ropes.

Baffling. So what would you have advised that AZ should do? As an excellent attacking team who had a poor half? Attack, presumably? Which is what they did.

There are two teams in football matches, not just one that you feel more comfortable advising and another that are willing to lie on their stomach while your band of merry men f**k them up the arse for 90 minutes.

[Maybes]

ooooooow Its the damn vodoo of posting on here. Now my bet is never coming off. Their first goal wern't a peno either

wooooooooo get in there!!! Keeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaannnnnnnooooooooo!!

[Fez of Mahrez]

wooooooooo get in there!!! Keeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaannnnnnnooooooooo!!

Jammy get.

[lildave3]

There you go Maybes I'll say the same for Spurs: This win should be enough to see them through.

[gatesheadfox]

Baffling. So what would you have advised that AZ should do? As an excellent attacking team who had a poor half? Attack, presumably? Which is what they did.

There are two teams in football matches, not just one that you feel more comfortable advising and another that are willing to lie on their stomach while your band of merry men f**k them up the arse for 90 minutes.

in all fairness Thracian did say that his beef was that newcastle didn't go all out to hammer them

[Maybes]

There you go Maybes I'll say the same for Spurs: This win should be enough to seem them through.

Yeah, spurs fans must be loving all these last minute winners. You can never write them off

[Fez of Mahrez]

in all fairness Thracian did say that his beef was that newcastle didn't go all out to hammer them

How often do teams win 8-2 though? I don't think he understands football half as much as he thinks he does. It's not just a case of choosing to go all out and hammer teams, you have to have the ability to do it. If Newcastle had that ability they'd do it week in week out. We outplayed Cov at home in the first half a few weeks ago but we don't have the ability to do that week in week out. It just gelled for a short time largely because Cov were so pathetic at the back, much like Alkmaar tonight. Cov got it together second half and asked some questions, much like Alkmaar tonight. The key to football when you're playing against a team of a similar standard is scoring when you're on top, which is what both Leicester and Newcastle did, yet they get a slagging for "sitting back". I think it's a very naive and simplistic way of looking at a football match and I'll argue with it til I'm blue in the face.

[Thracian]

Baffling. So what would you have advised that AZ should do? As an excellent attacking team who had a poor half? Attack, presumably? Which is what they did.

There are two teams in football matches, not just one that you feel more comfortable advising and another that are willing to lie on their stomach while your band of merry men f**k them up the arse for 90 minutes.

Right again. It was obvious they'd attack. And the best way to contain an attacking side like AZ is to defend high, deny them time/space and continue to support attacks when you win possesssion, especially given their weak defence.

Defending deep made no sense against a team whose attack was their strength. It created too wide gaps in the Newcastle team which meant they gave the ball away more and therefore had to sustain even greater pressure.

[Flynny]

I actually don't mind John Barnes commentating.

How long ago did they move him from autocue duty (what a joke he was at that) to commentator? I don't watch the footy on C5 much.

[gatesheadfox]

How often do teams win 8-2 though? I don't think he understands football half as much as he thinks he does. It's not just a case of choosing to go all out and hammer teams, you have to have the ability to do it. If Newcastle had that ability they'd do it week in week out. We outplayed Cov at home in the first half a few weeks ago but we don't have the ability to do that week in week out. It just gelled for a short time largely because Cov were so pathetic at the back, much like Alkmaar tonight. Cov got it together second half and asked some questions, much like Alkmaar tonight. The key to football when you're playing against a team of a similar standard is scoring when you're on top, which is what both Leicester and Newcastle did, yet they get a slagging for "sitting back". I think it's a very naive and simplistic way of looking at a football match and I'll argue with it til I'm blue in the face.

i may be very wrong but if he was trying to make the point which i originally thought he was he is right, newcastle did appear to sit back more. not due to alkmaar picking their game up, but due to the lack of importance in going forward. i agree with your point though about teams having shocking halves then bucking their ideas up, it does make the team in front look like it has stepped off the gas. unless we know exactly what both teams were thinking its hard to know which view point was right, if either

[Fez of Mahrez]

Right again. It was obvious they'd attack. And the best way to contain an attacking side like AZ is to defend high, deny them time/space and continue to support attacks when you win possesssion, especially given their weak defence.

Defending deep made no sense against a team whose attack was their strength. It created too wide gaps in the Newcastle team which meant they gave the ball away more and therefore had to sustain even greater pressure.

I don't think Newcastle defended any deeper in the second half than they did in the first.

Two things that occur to me. Firstly that Roeder deserves praise from someone who advocates attacking football for selecting Solano at right-back. I don't know how often he's played there in the past but it worked a treat tonight in the first half with the best overlapping full-back play I've seen for quite some time, resulting in some fantastic crosses notably for Martins' second goal. Secondly, the nature of European knockout football is that you have to try to avoid conceding goals at all times, regardless of what the score is. If Newcastle had been caught on the counter-attack and the score brought back to 4-3 through two breakaway goals Roeder would have been pilloried.

Just my take on things anyway.

[Fez of Mahrez]

i may be very wrong but if he was trying to make the point which i originally thought he was he is right, newcastle did appear to sit back more. not due to alkmaar picking their game up, but due to the lack of importance in going forward. i agree with your point though about teams having shocking halves then bucking their ideas up, it does make the team in front look like it has stepped off the gas. unless we know exactly what both teams were thinking its hard to know which view point was right, if either

I think away goals plays a large part. I'd very surprised if van Gaal didn't tell them at half time that they crucially needed another away goal. Now he can aim for a 2-0 or 3-1 in the return leg.

[gatesheadfox]

Solano at right-back. I don't know how often he's played there in the past

he's played there quite a bit this season. a man of many talents, he even has a popular salsa band which plays at popular bars in newcastle called the geordie latinos....he's not just a quality crosser of the ball who bobby robson hated

[Fez of Mahrez]

he's played there quite a bit this season. a man of many talents, he even has a popular salsa band which plays at popular bars in newcastle called the geordie latinos....he's not just a quality crosser of the ball who bobby robson hated

It's good stuff when it works like it did tonight. I remember seeing Duff at left-back earlier in the season in a UEFA Cup game, with N'Zogbia on the left wing. It's an incredibly bold move really. You don't even see Fergie, Wenger or Mourinho playing out-and-out wingers at full back (the exception to the rule perhaps being Kieran Richardson who has played at full back a few times, but he's shite).

[gatesheadfox]

I think away goals plays a large part. I'd very surprised if van Gaal didn't tell them at half time that they crucially needed another away goal. Now he can aim for a 2-0 or 3-1 in the return leg.

and roeder may have thought a 8 or 10-0 win would have been good, and could have gone for it. or he may have thought 4-0 was alright, we will never know. the only thing we will know is alkmaar were absolutely fecking shocking in the first half and woke up in the second, and hopefully they will win 3-1 in the second leg