Three Points: NUFC 0-2 Man City

Three quick takes on what I'm calling another Tyneside revival of Les Misérables as the hands of Manchester City. Without further ado, and without the presence of Hatem Ben Arfa, aka Prisoner 24601...

I Dreamed A Dream: After being dismantled over and over again in this matchup, it was at least encouraging to see Newcastle keep it competitive. But like poor Fantine, for whom "life has killed the dream I dreamed," every Newcastle fan sensed the inevitable result after a handful of squandered chances in the second half. The one that may have proven most costly was the poorly timed flub by Yoan Gouffran, who found himself all alone at the far post after a Jack Colback corner, but couldn't control the ball well enough to poke it past Joe Hart and even the match at 1-1 a few minutes after halftime.

On My Own: Emmanuel Rivière often looked every bit as forlorn as Éponine as she pined in vain for Marius. It took death for her to get the support she craved, but for Rivière, it never came at all. It's hard to evaluate Rivière (3 shots, 0 on target, 14-20 passing) other than to say what's already been said: as a lone striker, he can threaten defenders more with his speed and power than Papiss Cissé, and did so at times yesterday. But when Newcastle did have a decent chunk of possession around the penalty area, he looked out of sync with the midfielders behind him. Sometimes a cross would be delayed because Rivière was standing offside. Or he'd make a different run than the midfielder was expecting, resulting in an easy turnover. Siem de Jong will eventually give Rivière some help with his trailing runs into the box. But for now, the burden is all on the ex-Monaco man to make the most of what little service he does get.

Bring Him Home: My thoughts on the Colback signing are now on the record. I think Alan Pardew will wrongly regard Colback as an automatic starter, when he's probably better suited to be a backup option. Nonetheless, in Colback's return to his hometown club, it was hard to fault his performance (38-42 passing, 2 tackles, 5 interceptions) in place of the injured Cheick Tioté. He manned the barricade whenever City made its relatively rare forays into the final third, doing an admirable job to break up the play and launch the counterattack. As a third midfielder, there are far worse choices (see last season's Dan Gosling experience).

Comments

[MNTOONARMY9]

You got the feeling yesterday that despite the second half chances, there was no Cabaye-esque presence which would be lethal in the attacking third. Our corners were mostly average and our other set pieces in the attacking end were needing a go at the goal; but no one seemed prepared to make that happen.

Enter the master of the house: Siem De Jong. Imagine a mature, attacking midfield master who can pass and score holding the middle allowing all of the other players to move around him.

One philosophical question: If Obertan gets a opportunity to play and no one notices...did it really happen?

[Matt]

I have to give you kudos for commenting in theme.

And you're right, I think de Jong is the player we desperately needed yesterday - someone with some instincts and timing to pounce on the ball in dangerous areas. It's been a recurring problem for NUFC over the last couple years, but it looked like there was an awful lot of standing around in the final third. Maybe you could chalk it up to the players' unfamiliarity with each other, but I feel like I've seen this script before.

[Dave in Newcastle]

I watched Arsenal on Saturday and noticed that every time Alexis tried to make something happened it was mistimed or the ball be 20 feet in the wrong direction. Wondering (hoping) if the issue for both surround early games with their new clubs and not having jelled just yet.

Don't forget Colback was also behind the corner that found Gouffran wide open.

I am also looking forward to the day in the summer of 2018 when we sell Ayzote to Castle on a Cloud that is Real Madrid for 80+ Million. Everyone with me on that one?

[Matt]

More in-theme comments! I'd say that in footballing terms, Real Madrid is indeed "a room that's full of toys."

[rob]

You may not want to hear this Matt but assuming Siem and Tiote are good to go against Villa I would drop Anita and Gouffy and stay in that 4-2-3-1. I thought Riviere's build-up play was pretty good but the decision-making that followed was poor. The long shot from some 30-35 yards away and the bullet cross that no one would ever be able to get a head on come to mind. Team will improve as they keeping playing with each other but at least the club have some positives to point to after the opening match.

[jaeger]

I thought Manu "Javiere" (trying to stay in theme) just was caught up in the emotions of opening day. that and he went up against one of the best back lines in the league. it would be interesting to see what a second striker with him (4-4-2/diamond midfield) would bring. still need to find our 'go-to' corner/free kick taker to send in accurate crosses. colback had a few good ones but not consistent yet.

the team will get better once they get more playing time together...

let's hope the Toon army doesn't become "Les Miserables"