Three takes on Newcastle's shock win at White Hart Lane yesterday, almost as quick as it took Sammy Ameobi to score...
A tale of two halves
Let's start with Sammy's goal, shall we? The dictionary doesn't contain enough disparaging adjectives to describe how abject the first-half performance was. As analyst Danny Murphy accurately stated, Newcastle looked like a team that was simply waiting to get beaten. Though Tottenham wasn't making the most of its chances, that's exactly what looked destined to happen. There was no apparent strategy other than packing it in around goal. Then Ameobi came on at halftime and scored six seconds after the whistle, and suddenly Newcastle decided it felt like playing.
I've said for some time now that Sammy deserves to start. It's a shame that injuries have prevented him from being able to really challenge for the starting XI on a weekly basis. His 2014 appearances have been few and far between because of those injuries, but his directness and left-footed creativity are qualities the current squad lacks. Let's hope Alan Pardew agrees and actually gives a worthy young player the chance to shine.
Cabella-ella-ella
Speaking of players making the most of their sub appearances, how about that Rémy Cabella? The ex-Montpellier man has divided the fans with some pretty uneven performances early in his tenure, and looked perilously close to becoming Hatem Ben Arfa 2.0 in Pardew's eyes. However, he came off the bench with a plan, completing 16 of his 18 passes (including a perfect cross for his assist) and also managing four tackles. Like Ameobi, he has hopefully punched his ticket back into the starting lineup.
One start, one goal
First-time starter Ayoze Pérez was the beneficiary of Cabella's good service, nodding in the header that proved to be the match-winner. It wasn't an easy afternoon for Pérez, who was (unfairly in my view) criticized by the commentators as not ready for the Premier League. When Pardew goes with the ultra-conservative approach we saw in the first half, most lone strikers will struggle. There just isn't the support to do anything except get shoved off the ball by a defender. However, we have seen from his sub appearances that Pérez does get himself into prime scoring areas if given the opportunity. With a more determined attacking effort in the second half, he did just that. You'd like to think that the manager would learn something about how to get the most out of these players from a performance like this. Sadly, we've read this script too many times over the past few seasons.
We were lucky to be playing a Spurs team that appears to have learnt football from the same book as our lot. Having said that Sammy's goal was great and well done Perez. Also well done Colbeck for a beautifully wighted pass to Sammy.
We are still dreadful however and playing almost any other team would have lost.
Posted by: Meditative Mag | 10/27/2014 at 08:58 AM
yes the first half was bad... don't think it was as bad as say...the southampton match... the goal came after 2 or 3 committed blocked shots... they showed a little more effort in defending than previously seen this year. much better play in the second... credit to pardew for the tactical changes he made.
sammy and cabella probably will get the start against city. cabella in the CAM role and i could see obertan getting the start at RM. perez should stay as a sub and start against liverpool....
City match lineup:
Krul
Janmaat---saylor--colo---haidara
-------abeid----sissoko------
obertan----cabella------sammy
---------Ferreya-----
Posted by: jaeger | 10/27/2014 at 06:46 PM
Any podcast anytime soon lads?
Posted by: Rob | 10/28/2014 at 04:24 AM
I'm never quite sure what to think about giving Pardew credit for a performance like that. True, those subs turned the match. At the same time, the play in the first half was bad enough that it should be a mark against him for sending out a team that looked so terrible.
Phil and I have been talking podcasts a bit over email. All I can say is that we haven't forgotten about them, and we should be recording one shortly. (Shortly in this context probably means after the Liverpool match.)
Posted by: Matt | 10/28/2014 at 09:42 AM
Is it just me or was anyone else excited to see Raylor running the touchline? Maybe I've missed it the last few matches?
Posted by: JeffC | 10/28/2014 at 11:52 AM