Yes, I thought we looked noticeably more assured at the back and (their goal aside) can't recall Foster having to do anything . Yes, there's always a bit of a howler in this team, but hoping the defence will tighten up further for the next couple of matches. I'm a bit concerned at King and Dennis now as our goals are starting to dry up.
Did the same thing ,rewatching the whole game . I thought Kamara played well at the time but never really noted actually how well Kayembe played . Read the game well enabling him to sniff out attacks with minimal effort and made a couple luscious passes . Also credit to NGakia , he defended so well against Maximan, just unlucky that his one error lead to a goal .
Agree. Ngakia was excellent. His error was one you get from young players. He got the wrong side of ASM. He must learn from that though.
Error was annoying but he really had to then pull him down and that's probably also down to experience. If you look at the Newcastle yellow cards, they were mainly for stopping promising attacks.
Geordie reaction video with live footage of our goal. Worth watching for the crestfallen despondency.
The fan should have known better than to have predicted Sissoko to score. As demonstrated yesterday, he can't score for toffee.
I really don't know the problem with Dennis. He wasn't bad in that game, but I feel like he hasn't been 100% since the Afcon started. You know Dennis is fired up for a game when he is leading the defence from the front chasing down opposition players and at the other end he is always our main attacking treat. King on the other hand has been doing every other thing perfectly well except scoring and his decision making most time has been poor. He usually struggle to score in a one on one situation, the worst part is when we are on a counter attack and he killed it off by trying to score from 25 yards, that frustrates me a lot. Sent from my TECNO P701 using Tapatalk
This game on Saturday reminded me of something I've long thought: that especially, but not exclusively, away from home a late equaliser is strangely more satisfying than a late winner. I think it's something to do with denying the home team and fans their often expected home victory late on. The first time I remember feeling this was in a cup tie at Bramall Lane years ago when Dave Bassett had taken over as Sheff U manager after trashing our club. Gary Penrice scored a last minute equaliser just when it looked like we were out. (Of course we lost the replay.)
Really poor defending from Ngakia for Joelinton's chance too. He maybe has the potential but he doesn't look to be PL level yet. In hindsight, a season in the Championship this year probably would have been the best for him.
Not sure if it's been mentioned, but a lot of credit must go to Ranieri for his changes on Saturday. You live and die by them as a manager/head coach. Get them right you're a genius, get them wrong and you're sacked. Taking off Dennis for Cucho was slammed by Merson on SkySports at the time. It's not a call many would have made, but it paid off. The easy choice would have been Cucho for Pedro, but he kept Pedro on, he scores the goal and Cucho plays a part in the build up. Credit where it's due.
I suppose you could say that. Pedro was the best player on the pitch though so would've been a baffling call had he taken him off. I did think taking off Dennis was the wrong call given he's our talisman but yeah something isn't right with him at the moment so fair play.
Taking your best player off is obviously high risk, but when they’re not playing well I think it’s a clever move. Dennis is clearly talented and must know he’s our best player, but equally he knows if he doesn’t put a shift in or let’s it go to his head he’s not immune from getting subbed. It worked out well in this game and it could pay dividends in future games if it helps him to put more effort in and buck his ideas up.
Yes, I think that's spot on. ASM still had a heck of a lot to do after Ngakia's error, so it while it ultimately lead to a goal it's a lot more forgivable that some of the errors we've seen this season. All the same, he really should have just pulled ASM down at that point. Like you say, that's one for experience.
Yes, I remember at Cambridge (the one season they were quite good) around Xmas 1991, they were in the top 2 at the time and they absolutely battered us for the whole game yet somehow it remained 0-0 up until about 2 minutes from the end up popped Steve Butler.
Steve Butler, the Maidstone Utd goal machine, personally scouted by Steve Perryman. God he was sh1te. Wasn't that the game that Johnno made his debut?
