Match Day thread . NUFC v Leicester

[MultipleJesuses]

Jfc... I logged on to ask why no one was talking about Murphy's pass for the first goal, and everyone's rambling on about being as bad as Pardew and McLaren. The squads Pards and Schteve had their disposal compared to the current one were f***ing world-beaters.

We have a Championship standard squad. There are very few, if any, of the current players who would get into our squad from Pardew/McLaren eras. And the premier league is far, far more competitive now, even at the mid-bottom table portion.

I'm not defending Rafa's tactics or team selection, I can't say I've agreed with much he's done or said since September, but to even compare him to Pardew or McLaren... f*** me. It's a miracle we're not rock bottom.

[TJR]

Jfc... I logged on to ask why no one was talking about Murphy's pass for the first goal, and everyone's rambling on about being as bad as Pardew and McLaren. The squads Pards and Schteve had their disposal compared to the current one were f***ing world-beaters.

We have a Championship standard squad. There are very few, if any, of the current players who would get into our squad from Pardew/McLaren eras. And the premier league is far, far more competitive now, even at the mid-bottom table portion.

I'm not defending Rafa's tactics or team selection, I can't say I've agreed with much he's done or said since September, but to even compare him to Pardew or McLaren... f*** me. It's a miracle we're not rock bottom.

This.

Some of our 'fans' need to give their head a wobble.

The reaction to this run of form has been ridiculous from some. If people didn't expect this at the start of the season they must have been living in some sort of fantasy land.

We've got a Championship squad. You can count the Premier League quality players on one hand. Also we've got the youngest squad in the league, it's not just Premier League quality we lack, it's also Premier League experience.

To finish 17th this season would be a magnificent achievement and something everyone (the delusional aside) would have been delighted with giving the squad we have at our disposal. So to be 16th at this stage is ok, absolutely no need for the massive overreaction we've seen from some in recent weeks.

[Mbemba You're a Womble]

Jfc... I logged on to ask why no one was talking about Murphy's pass for the first goal, and everyone's rambling on about being as bad as Pardew and McLaren. The squads Pards and Schteve had their disposal compared to the current one were f***ing world-beaters.

We have a Championship standard squad. There are very few, if any, of the current players who would get into our squad from Pardew/McLaren eras. And the premier league is far, far more competitive now, even at the mid-bottom table portion.

I'm not defending Rafa's tactics or team selection, I can't say I've agreed with much he's done or said since September, but to even compare him to Pardew or McLaren... **** me. It's a miracle we're not rock bottom.

This.

Some of our 'fans' need to give their head a wobble.

The reaction to this run of form has been ridiculous from some. If people didn't expect this at the start of the season they must have been living in some sort of fantasy land.

We've got a Championship squad. You can count the Premier League quality players on one hand. Also we've got the youngest squad in the league, it's not just Premier League quality we lack, it's also Premier League experience.

To finish 17th this season would be a magnificent achievement and something everyone (the delusional aside) would have been delighted with giving the squad we have at our disposal. So to be 16th at this stage is ok, absolutely no need for the massive overreaction we've seen from some in recent weeks.

Agreed!

In the heat of the moment, every fan has a right to be pissed off at how the side is playing, and how the players aren't cutting it. But when you step back, we aren't fielding enough players in a team that should be playing at this level, so you can't expect anything much from them.

I can't really think of a player in a squad that has shown previously that they can go out and constantly be counted on at this level.

Some players like Merino and Lascelles are showing us that they might be capable. But what happens when they aren't in the team, or having a bad game. Who's the players that have and right mentality and ability to stand up and be counted - nobody!

Only those two players I'd say would get into the squads of the teams we're competing against. Other managers would rather just stick with what they have, or wouldn't go near.

[originallad]

This.

Some of our 'fans' need to give their head a wobble.

The reaction to this run of form has been ridiculous from some. If people didn't expect this at the start of the season they must have been living in some sort of fantasy land.

We've got a Championship squad. You can count the Premier League quality players on one hand. Also we've got the youngest squad in the league, it's not just Premier League quality we lack, it's also Premier League experience.

To finish 17th this season would be a magnificent achievement and something everyone (the delusional aside) would have been delighted with giving the squad we have at our disposal. So to be 16th at this stage is ok, absolutely no need for the massive overreaction we've seen from some in recent weeks.

Agreed!

In the heat of the moment, every fan has a right to be pissed off at how the side is playing, and how the players aren't cutting it. But when you step back, we aren't fielding enough players in a team that should be playing at this level, so you can't expect anything much from them.

I can't really think of a player in a squad that has shown previously that they can go out and constantly be counted on at this level.

Some players like Merino and Lascelles are showing us that they might be capable. But what happens when they aren't in the team, or having a bad game. Who's the players that have and right mentality and ability to stand up and be counted - nobody!

Only those two players I'd say would get into the squads of the teams we're competing against. Other managers would rather just stick with what they have, or wouldn't go near.

This as well. Ashlely the cronut didn't invest and the squad is what it is because of that. Rafa has his faults. But at the end of the day, he can only work with what he's got. Would totally take 17th now if it was offered.

[Deano]

I think that the team played well first 10 minutes or so then after going 1 0 up there was no urgency there was nothing about us for the rest of the match barring a spell in the second half were we played well enough in but some of the substitutions were baffling to me to take Ritchie off for Atsu was a head scratcher and Mitro didn't get long enough to really make any sort of an impact midfield needs someone who will give it a bit of a bite to it as well

As far as substituting ritchie goes You need someone with a good delivery on the field yes I understand Ritchie isn't the quickest and does have a tendancie to go in and out of games but there was no one else on the pitch that could create something in that same way

What I do find worrying however is that the last couple times I've attended st James now I have walked away thinking the front 4 look like they've never played together before at points

I don't know where the next 3 points will come from looking at the upcoming fixtures I reckon west ham away and Brighton at home are the next winnable games I just hope we have some serious investment in January at this point

[UlversToon]

A couple of months ago we were saying there were winnable games against Burnley, Bournemouth, Watford, West Brom and Leicester so what makes you think we can now beat Everton, West Ham and Brighton?

Not sure if anyone said we would win all of those games and that's not what I'm saying. Looking back I think we should have really beaten Bournemouth and maybe West Brom but the rest I'm not so sure.

We had been quite a solid side up until Lascelles injury, so I believe having him back will make a huge difference.

I wasn't suggesting that anyone said we would win all of those games, I think what I was trying to say was that if we don't win winnable games then where are the points needed to stay up going to come from, certainly not in upcoming games against Arsenal or Man City.

[Burnopfield]

Jfc... I logged on to ask why no one was talking about Murphy's pass for the first goal, and everyone's rambling on about being as bad as Pardew and McLaren. The squads Pards and Schteve had their disposal compared to the current one were f***ing world-beaters.

We have a Championship standard squad. There are very few, if any, of the current players who would get into our squad from Pardew/McLaren eras. And the premier league is far, far more competitive now, even at the mid-bottom table portion.

I'm not defending Rafa's tactics or team selection, I can't say I've agreed with much he's done or said since September, but to even compare him to Pardew or McLaren... **** me. It's a miracle we're not rock bottom.

This.

Some of our 'fans' need to give their head a wobble.

The reaction to this run of form has been ridiculous from some. If people didn't expect this at the start of the season they must have been living in some sort of fantasy land.

We've got a Championship squad. You can count the Premier League quality players on one hand. Also we've got the youngest squad in the league, it's not just Premier League quality we lack, it's also Premier League experience.

To finish 17th this season would be a magnificent achievement and something everyone (the delusional aside) would have been delighted with giving the squad we have at our disposal. So to be 16th at this stage is ok, absolutely no need for the massive overreaction we've seen from some in recent weeks.

Spot on - the fact is with the current squad we should not be competing. Not sure we should be 16th. We have prob the worse squad in division. What we have is a good manager plus a big impos8ng home ground tha5 no one will relish coming to.

If the fans get behind the team, not expect to be competing for a champions league place just because we get a big crowd, we will scrape enough points to stay up. Will go to the wire but confident that through the winter months, with the atmoshere at SJP enough teams will have off days and we will take points.

Time for fans to get realistic, realise our squad/team is not good enough but get behind the team.

[Colly]

No fans at St James' are expecting Champions League football, they're just expecting a bit of effort and concentration. Watford had an off day and could've had 5, lucky for us they only got 3. The fans are still behind the team, but they need something to get excited about and this random XI who barely look like they know each other when they get on the pitch isn't helping.

[Don Sholeone]

If I'm going to be positive then Id say Everton, West Ham and Brighton are all winnable, win those 3 and our season looks completely different and leaves us with only 16 points to earn over the second half of the season.

[Sir Bobby]

If I'm going to be positive then Id say Everton, West Ham and Brighton are all winnable, win those 3 and our season looks completely different and leaves us with only 16 points to earn over the second half of the season.

In reality it’ll probs be closer to 35 points that will be needed this season, if previous seasons are anything to go by anyway. 6-9 points from those 3 games will put us in a much more comfortable position.

[Bruuuuuuuuce ()]

We're actually painful to watch. We're not organised, we're not good at keeping the ball and working the opposition, we don't even have a player who can get a goal from nothing, a la Mahrez, *cough* Ben Arfa *cough*. Honestly not sure how we're trying to play. Our movement off the ball is awful. You could watch Leicester for 5 minutes yesterday and see that when their defenders or midfield have the ball, they can hit Vardy or even play a long ball to an area where he's racing the defender to put them under pressure, forcing Clark to clear out for a throw. When the ball does get to vardy, he looks after it and they had players playing off him like Mahrez and Gray. Joselu can't hold it up. Ritchie and Murphy offer nothing going forward and even less defensively. I'd seriously consider playing Atsu and Aarons on Wednesday. If you're playing left back against Murphy or Ritchie you've got free roam to get forward knowing you won't be punished and you'll rarely be tracked. At least with atsu and Aarons, there's a chance they'll go direct and cause some danger. Hayden doesn't work in a two because his ability lets him down. Asking too much of him to play in a two where he has to actually get involved. Manquillo is shocking too. You could buy a player for £10m and they'd be an upgrade on any player on that pitch yesterday.

We did buy a player for £10m. Murphy, Ritchie and Gayle were all £10m+ and Gayle is the only one who looked it yesterday. Lejeune wasn't cheap either but he's struggling badly.

Painful that we spent so much on Murphy. Think we may have bought the wrong one.

[MitroMania]

This.

Some of our 'fans' need to give their head a wobble.

The reaction to this run of form has been ridiculous from some. If people didn't expect this at the start of the season they must have been living in some sort of fantasy land.

We've got a Championship squad. You can count the Premier League quality players on one hand. Also we've got the youngest squad in the league, it's not just Premier League quality we lack, it's also Premier League experience.

To finish 17th this season would be a magnificent achievement and something everyone (the delusional aside) would have been delighted with giving the squad we have at our disposal. So to be 16th at this stage is ok, absolutely no need for the massive overreaction we've seen from some in recent weeks.

Spot on - the fact is with the current squad we should not be competing. Not sure we should be 16th. We have prob the worse squad in division. What we have is a good manager plus a big impos8ng home ground tha5 no one will relish coming to.

If the fans get behind the team, not expect to be competing for a champions league place just because we get a big crowd, we will scrape enough points to stay up. Will go to the wire but confident that through the winter months, with the atmoshere at SJP enough teams will have off days and we will take points.

Time for fans to get realistic, realise our squad/team is not good enough but get behind the team.

It's not about the team not being good enough, most people would accept that already. It's the complete lack of gameplay, fluency, urgency and consistency of selection that ultimately comes from Rafa.

We have no attacking impetus whatsoever, irrespective of the calibre of players we have, at least set them up to attack or be attack minded during periods of the game. He doesn't. He sets them up to be "solid" and "compact" which results in us conceding 2/3/4 goals while offering very little going the other way.

If we're going to lose at least lose knowing that we gave everything to try and win the game, not we gave everything to secure a point. I don't think anyone here can understand what it is exactly we are doing on the field. His team selections are often baffling and the complete lack of forward momentum mean we pass around the back until one of them decides to lump it up field and lose it.

We have atsu, Ritchie and Murphy, all players who are better going forward than back. Set them up on the front foot, give the team some width and movement and get the crowd going. Instead it's 451, a lucky goal and then the obligatory Royal
spanking

[Donkey Toon]

If I'm going to be positive then Id say Everton, West Ham and Brighton are all winnable, win those 3 and our season looks completely different and leaves us with only 16 points to earn over the second half of the season.

Positivity is all well and good but I've seen nothing in our last half-dozen performances to give me any confidence that we will any of those games let alone all three.

[bodacious benny]

Bad time to play Everton, definitely turned a corner.

[bodacious benny]

Just seen very brief highlights on MOTD 2 as was away this weekend, but Merino (had several poor games on the spin now), Lejeune (as per Merino...) and Darlow didn't cover themselves in much glory.

[biggeordiedave]

Jfc... I logged on to ask why no one was talking about Murphy's pass for the first goal, and everyone's rambling on about being as bad as Pardew and McLaren. The squads Pards and Schteve had their disposal compared to the current one were f***ing world-beaters.

We have a Championship standard squad. There are very few, if any, of the current players who would get into our squad from Pardew/McLaren eras. And the premier league is far, far more competitive now, even at the mid-bottom table portion.

I'm not defending Rafa's tactics or team selection, I can't say I've agreed with much he's done or said since September, but to even compare him to Pardew or McLaren... f*** me. It's a miracle we're not rock bottom.

We still look like we did under McClaren. We nick an early goal and start quite well, but then the second the opposition put a bit of pressure on, we go to absolute s*** allover the pitch. I'm not saying Benitez and McClaren are in the same league as managers, it just feels very similar to the season before the last. We do have a relatively poor squad, but they shouldn't be picked apart so easily. We weren't earlier in the season so what's changed?

[Remember Colo]

Jfc... I logged on to ask why no one was talking about Murphy's pass for the first goal, and everyone's rambling on about being as bad as Pardew and McLaren. The squads Pards and Schteve had their disposal compared to the current one were f***ing world-beaters.

We have a Championship standard squad. There are very few, if any, of the current players who would get into our squad from Pardew/McLaren eras. And the premier league is far, far more competitive now, even at the mid-bottom table portion.

I'm not defending Rafa's tactics or team selection, I can't say I've agreed with much he's done or said since September, but to even compare him to Pardew or McLaren... f*** me. It's a miracle we're not rock bottom.

We still look like we did under McClaren. We nick an early goal and start quite well, but then the second the opposition put a bit of pressure on, we go to absolute s*** allover the pitch. I'm not saying Benitez and McClaren are in the same league as managers, it just feels very similar to the season before the last. We do have a relatively poor squad, but they shouldn't be picked apart so easily. We weren't earlier in the season so what's changed?

Your last point is interesting. Because everyone is saying now that the squad isn't good enough to compete or win games. Except we were competitive in every match to start the season, and did demonstrate the ability to win. But it's as if everyone at the back has forgotten their positioning and has no discipline when it comes to their responsibilities. They need to play better, and those that are in this rut and incapable of getting out of it need to be removed from the lineup.

[Colly]

We still look like we did under McClaren. We nick an early goal and start quite well, but then the second the opposition put a bit of pressure on, we go to absolute s*** allover the pitch. I'm not saying Benitez and McClaren are in the same league as managers, it just feels very similar to the season before the last. We do have a relatively poor squad, but they shouldn't be picked apart so easily. We weren't earlier in the season so what's changed?

Your last point is interesting. Because everyone is saying now that the squad isn't good enough to compete or win games. Except we were competitive in every match to start the season, and did demonstrate the ability to win. But it's as if everyone at the back has forgotten their positioning and has no discipline when it comes to their responsibilities. They need to play better, and those that are in this rut and incapable of getting out of it need to be removed from the lineup.

I'll take me boots Wednesday then.

[MultipleJesuses]

Jfc... I logged on to ask why no one was talking about Murphy's pass for the first goal, and everyone's rambling on about being as bad as Pardew and McLaren. The squads Pards and Schteve had their disposal compared to the current one were f***ing world-beaters.

We have a Championship standard squad. There are very few, if any, of the current players who would get into our squad from Pardew/McLaren eras. And the premier league is far, far more competitive now, even at the mid-bottom table portion.

I'm not defending Rafa's tactics or team selection, I can't say I've agreed with much he's done or said since September, but to even compare him to Pardew or McLaren... **** me. It's a miracle we're not rock bottom.

We still look like we did under McClaren. We nick an early goal and start quite well, but then the second the opposition put a bit of pressure on, we go to absolute s*** allover the pitch. I'm not saying Benitez and McClaren are in the same league as managers, it just feels very similar to the season before the last. We do have a relatively poor squad, but they shouldn't be picked apart so easily. We weren't earlier in the season so what's changed?

Fair point that I hadn't really considered! I'm sure someone can prove me wrong by providing dates or whatever but an oversimplified explanation might be no Lascelles? I'm not saying he's some miracle defender that'll come back and fix everything, but he's the leader at the back and he calls the line. To me, his absence perfectly explain's what I'm Over Colo said: "But it's as if everyone at the back has forgotten their positioning and has no discipline when it comes to their responsibilities." - that sounds like a perfect example of a defence missing a leader.

[Colly]

Lascelles missed a couple early in the season too though so I think that's too simplistic. Clark has led defenses last season and actually looked more composed and controlling the line better than Lascelles did (certainly at the time). Don't forget that as well as Lascelles being out we've chopped and changed full backs and central midfielders game by game, whereas last year we were pretty consistent. That makes a massive difference.