Newcastle 0-0 LCFC - Post-Match Thread

[st albans fox]

1 hour ago, Gamble92 said:

You know what is actually funny -

 

If you Put Souttar, Vesty and Soyuncu in a back three and give @Ric Flair the job for 38 games, we stay up. A man paid £8 million and loved by all of Britain outside Rothley and most parts of Thurmaston couldn't.

Even ric would be struggling to get a fella signed at the end of January to play 38 games .

[oadby.fox]

A frustrating game in many ways but not necessarily because of the park the bus approach. We rode our luck massively at times, though you could also say that they were fortunate with the red card decision.

 

In spite of that, I find the performance frustrating because I question where this resilience was in the last few games. Play like that against Fulham, for instance, and we probably get something from the game. Likewise against Liverpool and perhaps we sh*thouse a win against Everton etc. What I saw yesterday was, in many ways, what I was expecting from Dean Smith to begin with. A ”back to basics” and “hard to beat” approach, stop conceding so many sloppy goals and get some assuredness back into the side. Perhaps it just took him longer to get that kind of performance out of them with the limited time he’s had but it felt like too much of a purposeful tactical switch. One that, sadly, will likely be too little too late.

Edited 23 May 2023 by oadby.fox

[sacreblueits442]

18 minutes ago, whoareyaaa said:

Possibly although there is only 90 minutes left and we need to start with players who are capable of scoring and be on the front foot from the off imo. It’s too late to start playing rigid and expect us to then score and win, against Newcastle away fair enough but we won’t get 3 points. Playing like that as proven last night with one shot all game.

 

we should be hammering the West Ham goal from this 1st minute

...it won't be the same approach!!!

We are just not looking to shoot ourselves in the foot in the first 5 minutes. You are right, we do have 90 minutes to win why try and win it in the first 10, when as you have witnessed other teams have had a field day playing against us, as we play a far too open game.

   Everton hammered us, only good goalkeeping and poor finishing saved us. Fulham was 4 up before we realised there was a game to be played, Bamford missed a sitter from a yard out at Leeds, and Newcastle hit the post three times last night, we have ridden our luck, why invite more woes by going gung ho.

[whoareyaaa]

14 minutes ago, sacreblueits442 said:

...it won't be the same approach!!!

We are just not looking to shoot ourselves in the foot in the first 5 minutes. You are right, we do have 90 minutes to win why try and win it in the first 10, when as you have witnessed other teams have had a field day playing against us, as we play a far too open game.

   Everton hammered us, only good goalkeeping and poor finishing saved us. Fulham was 4 up before we realised there was a game to be played, Bamford missed a sitter from a yard out at Leeds, and Newcastle hit the post three times last night, we have ridden our luck, why invite more woes by going gung ho.

I can’t see West Ham going all out for the win so we should take that incentive and go attacking and try and get a couple of goals 

[oxtonfox]

6 hours ago, yorkie1999 said:

Still don't get last nights game, we had one spell where we looked a completly different side and nearly scored, was that the plan? to hold on for 85 minutes and just wait for one chance.  surely not, or are there darker forces at work.

Our block was way deeper than the Mariana trench. (see wikipedia) 

[ARM1968]

West Ham likely to field a much weakened side. 

[STEVIE B]

Didn't watch or keep in touch with what was going on as I'm away in Canada.

When l did see the result l was pleasantly surprised. Didn't concede 5,6 or 7 as predicted. Therefore l don't understand some of the negativity. 

Edited 23 May 2023 by STEVIE B

[Chelmofox]

2 minutes ago, ARM1968 said:

West Ham likely to field a much weakened side. 

Why? 

[Golden Fox]

The whole nature of the performance last night - which was parking the bus, happy with less than 20% possession, just trying not to concede & thumping long balls forward in the hope that something stuck - was exactly what you would expect for the 2nd bottom team with 1 win in 15 playing away at the 3rd place team. I'm not going to criticise too much to game plan, as we'd have likely got torn apart playing more expansively.

 

What amazes me though, is we were looking at the team sheet thinking that was the best we could do & we were down to the bare bones of quality in the squad.

But just look a the FA Cup winning team... Only 4 players different.  It does make you realise how much of the game is in the head that 7 out of 10 of those outfield starters can win the 2nd biggest tophy in the English game, but now believe they aren't good enough to cross the half way line.

 

+ Soumare, Soutter, Faes & Iverson

(Maddison on bench & coming on in both fixtures)

[st albans fox]

24 minutes ago, ARM1968 said:

West Ham likely to field a much weakened side. 

 

21 minutes ago, Chelmofox said:

Why? 

They played a much stronger team on Sunday v Leeds than I expected 

 

I could possibly see them starting a weakened team on Sunday and bringing five first choice players on for the second half (or a mix n match of that approach)

 

what moyes won’t want is 2 1/2 weeks of no competitive football for his ECL final starters (and I doubt he’ll want to see his beloved Everton relegated)

Edited 23 May 2023 by st albans fox

[Fox92]

25 minutes ago, ARM1968 said:

West Ham likely to field a much weakened side. 

People keep saying this, but their fans say it won't happen.

 

West Ham played a strong side against Leeds.

[Chelmofox]

7 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

 

They played a much stronger team on Sunday v Leeds than I expected 

 

I could possibly see them starting a weakened team on Sunday and bringing five first choice players on for the second half (or a mix n match of that approach)

 

what moyes won’t want is 2 1/2 weeks of no competitive football for his ECL final starters (and I doubt he’ll want to see his beloved Everton relegated)

Momentum is important, and West Ham have some right now. Fielding a weakend side they risk losing that. The best prep for the final is to keep some continuity to keep that momentum. There is plenty of time between our match and the final to play a pretty strong line up.

 

Think all this talk of weakend sides and being on the beach is unhelpful. Players, clubs and fans still want to win football games.

Edited 23 May 2023 by Chelmofox

[ARM1968]

2 hours ago, Chelmofox said:

Why? 

Well if I need to tell you you’re likely not old enough to be on this forum. 

[Phil Bowman]

2 hours ago, Fox92 said:

2 hours ago, ARM1968 said:

West Ham likely to field a much weakened side. 

People keep saying this, but their fans say it won't happen.

Yeah... I would imagine their fans know as much about this stuff as our fans do.

 

I thought Maddison did ok last night considering his broken toe.

[brendanmcgovern1988]

On 22/05/2023 at 22:36, BigGibbo said:

That's a big if. The xG shows it was essentially impossible for us to win as we didn't attempt to and also that the fact we didn't concede was more luck than judgement. 

 

That result in the Liverpool game when we had more time would have been good enough but not tonight.

Tbf, we rode our luck more than ive ever seen or known, but we had 1 attempt and had it gone in, we'd all be ecstatic, as it is, people are complaining about the game plan because it didnt go in. 

 

I genuinely had fears of us being 3 nil down by 20m into the game. 

 

It was very much a case of back to extreme basics, and yes it was a horrific watch. 

 

But, would you rather we went for it and been torn apart like most games this season or at the very least, played the occasion a bit smarter and still have a chance. 

 

I was frustrated watching it, almost broke my back contorting when that chance came our way, unfortunately it fell to our right back. It is what it is. 

 

Yes it was a must win, so have the last 4 or 5 games been, and yes we got torn to shreds, but that result gives us a lot more hope than I thought we'd have given the form and complete lack of confidence. It was more of a DO NOT LOSE THIS GAME, than it was must win because, we have more of a chance now than we did. 

 

Ppl might not like it or want to accept it, but that is the situation. 

 

If we do manage to stay in the league, that will be considered the most valuable point we've earned in years, no ifs or buts. 

 

We'll only know after sundays game how impactful that result is. 

 

Not looking forward to Sunday one bit at all mind you 😂😬😔

[iancognito]

59 minutes ago, brendanmcgovern1988 said:

Tbf, we rode our luck more than ive ever seen or known, but we had 1 attempt and had it gone in, we'd all be ecstatic, as it is, people are complaining about the game plan because it didnt go in. 

 

People - myself included - have spent the past couple of months bemoaning the lack of effort in the side, the way we're too open, the way they've seemingly given up and yet when we mount one of the most defensive backs to the wall displays of football in PL history, put a shift in, block, tackle and head away everything that comes into the box, people moan because we didn't try to do more to win. Everyone on here and in the various social groups was indulging in the gallows humour of how many we'd concede, whether we'd wipe out our goal difference etc and yet we kept a clean sheet and that's not enough.

The irony wasn't lost on me when Martin O'Neill was on Talksport saying how surprised he was we approached the game so negatively. Just 27 years after he did exactly the same thing to Boro in the League Cup final that was played out to chants of "Boring Boring Leicester" because he got Kaamark to sit on Juninho and cut out the supply to Ravanelli. Think it was Extra Time before we had a shot on target that day.

[iancognito]

59 minutes ago, brendanmcgovern1988 said:

Tbf, we rode our luck more than ive ever seen or known, but we had 1 attempt and had it gone in, we'd all be ecstatic, as it is, people are complaining about the game plan because it didnt go in. 

 

People - myself included - have spent the past couple of months bemoaning the lack of effort in the side, the way we're too open, the way they've seemingly given up and yet when we mount one of the most defensive backs to the wall displays of football in PL history, put a shift in, block, tackle and head away everything that comes into the box, people moan because we didn't try to do more to win. Everyone on here and in the various social groups was indulging in the gallows humour of how many we'd concede, whether we'd wipe out our goal difference etc and yet we kept a clean sheet and that's not enough.

The irony wasn't lost on me when Martin O'Neill was on Talksport saying how surprised he was we approached the game so negatively. Just 27 years after he did exactly the same thing to Boro in the League Cup final that was played out to chants of "Boring Boring Leicester" because he got Kaamark to sit on Juninho and cut out the supply to Ravanelli. Think it was Extra Time before we had a shot on target that day.

[Chrysalis]

Result in isolation is decent, given the situation and the domination of Newcastle, not so much.

 

At least we actually have a clean sheet now and got of that hoodoo.

[gerrytaggart]

On 22/05/2023 at 21:57, Foxxed said:

Makes our final day a little easier.

 

Everton can't stay up with a draw.

Yes they can and they probably will.

[BigGibbo]

7 hours ago, brendanmcgovern1988 said:

Tbf, we rode our luck more than ive ever seen or known, but we had 1 attempt and had it gone in, we'd all be ecstatic, as it is, people are complaining about the game plan because it didnt go in. 

 

I genuinely had fears of us being 3 nil down by 20m into the game. 

 

It was very much a case of back to extreme basics, and yes it was a horrific watch. 

 

But, would you rather we went for it and been torn apart like most games this season or at the very least, played the occasion a bit smarter and still have a chance. 

 

I was frustrated watching it, almost broke my back contorting when that chance came our way, unfortunately it fell to our right back. It is what it is. 

 

Yes it was a must win, so have the last 4 or 5 games been, and yes we got torn to shreds, but that result gives us a lot more hope than I thought we'd have given the form and complete lack of confidence. It was more of a DO NOT LOSE THIS GAME, than it was must win because, we have more of a chance now than we did. 

 

Ppl might not like it or want to accept it, but that is the situation. 

 

If we do manage to stay in the league, that will be considered the most valuable point we've earned in years, no ifs or buts. 

 

We'll only know after sundays game how impactful that result is. 

 

Not looking forward to Sunday one bit at all mind you 😂😬😔

I know completely where you're coming from, but for me a must win game is something that you at least attempt to win regardless. 1 half chance from our right back doesn't equate to that.

 

Plenty of our players would walk into their team under normal circumstances (i.e. when playing to their mean average ability based on recent seasons), including 2 we started on the bench, the quality gap wasn't that far it's just our defence (and form) that's the shambles, which we played in favour of, meaning we played to our weakness rather than our strength. That is all.

[TheFish]

1 hour ago, BigGibbo said:

I know completely where you're coming from, but for me a must win game is something that you at least attempt to win regardless. 1 half chance from our right back doesn't equate to that.

 

Plenty of our players would walk into their team under normal circumstances (i.e. when playing to their mean average ability based on recent seasons), including 2 we started on the bench, the quality gap wasn't that far it's just our defence (and form) that's the shambles, which we played in favour of, meaning we played to our weakness rather than our strength. That is all.

Aren't there different ways to win? I know under Benitez we would start quick, then camp in after 5 minutes until the final 5-10 minutes. It was pragmatic, boring, but effective. Looks to me like Smith wanted to ride out the pressure, then take advantage of our tired legs by bringing on your more attacking, more high quality players. And it nearly worked. If he had rocked up and tried to play an expansive attacking game, I'm sure we would have welcomed that with open arms. As it stands we don't have enough players with enough quality to reliably break through a low block, we definitely have the players to press high, force errors and take advantage in transition.

[BigGibbo]

1 minute ago, TheFish said:

Aren't there different ways to win? I know under Benitez we would start quick, then camp in after 5 minutes until the final 5-10 minutes. It was pragmatic, boring, but effective. Looks to me like Smith wanted to ride out the pressure, then take advantage of our tired legs by bringing on your more attacking, more high quality players. And it nearly worked. If he had rocked up and tried to play an expansive attacking game, I'm sure we would have welcomed that with open arms. As it stands we don't have enough players with enough quality to reliably break through a low block, we definitely have the players to press high, force errors and take advantage in transition.

Yes and no.

 

Yes there are different ways to win and no it did not nearly work.

 

Statistically it almost certainly did not work and we were incredibly lucky to take anything from the game, although granted we could have achieved an even more unlikely event in the snatch and grab with our solitary chance at the end.

 

If, however, we had managed to hold on until 45/60 even 75 mins then applied much more pressure, that could have altered them odds, but we did not do that.

 

It may have been a pragmatic and intelligent approach to the game, but we didn't execute on the final part of it giving ourselves practically zero chance of winning a must win game. Essentially. 

[Number 6]

4 minutes ago, BigGibbo said:

Yes and no.

 

Yes there are different ways to win and no it did not nearly work.

 

Statistically it almost certainly did not work and we were incredibly lucky to take anything from the game, although granted we could have achieved an even more unlikely event in the snatch and grab with our solitary chance at the end.

 

If, however, we had managed to hold on until 45/60 even 75 mins then applied much more pressure, that could have altered them odds, but we did not do that.

 

It may have been a pragmatic and intelligent approach to the game, but we didn't execute on the final part of it giving ourselves practically zero chance of winning a must win game. Essentially. 

Can we stop using must win when games aren't must win. We can still survive and so it wasn't must win. Sunday is a must win game.

[BigGibbo]

Just now, Number 6 said:

Can we stop using must win when games aren't must win. We can still survive and so it wasn't must win. Sunday is a must win game.

We can still win and go down. It was a must win in terms of keeping our fate in our own hands.

[Muzzy_no7]

West Ham will be full Regalia for this other than the goalkeeper which they usually change for Europe.