Still TOTL. But this was the opposite of our last game. There was little joy to be had tonight. And that’s because Newcastle – for understandable reasons – chose to adopt the well worn playbook of Bolton and Stoke. They played for a point. And got it.
We kept a clean sheet and got a hard earned point. We’ll be frustrated. But if we can take that frustration into our next match – The NLD – and take it out on them then I’ll be more than happy. And, more importantly, both Saka and Saliba avoided yellow cards, so they are eligible to play in that game.
We had out chances early on. We came out like gangbusters (again). But we could not quite take our chances. We were just off but just a smidge. You could see it all over the pitch. Both Zinny and Xhaka made misplaced passes. We did not see that at Brighton. But then Brighton did not sit there with 10 behind the ball. Given the transition in that club (Newcastle) over the last year it’s quite an impressive feat. Of course, it’s been more than helped by the endless pit of Saudi money. But at this stage, for them, a point protected their elevated position. You can be sure that when we go to St. James Park they will be more pressing, intense and less defensive.
We still managed to play some good football but too often we were falling into the trap of passing sideways and backwards and we tried to find gaps. The times when we were able to open them up was when we passed quicker and more vertical. But that was tough in such limited space.
I’ll come back to the size of our squad again. We made no changes from Saturday. I understand why. But I think we just missed a little extra zip today. Too many players were off by just 1%; which at this level is enough to change the outcome. For example, Martinelli, after his efforts against Brighton was relatively quiet. To be fair, Trippier played him quite well. Saka, on the other side was confronted by the man-mountain called Dunk (I mean, what sort of name is that) and then supported by at least one other. Saka still managed to create chances and worked well with Odegaard but never managed to make that final pass.
Eddie also worked hard. His link-up play has improved so much. But he barely had any chances today. What he did have though were a couple of bullying center-halves who kicked him around all game. As they did to Saka. In fact, as all of them did. From the first minute, in addition to time-wasting, they systematically fouled and broke the game up. Again, that is their right. It’s where they are as a team. But here we would expect a reasonable referee to control the game.
Instead, Madley started handing out yellow cards to them and clearly felt that he needed to be a socialist with his cards. So, to even things up, he handed cards to Eddie and Zinny while allowing pretty nasty tackles to not warrant more yellows for them. This resulted in a very petulant match that arose entirely from Madley’s mis-handling of the game.
Generally, the one thing that seemed about right at the world cup was the standard of refereeing (with one of two obvious exceptions). This is why just two English refs were appointed. Because here, in the most popular league in the world, we have refs like Madley and Tierney and others, who are not fit for the job.
Of course, again, this played right into Newcastle’s tactics. As the game progressed they managed to disrupt the rhythm of the game. From rolling on the ground, to chasing the ref and surrounding him this all managed to take us out of our stride. They successfully mastered the Allardyce playbook. In the end I was half waiting for the inevitable penalty to be awarded against us.
I don’t believe Ramsdale had a shot to save for the entire game. Their primary threat came from all the free-kicks they fell over for, and their corners. On the plus side, Saliba was back to his best with no silly mistakes. Alongside him Gabriel was also consistent even if there were too many times when he was isolated on the ball before Zinny or Partey made themselves available.
There are lessons here again for our young team. How to deal with a negative, solid, cynical and defensive team. How to deal with an incompetent referee. And how to manage a game. In years past we’d had overcommitted and given up a goal. Today, we pressed right until the end. Could have had a penalty but, in truth, did not require Pope to make more than a couple of important saves.
It’s tough to fault anyone today. But it was also noticeable how few substitutions we made. Just Tomi for White. No other ideas came from the bench to change things up. This speaks to the depth of our squad. Being able to bring someone else on who might have contributed that creative spark might have been the difference. Instead, we had to persist with the tired legs of our key players.
Fortunately we now have 10 days before the NLD. Hopefully we treat the F A Cup like the early rounds of the NoHoppa so that Partey, Saka etc don’t have to play.
I know we should have won this game but Newcastle really were pretty resolute. They have mastered the park-the-bus, time-wasting approach and sprinkled in a little bit of quality; just enough to threaten. But I still think Brighton are a better team than them. Of course, once Newcastle spend another £100m+ in this current window and also the next, we’ll see how they look.
They got the result they wanted and we didn’t. It’s not the worst outcome. We can’t win every game. There will always be games like this. The crowd were excellent today. They created a great atmosphere and supported the team throughout. But in a long season we should expect this. It’s also good experience for the team. For them to learn to take their chances when they are on top.
After the excitement and joy of West Ham and Brighton, this naturally feels like 2 points dropped. And a team that could contend to win the league can’t really afford that. However, with a stronger squad i.e. +1 Ukrainian, we will inevitably improve. The way Madley was running this game I was fearful that this was being tee’d up to send of Xhaka or Gabriel. So, I consider it fortunate that one of them did not lose their cool. Unlike Arteta. He also needs to calm himself down on the sidelines. Sometimes – like at Anfield last year – he can become a distraction. And I worry that his frustration gets transmitted to the players. But that is also part of his (and the teams) inexperience. But it also shows how intense and committed he is. How fully engaged and emotionally involved he is. And, especially when you have a ref like Madley, it must be so frustrating. Nonetheless, Arteta needs to manage that and allow his team to focus on applying pressure. Which, to be fair, for the most part they did.
Off to the F. A. Cup now. Let’s hope by the time we get to the NLD that Conte is still in place. He is doing such a fine job over there. Everything we could have hoped for. They spent +£100m in the last transfer window, and yet he still moans. With a little luck Vieira will emulate Emery. And then we can put the final nail in place. But before that it’s off to Oxford.
And, always remember. We are TOTL. Still.
-LB7