Classic match for this time of year. Overall, a decent point against a well organised team and some good match fitness for some of our rotation players. It would have been great to get three points that neither team deserved. But I’m pretty happy with the point. Oh sorry - also, we go again.
Squad rotation is fine. And we have the squad to do it with so many fantastic replacements in most positions. Just not so many in one go. The management Ballsed the tactics up massively. Complacency, maybe. Underestimated opposition, definitely.
Pretty annoyed about that - very strange set up. One positive - cannot see the Pozzos lett8ng Doucoure go after that. All this talk about us having quality in midfield aside from him and Capoue are mad. Lose Doucoure and we will struggle
Now that the VAR decision has been made, I think there is one more step we need to take - independent timekeeping. We need an official (not the fourth official) responsible for deciding how much additional time should be played, not on a "stop the clock" basis, but just to keep a running tally of time lost through injuries, substitutions, lengthy goal celebrations and time wasting. This would free up a task from the referee and maybe improve their performance. It should also achieve a level of consistency across matches which seems to be missing these days. Three minutes in the second half this afternoon was a joke.......all those "hurry up" signals and the watch tapping from Roger East were farcical.
I didn't think he was great either, but he defended pretty well apart from not out-jumping Rondon, who should have been marked by Mapps or Cathcart. As for his set pieces, his corner was poor, but Holebas messes up half a dozen every game. But he needs a bit of time, and IMO was unlucky to lose his place, although Holebas has done well since. I am sure you are right about why Quina was dropped, but I just don't agree with it - unless, of course, he has behaviour has been bad, or something. He was dropped for the Hammers match yet Declan Rice is also 19 and played over 50 times and as 3 International Caps. Yes, 19 year olds do have to be nurtured, but dropping him for that game was wrong in my view. I just thought Bobby P was just very quiet today. So quiet I cant remember him doing anything at all, good or bad. When we have so many changes, I would expect someone like him to stand out, not blend in.
I don't think we underestimated the opposition today. New Castle are a very robust, and at times organised team. I think Gracia believed without fresh legs we would struggle, and few would argue against most of the players he started today. Credit where credit is due, and Benitez set his team up perfectly, and looked set for the perfect away result. We will play much better than today and lose such is the fickle nature of our business
How often does Pereyra look the same player after 60 minutes as the one in the first half? No point leaving him on for the last half hour
Del cut a frustrated figure today. Not surprising as he was meant to be leading the line for half the match.
Before they played at Liverpool, only Liverpool & City had conceded fewer away than Newcastle. Very organised & disciplined in defence.
Not as frustrating as watching him miss yet another early big chance that could have opened a game up. Newcastle away, Southampton and now today - all games that could've been different had he scored a one on one. Sadly, it looks like he can only finish instinctively rather than when he's bearing down on a keeper with a bit of thinking time.
It seems to me that if he misses a god chance,like the one in the first half,he becomes frustrated with himself and doesn't perform as well. Perhaps he over thinks it? He still has the look of an unfulfilled talent,perhaps he always will? I wonder if Isaac isn't quite as strong as he looks? He certainly goes down more easily and frequently than someone of his physique should. He's still young so perhaps he's not yet matured physically.
Agreed. He’s plainly not a finisher. Gracia seems to have had a look at Deeney & Gray, & concluded that they can’t cut it. Hence Del up top. Sticking plaster solution.
I suspect there will be at some point, as there is a lot of speculation over him going. They'll probably want to reassure the fans.
I suspect with Isaac the falling over happens when he loses control & tries to recoup. He’s just not a natural striker.
I think today showed we are progressing performance and results wise. The reason i say that is i don't think we would have been this negative about such a performance or result in recent seasons. A lacklustre, somewhat poor, performance. Javi experimenting with squad rotation meant we didn't have the sharpness of most games this season. We didn't lose though and i'll take a positive from that given the circumstances.
My half-time reaction to this game was that Watford appeared arrogant in their approach. They were expected to win and apparently had the game by the scruff of the neck for the first quarter hour or so. But chances were missed (Del) and the game slowed down and Watford seemed to think it was just a matter of time. It certainly looked that way. Newcastle grew more and more into the game and Watford didn't get back into it until late, by which time I think most of us were grateful for a point. But, as one or two of you have pointed out, tactical changes were being made throughout the game by both managers. If you make 6 changes to a team there is always a chance of some disorganisation; and resultant hesitation can make players appear lazy and poor. Steve Leo has already listed the formation changes and this gives a credible account for what was happening. Take a look at Benitez's cv and you will see it is knocking on the door to phenomenal and , if Gracia lost out in the battle of wits some (and only some ) of the match-time, this is no great disgrace. Of course, players also have to face up to criticism: Rondon, who is no great favourite of mine, nevertheless was the best striker out there. We must improve our finishing, otherwise everything else is wasted. Success, who divides opinion, has assets which could be used as a striker: I would like to see him play the Gray role - with lots of movement deep inside the penalty box. Yes I know his finishing is hesitant and poor at the moment but, if he finds himself in situations where there is no time to think
A final word on Quina. A lot of niggardly comments flying around. This kid could a commanding CL player. He has no fear about looking to boss Prem games in his first 2 starts, having celebrated his 19th birthday last month. His confidence on the ball & in taking on players is manifest. He is always looking to take the game forward, either through bold passes or through running forward himself. He has defensive understanding & is highly effective at winning the ball back. I’m delighted that he, on occasion, misplaces a pass because that shows me he is risking something to achieve something. With Troy in decline & Gomie on the bench, we do lack leaders. That Quina is showing that quality is breathtaking.
Fair point. Encouraging that we are rotating as that means that either we are planning a major Cup run or have qualified for the CL knockout rounds through some obscure repechage system.
What? He was the first to warm up. No harder or less than any of the others. Shook every players hand as they came off at half time - captain. First out at half time to warm up. Only one to come out at the end of the game to a virtually empty stadium - takes about 10 minutes to get out from where I sit and there was literally nobody left and he was doing hard sprints so that voids your "look at me theory"
I made those on the shoutbox at halftime Aberystwyth. He still took ten minutes to change and left it even later for Holebas to replace Masina. He could learn a lot from GT in that regard. I would not be as harsh on some of the players as some have been. The list of players includes Sema, Masina and Success as well. They all have ability. These players did not get into their national teams, squads of the week in their respective leagues for nothing. It will take time for Sema and Masina to adjust and it is made a lot harder when you play intermittently and it becomes difficult to acquire match sharpeness and experience which is different from playing 'reserve' football or making cameo appearances from the bench. In that regard I also think Gracia at times could have made changes earlier in games for example where we have been comfortable albeit rarely. How about giving Masina a runout after the third against Cardiff for instance ? As for Quina he has barely had a handful of first team games. The skill is obvious to see with the flair. The decision making as with any young player (he was caught out a couple of times with over ambitious passes and dwelling on the ball) comes with experience. It would be great as Nath mentions if we could get a striker with pace for Success to work with. Too often the likes of Pereyra and Deulofeu are isolated as our lumbering centre forwards are nowhere to be seen. Success has plenty of promise but needs to learn how to be a nine and not to moan constantly at officials. Deeney learnt and could teach him. But Isaac was right in that East did let the Newcastle players get away with some cynical challenges on him as they just could not handle him.
Also to add Newcastle tried to do a job on us and that is the type of game we'd have lost last season. Instead had to dig in for a point which isn't to be sniffed at. Look at the Lesta Cardiff game as an example
To be fair, this is just what Leventhal has said. Good if he stays but not sure its a 'stance' from the club. It's easy to say he's not going in the absence of any bids. If PSG came along with £50m in January, I'd be surprised if the club said no.
His warm up was not professional. My son pointed out that he was just standing around. Wasn’t in a pair. It was transfixing how little work he did. I’m afraid there was quite a lot of show yesterday & rather less effort from Deeney. In his interview, Doucs noted that he was surprised not to start but both he & Holebas took that challenge positively.
