Hall Of Fame
Rafa has been criticised in the past for his defensive approach, and while I have mostly thought that he was right in taking a cautious approach considering the players available to him, admittedly we have played some awful football at times during his reign. Also, his subs have at times been questionable and arguably there have been games where we should have maybe “given it more of a go”. Rafa is not beyond criticism and that is only a good thing.
But f*cking hell, the way that he has brought the club and the (majority of the) fans together is only one massive positive. I thoroughly enjoyed watching us play yesterday and against Huddersfield and in the games before that too. I love the fact that we are organised and that we are tactically disciplined as long as it is combined with the ability and desire to go forward - and that is the case at the moment. With Almiron coming in and Longstaff adding some stability in the middle, we are a more than decent side to watch on a Saturday afternoon or a Tuesday evening.
Same thing happened last year when Dubravka and Kenedy came into the side; we started playing quite well and got some great wins along the way. Just shows that Rafa’s approach both works and can be entertaining as long as there is continuity in terms of quality being added to the squad. That requires more investmest btw, Mike.
Hall Of Fame
Great post - sums it up nicely. It's feeling that bit more confident, it really makes a difference. Rafa, when he feels its' right does play more attractive football but always with one eye on the result.
Hall Of Fame
I thought the keeper had a tremendous game last night he claimed every high ballinto the box
The manager instils this kind of confidence in a player. The defence are very well drilled now
Moderator
Well put.
I'd love to say Ashley would finally see sense but i doubt it
Hall Of Fame
Great comments.
I think we all knew this was the case and that Rafa plays a certain way and with few quality players at his disposal it just made us hard to beat. With a little sprinkle of magic and quality it transforms to the way we have played of late and the end of last year when Kenedy was in form and the time when he first came and Townsend hit his stride.
The evidence is on the pitch to be seen. We still need more though but my guess is we wont get more and the first decent offers that come in for any of our team will be snapped up.
Don't be fooled into thinking anything has changed on the Ashley front - it hasn't IMO.
I thought Hughie was going to go off on one about "brand" of football we hear from other fans like not "playing the Man U way" or the like but he didn't and is spot on. Fair play.
I like the current Newcastle"brand" and don't demand the "cavalier" (hate that word) approach that many other pundits and fans think we do demand.
BTW Robbie Earl made good comments about the club there, unexpected....
Moderator
Aye, good stuff, Hughie.
Some of our one-touch passing as we break upfield is really good to watch and, dare I say it, more exciting than passing a team to death?
Rafa has shown that with even just a few key ingredients, he can come up with something good...imagine if he was backed!
Moderator
imagine................................Originally Posted by Zippity
the summer is going to be a killer, settling one way or the other.....
Hall Of Fame
Am i over exaggerating when i say we have one of the best defenses in the league?
Moderator
Possibly the most important in the club's history?
Moderator
Certainly recent history.
Certainly history of the Mike Ashley era.
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