Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce admits there is still work to do with his Newcastle defense but Sam is encouraged by the many options available to him.
Five of the Magpies’ nine summer signings were defensive recruitments as Big Sam set about tightening Newcastle’s poor rearguard.
And now we only have 3 players out injured now so Sam has a wide selection available for the team on Monday evening against Spurs.
Sam Allardyce - has fixed Newcastle’s defense already - and it will only get better
Our defense by common agreement has been poor for years and years and we were impressed when Sam announced his first mission was to bring in players to solidify Newcastle’s defense. Fixing your biggest weakness as a first priority? What a concept. But as we’ve found out Sam is down to earth and an excellent manager for Newcastle United.
The Newcastle boss has still to decide on his preferred back four, and that is also true with the full team, as we now have most of our players back from injury. Abdoulaye Faye and Claudio Cacapa are the latest pairing at the heart of the backline and we think they will retain their positions for Monday’s game following a powerful display against Everton.
But Allardyce says that, while players will be disappointed if they are not in the team, he is more than happy to have so many defensive permutations at his disposal. Sam told nufc.co.uk today:
“I had to be brave after the Man City game and change things at the back,”
“Having that defensive flexibility is so important because we all know that one of the biggest weaknesses here has been the defense.â€
“It’s still not right but we did limit Everton in the last game to just a few opportunities and things are getting better.â€
“We have got lots of options at the back and Steven Taylor and David Rozehnal would’ve been disappointed to miss out against Everton.â€
“But it’s my job to disappoint people when I think I need to and they have got to take it on the chin and come back fighting.”
We should have won the Everton game by a score-line of 3-1 but for a mistake by Shay for the second goal. If Shay had let the ball go it would have drifted wide but he turned it into his own goal so giving up 2 goals was a little disappointing and not reflective of our good overall defensive performance against Everton.
Here’s our current injury situation according to PhysioRoom.com Injury League Table:
M Viduka Calf Muscle Strain 22nd Oct 07 S Ameobi Groin Strain 22nd Oct 07 P Ramage ACL Knee Injury Apr 08 S Carr Hamstring Injury 22nd Oct 07 C Babayaro Groin Strain 22nd Oct 07 D Duff Sprained Ankle 3rd Nov 07
But we know that Vuduka, Carr and Babayaro are now back in training so we only have 3 out injured, which is great news. But this now gives Sam a wide selection of players for Tottenham.
What do you think the team should be for next Monday? You can also comment from now until after the game on our Newcastle United Forum on the Tottenham game – and anything else you want to start as a topic of conversation. Don’t forget that Alan Smith is suspended and cannot play in this game.
Comments and entries in our Newcastle United Forum are always very welcome.
Loading ...
30 responses so far ↓
1 Aussie geordie // Oct 18, 2007 at 12:55
Team against the spurs needs to be typical newcastle. We need to attack our balls off because they have a shite defence. They have a good attack as well but we need to hope our boys at the back can hold them off and that the home crowd and skill will get us through. My team would be the following.
………………..Given…
Beye….Capaca….Roz…..Enrique
Milner…..Geremi…..Emre….Zogbia
……….Martins…Viduka
Bench - Barton, Owen, Smith, Taylor, Harper
Good team, great bench, plenty of options.
I think Barton should be bought on regardless of the situation for Geremi towards the 60 min mark and Owen should replace Viduka and have a run with Martins. If we get up get Taylor in for Zog towards the end to give him some game time.
2 malaysian youngster // Oct 18, 2007 at 13:05
martins viduka
nzogbia faye emre milner
enrique cacapa rozenhal beye
given
stop geremi from long throw and free kick and corner. his distribution is not that good. emre can do it much better.
3 geordie in taipei // Oct 18, 2007 at 13:06
given/harper
taylor………….capacha………….roz………………….enrique
milner…………geremi…………….emre,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,zogbia
…………………viduka………………………..owen
sub; keeper……barton….martins…….beye……..butt……..faye
ps: at some point this season……in would be nice to see martins and owen play together even if one has to come on as a stub to do it.
4 JEFFBRUM // Oct 18, 2007 at 13:07
U GOT THE RIGHT TEAM SELECTION AUSSIE - BUT SMITH IS SUSPENDED THEREFORE I’D DEFINITLY GO FOR BUTT IN HIS PLACE.
5 Jóhann // Oct 18, 2007 at 13:21
Harper
Beye Faye Cacapa Enrique
Martins Butt Zogbia Milner
Viduka Owen
Bench: Given, Barton(not fit for start), Emre(not fit for start), Taylor, Geremi
6 Big sam - sundays team FYI // Oct 18, 2007 at 13:47
Given
baye cacapa roz enrique
milner barton emre nzogbia
martins owen
barton has had two reserve games two friendlies and will be mentally driven to perform i love his attitude and he has to be in there for me
I know emre adn barton are attack minded players but we will score goals against totenham and they will score against us so its who does it more with emres passing and him sitting deeper than barton in the midfield i think we can counter totts threat while maximising our own.
milner and zog will work theier cotton socks off and can go up and down all day working forhte team
i would love to see martins effort and ball skills coupled with owens movement and finihsing and with emre adn bartons passing and zogs (top of our assist list) adn milners crossing there will be chances galore there.
toon 2 tottenham 1 barton, owen
7 Ben // Oct 18, 2007 at 13:47
Team Given Beye Cacapa Taylor Enrique Nzogbia Butt Emre Geremi Martins Owen.Bench Harper Viduka Barton Faye Rozenhal.
8 leo // Oct 18, 2007 at 14:23
it will be a strong team i think, 442 at the start with some steel in the middle of the park along side emre
if we get a goal up or two (fingers crossed) i can see nzogbia coming off for Owen and milner coming off for barton and switching it to a 433 formation
Given
Beye Rozehnal Cacapa Enrique
Milner Geremi Emre N’zogbia
Martins Viduka
Given
Beye Cacapa Rozehnal Enrique
Geremi Barton Emre
Martins Viduka Owen
9 ToonKing // Oct 18, 2007 at 14:35
Well here’s my choice:
……………Harper………….
Beye Faye Cacapa Enrique
Milner Geremi Emre Zog
…….Viduka……..Owen
Subs : Given, Rozehnal ,Taylor, Barton, Martins.
10 ToonKing // Oct 18, 2007 at 14:36
Barton on for Geremi at 60′,Martins for Owen at 65′ -70′, Rozehnal for Faye 70′
11 Dimitri // Oct 18, 2007 at 14:38
Given
Beye Rozenhal Cacapa Enrique
Milner Barton Emre N’Zogbia
Martins Owen
Bench: Taylor, Faye, Geremi, Butt, Viduka
12 Rich // Oct 18, 2007 at 14:43
ToonKing- iwould go for the same line up as you, think we might see Martins and Owen up front together though, if viduka isnt 100 % fit. If they are and perform well then Sam will have some thinking to do. Hope Emre and Barton get a chance in the middle together at some point though
13 toonUSA // Oct 18, 2007 at 14:54
As long as Harps is in goal i will be happy……the man deserves a chance
14 Howie // Oct 18, 2007 at 15:02
faye should play to stop berbatov repeatin his assists at anfield so he would counter the aerial threat. i imagine its the same team as everton apart from owen or vid in for smith and hopefuly emre in for one of the midfield sloggers, geremi and butt
15 john // Oct 18, 2007 at 15:02
Given
Beye Taylor Roz Enrique
Milner Geremi N’zog
Owen Viduka Martins
Bench: Harper, Capaca, Faye, Barton, Butt
4-3-3
If winning take off owen for barton
If losing take off Martins for Emre to link things up
16 yemozone // Oct 18, 2007 at 15:39
I’M going with the malaysian youngster.
Given
beye……roz……cacapa……enrique
milner…faye….emre……zog
viduka…….owen/martins
sub .. barton taylor geremi martins/owen butt
17 TOONNUTTER // Oct 18, 2007 at 16:06
CAN EVERYONE REMEMBER MARTINS GOAL LAST SEASON AGAINST THESE LOT AT THE LANE.
GOT TO BE PLAYING MARTINS AGAINST THESE LOT.
18 iain // Oct 18, 2007 at 16:07
harper
beye faye cacapa enrique
milner rozehnal emre nzogbia
owen martins
given/taylor/geremi/barton/viduka
19 ChrisL // Oct 18, 2007 at 16:20
My team selection will possibly be a little controversial for some people, playing with three at the back & N’Zogbia+Beye as wing-backs.
Viduka Owen
Barton
Emre Butt
N’Zogbia Beye
Rozenhal Faye Cacapa
Harper
Subs = Given / Taylor / Milner / Geremi / Martins
What a team!!!
20 iain // Oct 18, 2007 at 17:49
our weaknesses imo have been…
poor at defending set pieces - so we have to have our ch that are best in the air, that means roz misses out at ch. we looked so much better vs everton from free kicks/corners with faye/cacapa.
our main problemthough is a lack of ball retention in mf that puts the back 4 under pressure too often and with butt/geremi we have lacked pace and passing in cmf which imo at this level is very very bad.
roz/emre in cm have pace, technique and the ability to keep possesion. rozehnals pace makes him great for dmf imo as he wont have to foul people ala butt/geremi/smith to make up for there lack of pace and thus we would then have to defend fewer set pieces and the back four are under pressure less often.
our poor ball retention in mf often leaves us with defenders being dragged out of position to cover for the miss placed passes in mf and good teams like city have shown what they can do to us with a bit of space and 1 defender out of position.
you could argue all man citys goals came from our poor ball retention in mf, that then pulled our back line out of shape.
i only left barton on the bench becuase emre deserves a start imo and as emre tires barton could come on and give us a lift in mf. id rather be bringing on barton late on to help us defend a lead than emre.
21 Alex // Oct 18, 2007 at 19:30
Harper
Beye…Roz…Cacapa…Enrique
Faye
Geremi…………..Emre
Nzogbia
Martins…..Owen
Subs
Given,Taylor,Barton,Milner,Viduka
22 Tom_Toon // Oct 18, 2007 at 20:29
switch nzogbia with emre and you have my line up
23 Tom_Toon // Oct 18, 2007 at 20:30
and add given in for harper.
24 Bill f // Oct 18, 2007 at 21:43
I saw the headline that Robbo was out of the Tottenham team and thought great! Then realised they meant Robinson not Keane, I thought bu**er what a pity, as Keane has probably been their best player this year. I would rather have butterfingers playing and Keane out.
25 Bill f // Oct 18, 2007 at 21:45
Whatever team plays don’t we have a great bench?
26 Aussie Toonfan // Oct 18, 2007 at 22:52
Team for monday:
Given
Beye Cacapa Faye Enrique
Milner Geremi Butt N’Zogbia
Martins Viduka
Subs: Harper, Emre, Barton, Taylor, Owen
Think Roz is unlucky hes been good but i think t will be same as everton except Viduka for Smith… Emre will come on depending on if we are chasing and Barton at half time if we look like we need some hold of the midfield…
27 Jóhann // Oct 18, 2007 at 23:14
I´ve always rated Tottenham backup keeper very much. Remember when Robinson was last injured and he stepped in and performed very much well but then Robinson came back and he was out. I actually think today that he is better than Robinson but we´ll have to see how he handles being thrown in after not having played for some time. His name is C something, never remember the name!
28 Sinead // Oct 18, 2007 at 23:23
I can almost guarantee Keane to have an amazing match. That’s the way it is, if he was wearing the Spurs shirt on Sat and Weds then we’d have won both games comfortably. He’ll be amazing for Tottenham but couldn’t find the back of the net for us with almost too simple oppurtunites. So I can almost guarantee an amazing game from him.
29 Bill f // Oct 19, 2007 at 0:25
Thank you Sinead, you’ll be saying that he is Irish next!!
30 d // Oct 19, 2007 at 11:01
bad feeling about the game
Tottenham is the team just like Arsenal and Man City
Leave a Comment