01-02-2018, 12:26
BaggieMan - I'm not calling Pardew a muppet because he picked McClean, I'm calling him a muppet because of the numerous selection mistakes that he made. It was almost like he picked the best team possible NOT to expose Manchester City's weaknesses.
I realise that we had injuries, but who in the right mind makes wholesale changes when you just beat what was essentially a full strength Liverpool team away?
Injuries aside, Brunt, Barry and Phillips should've started. Nyom and McClean shouldn't get anywhere near the side unless there is a major injury crisis. If Nyom does play, he has to be right back as he's proved time and time again that he can't adapt to play on the left.
Yacob has been a brilliant servant, but we have known for years that he doesn't have the legs to play in a 4 man midfield. Yet Pardew who has the job to watch football selects him in a 4 against the best midfield in the league.
McAuley, like Yacob, has arguably been my favourite player for the last 3 or 4 years but has finally shown signs of aging this year. So what does Pardew do? Throw him in against the best side in the league with one of the nippiest forwards in Aguero.
The most ridiculous one was Sam Field, we haven't seen him since Pardew's first game - not even on the bench - and suddenly he's thrown into the first XI to play on the right side of a 4. He's a midfield stopper FFS. Zinchenko is obviously their weak link defensively and he picks Field against him. Have you ever seen Field go at any defender? I haven't...
Laporte who is renowned for being a good ball playing centre half but a bit weak defensively should've been tested with crosses. Instead, he has a dream debut with no defending to do because our midfield is comprised entirely of stoppers with the aim of obtaining a 0-0 draw (presumably).
Honestly, I think we all agreed unanimously that Pulis had lost the plot before he was sacked. However, I had been in hibernation for a few months I'd have been forgiven for thinking this was still a Pulis team.
I went to Bristol City vs Man City in the Carabao Cup last week, because a friend is a big Bristol City fan. Man City played a full strength side and they pressed high and Bristol City didn't have the quality to get out most times. It was very much like us yesterday. However, on the rare occasions that Bristol City did get out, they got men forward and got crosses into the box, they scored 3 goals.
Do you remember us getting a decent cross in? I don't. We had 1 corner all night and didn't even get a shot on goal until 85+ minutes.
Finally we get Dawson, McAuley and Hegazi in the same team (all monsters in the air) and then Pardew picks a central midfield stopper on the wing so we don't get a single cross in, win any free kicks in attacking areas or corners. Obviously I can only speculate, but I'm sure had Phillips started on the right we would've managed to force corners because he actually goes at the full back.
Even Newcastle (who I think are sh*te, btw) managed to show some attacking intent against Man City.
Does Pardew even watch games to identify the weaknesses of other teams? On this evidence, it's doubtful. I saw his interview about Oliver Burke a few weeks ago where he more or less admitted that before he came he had never heard of Burke. A couple of years ago Burke was tearing up trees in the Championship when Pardew was managing Palace, surely he should've watched Burke plenty of times... it's his job... he's a professional football manager.
So no, I do not apologise for calling him a muppet.
Now I'll admit that we have improved in recent games (wasn't hard, was it? Previously manager completely lost the plot) but this was a massive step backwards. I just hope this doesn't dent our confidence because we were starting to look like a reasonable side. Hopefully Pardew learns a few lessons from this - although I can't help thinking that he should've learnt these lessons months ago.
I realise that we had injuries, but who in the right mind makes wholesale changes when you just beat what was essentially a full strength Liverpool team away?
Injuries aside, Brunt, Barry and Phillips should've started. Nyom and McClean shouldn't get anywhere near the side unless there is a major injury crisis. If Nyom does play, he has to be right back as he's proved time and time again that he can't adapt to play on the left.
Yacob has been a brilliant servant, but we have known for years that he doesn't have the legs to play in a 4 man midfield. Yet Pardew who has the job to watch football selects him in a 4 against the best midfield in the league.
McAuley, like Yacob, has arguably been my favourite player for the last 3 or 4 years but has finally shown signs of aging this year. So what does Pardew do? Throw him in against the best side in the league with one of the nippiest forwards in Aguero.
The most ridiculous one was Sam Field, we haven't seen him since Pardew's first game - not even on the bench - and suddenly he's thrown into the first XI to play on the right side of a 4. He's a midfield stopper FFS. Zinchenko is obviously their weak link defensively and he picks Field against him. Have you ever seen Field go at any defender? I haven't...
Laporte who is renowned for being a good ball playing centre half but a bit weak defensively should've been tested with crosses. Instead, he has a dream debut with no defending to do because our midfield is comprised entirely of stoppers with the aim of obtaining a 0-0 draw (presumably).
Honestly, I think we all agreed unanimously that Pulis had lost the plot before he was sacked. However, I had been in hibernation for a few months I'd have been forgiven for thinking this was still a Pulis team.
I went to Bristol City vs Man City in the Carabao Cup last week, because a friend is a big Bristol City fan. Man City played a full strength side and they pressed high and Bristol City didn't have the quality to get out most times. It was very much like us yesterday. However, on the rare occasions that Bristol City did get out, they got men forward and got crosses into the box, they scored 3 goals.
Do you remember us getting a decent cross in? I don't. We had 1 corner all night and didn't even get a shot on goal until 85+ minutes.
Finally we get Dawson, McAuley and Hegazi in the same team (all monsters in the air) and then Pardew picks a central midfield stopper on the wing so we don't get a single cross in, win any free kicks in attacking areas or corners. Obviously I can only speculate, but I'm sure had Phillips started on the right we would've managed to force corners because he actually goes at the full back.
Even Newcastle (who I think are sh*te, btw) managed to show some attacking intent against Man City.
Does Pardew even watch games to identify the weaknesses of other teams? On this evidence, it's doubtful. I saw his interview about Oliver Burke a few weeks ago where he more or less admitted that before he came he had never heard of Burke. A couple of years ago Burke was tearing up trees in the Championship when Pardew was managing Palace, surely he should've watched Burke plenty of times... it's his job... he's a professional football manager.
So no, I do not apologise for calling him a muppet.
Now I'll admit that we have improved in recent games (wasn't hard, was it? Previously manager completely lost the plot) but this was a massive step backwards. I just hope this doesn't dent our confidence because we were starting to look like a reasonable side. Hopefully Pardew learns a few lessons from this - although I can't help thinking that he should've learnt these lessons months ago.