Newcastle fail to deliver in more ways than one
Posted by JamesB in Newcastle | 18 September 2007
Last nights 1-0 defeat to struggling Derby County was not the result we were looking for. Our unbeaten start to the season has come to an end, leaving the club in need of a good performance against West Ham on Sunday to restore confidence and momentum. But moving on.
Allardyce's methods receive a lot of press coverage, particularly the importance he places on set pieces. Well Sam, you are going to have to make them a higher priority in training if you want them to be of any effect. The amount of times we are failing to beat the first man from a dead ball situation is criminal. If there is one thing there is no excuse for in football it is not beating the first man; players have all week to practice it in training, the circumstances don't change and heck, it's just not that difficult.
A corner or free kick in a good area is an opportunity to get the cavalry forward from defence, load the box and cause problems. Even if it isn't a perfect inswinger on to your number 9's head, a delivery in to the box gives your team a chance of making something of it. A ball on to the head of the nearest guy on the other team is no good to anyone.
It's especially important on away days where you may not get so much possession. Often set pieces are the best chances you get when away from home and it is vital we start making more of them. The few half chances that were created last night came from the odd good delivery from a set piece, ala Alan Smiths shot from a tight angle. I hope N'Zogbia and co. do some overtime this week in training and improve the percentage of dead balls they are getting to find their man. All the best teams are successful from set pieces, Man Utd grinded out 3 points from Goodison Park in the last 10 minutes thanks to a corner at the weekend for example. Let's give our forwards and defenders a chance; we have a lot of quality in the box but it will be wasted if we can't give them the opportunity to make something happen.
Comments
Sam needs to leave his seat in the directors box and sit in my seat high in the leazes end , from here he will strategically see the game from the eyes of the great ones ... us ..... we need several midfield maestros to play the game .... so please contact me as I can arrange this ...the sooner the better
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