Newcastle galvanized by returning midfielders
Posted by JamesB in Newcastle | 14 October 2007
St. James' Park will be looking forward to the imminent returns of central midfield duo Barton and Emre, the two players who can offer the one thing Newcastle have lacked this season.
Without being harsh on the Smith, Butt and Geremi duo, who have given good performances this season, we have at times lacked the midfield men who can unlock defences and pop up with a goal when the strikers are firing blanks. Emre and Barton are players who have these two qualities in abundance.
We already know about Emre. Frustrating at times, he can still make something out of nothing when a game is at stalemate. I think Viduka and Owen will thrive from the Turk's vision and creativity; Owen especially, who will be looking for the ball beyond the last defender. Emre can occasionally, as he showed against Everton a week ago, come up with a goal or two as well.
Barton of course is yet to play a competitive game for us. Losing him pre-season was a bitter blow, and I expect we will only start to appreciate how important he is for us in the next few weeks when we see what he is capable of. He is a big game player that will make things happen and control the game from the middle of the park. We should get a good few goals out of him this season as well. I do at times wonder whether, had he been fit at the start of the campaign, Sam Allardyce would have chosen him as the club captain. He certainly has the qualities of a captain, and providing he can show maturity in the heat of the moment I think he would do a good job.
Of course what these players returning does do is give Sam a selection headache. We now have Butt, Geremi, Emre, Barton, Smith (if you class him as a central midfielder), and Faye (who by trade is actually a holding man) all vying for two or three positions. Managers always say that it's a great problem to have, and in this case I wouldn't argue with the sentiment. Each player has their own individual qualities and will be useful for different situations throughout the season.
As for who will start against Spurs, your guess is as good as mine. I'm sure Allardyce will want to start Geremi, being the club captain. Given the way Allardyce has eased his players back in to first team action after injury layoffs I think he will leave Barton on the bench for a twenty minute cameo at the end of the game. That leaves Butt, Emre and Smith competing for one, maybe two positions. At home I expect us to play a 442, in which case only one of these three players will start. We will have to wait and see what the manager is thinking. Either way, our options are starting to look much more healthy than at the start of the season, which can only be a good thing.
Comments
Smith is suspended for the Spurs game
Smith cant play against Spurs. He's suspended, otherwise this is a very good article
Team I'd have for Spurs: Given in goal. Beye, Capaca, Roz and Enrique at back. Milner, Geremi, Emre, Zogbia in the middle and Owen and Viduka up front. Depending on situation
Bench : Martins for Owen at 65 mins, Barton for Geremi at 57,and Faye or Taylor for Viduka at 75. Harper not used.
3-1 victory with for the toon with Barton and Martins all scoring late in the game. We need this sort of competition for places.
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