Post-match: PL Match 34: Leicester City vs Newcastle, Apr 12 [R]

Discussion in 'Newcastle United' started by el americano, Apr 12, 2019.

  1. el americano

    el americano Moderator
    Staff Member

    United States
    Jun 9, 2006
    San Francisco
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Premier League
    Friday April 12th, 8:00 PM
    King Power Stadium, Leicester

    Injured: Longstaff, Lejeune (NUFC)
    Suspended: None

    Referee: Chris Kavanagh

    That's just about home and dry. Cardiff would have to win 4 of their last 6, and we've still got the trump card of a final match day against Fulham, if Cardiff, Southampton, and Brighton manage to force the issue. If Ashley wants to try to sign Rafa, or if a bidder wants to come in, now that we're pretty sure that relegation is out of the picture, let the negotiations begin.

    I certainly didn't expect to see a lone goal at 32 minutes to hold up for the rest of the match. However, both sides only created a couple of good chances each, and it was mostly fear of previous lost leads that tormented me in the last minutes. The squad kept things pretty well under control. Perez played great against Leicester. He went down very easy a couple of times at the beginning, and I was expecting more of the same, but then he started to hold the ball under pressure and even got to a 1 v 1 with the keeper at one point. Of course his glancing header was fantastic, but we knew he had that skill to redirect crosses. He worked hard, as did Almiron. In fact, Almiron ran himself into the ground and had to be subbed without scoring his first PL goal for us. There was an opening when Perez missed him badly and also a long shot effort, but he looks like he's pushing too hard for it. Regardless he's a great addition even if he doesn't score a lot, and his goals will come.

    So maybe we should start a thread about the changes we need for next season. I'd start by assuming Rafa is gone, which only increases the talent required to finish a little more comfortably clear of the relegation fight. The recent incident with Yedlin and Lejeune's injury raise even more questions than I already had for a team that has been almost unable to cope with the top 8 clubs. We need to start building a foundation that can be added to in the years ahead - something that should have started as soon as we got back to the PL.
     

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