Newcastle quietly assembling an immaculate team..

What will Newcastles XI look like?

Not a clue

It's been a discussion amongst fans, none of us actually have a *bleep* clue.

Even right now it's confusing as hell, so God knows what it will be if we sign anyone else. We are not used to having options it causes great confusion amongst the fanbase.

Fair enough

Newcastle often gets interesting markets with talent who can be overhyped but anyway talented
the problem always consists about assembling this because it could be a problem to build key players around talented but unproven / inexperienced players
I mean , I think NUFC needs of leaders firstly.
I think the real defect of this team is lack of personality highlighted exactly in difficult periods more than talent

They should try and sign Digne since he's leaving PSG.


Or Coloccini I guess since he's captain.

Top 4 bound.

Top 4

We'll be lucky to get top 10 IMO.

If you don't get top 10 then it will be a big flop. That team is more than good enough to finish on top half of the table.

Will be interesting to see who will come out atop of the 2015/16 edition of Sir Pardew vs Newcastle

That's a proper battle now. With fresh newcastle and new look Palace


No more excuses by mole

PSG are trying to talk Digne out of it... but so far, he wants to leave. Much bigger clubs than Newcastle are after him though.

M99 wrote:If you don't get top 10 then it will be a big flop. That team is more than good enough to finish on top half of the table.

Not really lol, you overrate those players. Ignoring the new players as it would take time for them adjust and gel, remember when Spurs bought 6 new starters? Took ages for it all to come together and they wasn't translating the current players from hoofball to pressing as a unit and being more possession focused.

It's going to take a while, I'm expecting a slow start because of it. But as long as there are signs of actual improvements to the team as a whole so we eventually get better I'm ok with it.

It's been a long time since we actually had a style of play,an indentity of how the team is supposed to play I'm willing to wait and see even if results are not always there.

Also we still have a lot of crap and weaknesses in the team which need to be fixed before we can be considered a good PL team, as of right now it's nice that we have bought 3 players of quality but it's nowhere near enough considering we lost 5 or 6 towards the end of Pardew's reign.

sportsczy wrote:PSG are trying to talk Digne out of it... but so far, he wants to leave. Much bigger clubs than Newcastle are after him though.

Don't think we want a LB anyway, I personally do but I haven't seen many links.

that team 4th in Premier League ? for me it has problem even to get El places for those reasons said by me above. Too many young players and most not still  played in EPL, team lacking of personality ( i repeat, the real problem of NUFC imo, enough underrated, it 'd be not a bad team if we look just on quality) .
Then I don't know what's the real project of Newcastle.. if it is long-time project to value young players it's okay, but I feel Newcastle is a public very demanding so the result look like priority .. and yes personally I think Newcastle should play in Europe every year . More than Southampton or similar clubs. Grown under Shearer myth too me
IMHO Cabaye return would have been a great thing for Newcastle to give that presence in midfield, that leading figure enough necessary for Magpies.  ffs to Palace ...

We were offered Cabaye, we turned him down. Spent 14.5m on Wijnaldum instead lol.

The biggest problem we have had in recent years is the coaching..... ignore Pardew for a second, his backroom staff was John Carver who needs no explanation and Steve Stone who famously said you are at your most vulnerable when you have the ball

Also when Pardew was there we had no set style of play, we spent everyday except one analysing the weaknesses of the oppositions and people wonder why we looked shit scared of attacking.... and we only focused on the attack for one training session a week lmao.

People underestimate how badly we have been coached for the last few years, it's why off the ball we have been so *bleep* awful. I'd argue we have been the worst coached team in the league it's been painful as hell to watch.

I'm semi positive about it for this reason alone, the entire morons that Pardew had are gone ( i said at the time Pardew wouldn't have been so bad if his backroom staff wasn't complete morons as well) and replaced by people who actually are professional coaches who actually have a CV

Pardew knows only one way to play effectively.... and the style is designed for middle to bottom half clubs. If you're actually try to succeed and improve, he's not the guy for you.

In a lot of ways, he was perfect for Ashley. But the fans really made it impossible for him to stay thankfully lol.

A Pardew team never had, has and never will have a project.

Lineup and formation look like big question marks going into the new season. Specifically, there seems to be something of a logjam at CAM. Wijnaldum, de Jong, Cabella, and Sissoko all have a strong case for starting as THE CAM should McClaren choose to go with a variant of 4-2-3-1. So, who starts, who gets pushed wide, and who misses out completely?

Of course, this isn’t a decision made in a vacuum, either. You have to assume that Gouffran will be played in a wide-attacking role, and at least one of Colback, Anita, and Tiote will be used in a deeper midfield role.  This seems to point to a 4-3-3. McClaren could play one of Colback, Anita, or Tiote in front of the back four. Then he could choose three of Wijnaldum, de Jong, Cabella, and Sissoko to play as the two more advanced CMs and at RW (with Gouffran at LW). Given my personal preference, I would play something akin to:

While I haven’t seen any of Newcastle’s pre-season, I wouldn’t think such a setup would be too far-fetched for McClaren. If I remember correctly, he played a similar general setup at Derby County:  two CMs in front of a holding midfielder with two wide attackers behind a central striker.

Another big question is, who plays as the Central striker. Mitrovic is an obvious shout, as he’s the big-name striker signing for this season. But, what we need to remember is that he is still a 20 year-old, moving to a new country and a new league, one that has drastically different characteristic from the Belgian league. There’s no guarantee that he will succeed, or succeed immediately.

One option might be to use Siem de Jong as a makeshift striker until Mitrovic can settle. It’s a role he’s played before at Ajax, and with Gouffran effectively playing as a second striker, it could be effective. Moreover, it would get the best players on the pitch together.

The other option is to play Cisse until Mitrovic settles and gets his chance. However, Cisse’s form has been … inconsistent… since his first half-season at the club. Perhaps this is his second (or third) chance to restake his claim as first-choice striker. However, I’d personally try de Jong.

In any case, the primary goal should be top-ten. With an 11th-place finish last season, top-ten represents obvious progress for the club, as well as establishing stability. Anything beyond that is a bonus.

It simply feels like a step too far to envision an EL finish (much less CL) with Newcastle’s current backline and so many new additions. Mbemba has obviously been brought in with a view to solidifying the backline, but he will need time to settle and adapt. Until then, does anyone truly trust a pairing from Taylor, Coloccini, Williamson, and maybe even Dummett, especially if Colback is the one primarily tasked with shielding the back-four.

Sissoko is a one dimensional inefficient player. Newcastle should sell while his value is still high & get a positional midfielder in. Anita & Colback are decent but they can do better, a Mehbaye return would have been ideal in retrospect.

Wonder how McClaren is going to fit all their forwards & Cabella into the same team as well. Cisse & Mitrovic pairing seems redundant but it's almost impossible to leave your best scorer out the team & how do you justify benching your marquee summer signing?

De Jong, Wijnaaldum, Sissoko, Cabella, Mitrovic, Cisse & Ayoze are probably their best players but it seems impossible to find a balanced team that includes all of them. Not including Aarons who's supposedly the dog's bollocks (never really seen much of him just based of hype alone).

Keep in mind the dogs bollocks for Newcastle doesn't mean much

He's very talented though and probably the only winger in the squad and the only player with raw pace as well. He should start by default.

He would be starting already last year but he unfortunately was injured a lot last year, that's the reason i want another winger as i'm not sure if his ability to stay fit yet and he's the only one we have as well .

Also DTOR we have used a 4231 in pre season, but it's hard to know yet as we apparently want 3 more first team players before the window shuts which could change the system.

Who's playing in the hole? De Jong or Sissoko?

De Jong.

Sissoko has been used on the right, which is why i agree with you on him being sold possibly. I'd prefer him to stay as he's one of our better players but if we are going to play on the wing then it might be a good idea to sell him for an actual winger.

If your owner wasn't Mike Ashley I'd sell all 3 of Cisse, De Jong and Sissoko invest the money into signing another winger & two CM's. The remaining money on bringing in a CB to pair with Mbemba.

Apparently McClaren expects a CB, winger and a striker on top of Mbemba. As you say though with Ashley i'll believe that when i see it.

The signings are nice so far but it's a waste of time if we are still weak in various ways like we are right now. Was the same last year when we bought De Jong and Cabella, but what's the point when the CBs were still shit and striker signing was *bleep* Riviere.

*bleep* Surag

McClaren when asked about more new signings " i don't know and i'm happy with what i have ".

No different to last summer, lock the thread pls.

So what's the probable Newcastle 's lineup atm?
Which system uses McClaren ?

Robespierre wrote:So what's the probable Newcastle 's lineup atm?
Which system uses McClaren ?

Not a clue and 4231 so far, although without at least 3 new signings it won't make a difference.

Thus lock pls RG.