Newcastle is the story of the Day on Day 1 of new EPL Season!!
By ram_cv
@ram_cv (16513)
India
August 19, 2012 8:50am CST
Newcastle started their season as brightly as they ended last season. They went on to beat a top 4 contender or pretender as one might like to call Tottenham convincingly at St. James park to open their season. Demba Ba opened the scoring with another fantastic goal to open his account for the season. Defoe equalized in the 75th minute, but Ben Arfa earned and converted a late penalty to seal all three points for the Toons. A 2-1 win against Tottenham was really the highlight of the opening day of the new season.
Do you think Newcastle could this season challenge for a top-4 finish after their heroics of last year?
Cheers!
Ram
4 responses
@rappeter13 (8608)
• Romania
20 Aug 12
I haven't seen the game, but I think that Newcastle has two fantastic strikers, Ba and Cisse which will score lots of goals this year. It is always ideal to start in a season with a win, this gives a team a lot of confidence and makes fan hope for big things. It is not a rule that a team which starts off with a win will do a great season, but I think it can have a positive "shadow" on the team's forthcoming performance. Based on what I remember from the last season, when they had formidable results, I think that Newcastle can finish in the top 4 with a bit of luck.
1 person likes this
@ram_cv (16513)
• India
20 Aug 12
Rappeter, welcome back after a long time. Yes, Newcastle is a club that still plays with two strikers up front and two quality strikers at that. And they really pay dividends for the club as at least one of them seems to score almost every game. Also they have scoring midfielders which make them a dangerous team this season.
Cheers!
Ram
@rappeter13 (8608)
• Romania
20 Aug 12
Good to be back and I hope I will be able to be as active as I can!
I think I will watch a game of Newcastle when I will have time, mainly to see how the two strikers who were bought from the Bundesliga play. As for scoring midfielders, I think this is what every coach wants to have, besides constantly scoring strikers. This is the basis of a solid season and I think Newcastle will have a very solid one.
1 person likes this
@diezmara22 (818)
• Indonesia
25 Aug 12
Outstanding game by Newcastle United in their first game after defeating Totthenham Hotspur at St James Park. This is a good start for Newcastle in the opening league Uited. I think the composition of players who are not much different from last season seems Newcastle can repeat a spectacular season as last season. And will add to the competition at the top. For the problem of ranking at the end of the season we'll see.
1 person likes this
@TeamCholent (2832)
• United States
19 Aug 12
As we all know the start of the season means almost nothing, although a good start helps a lot and a bad start places the stress and pressure on a club right away. I say let us first see how they handle the lower clubs, perhaps their perfomance is only good when faced with a tough rival.
@jkct02 (2874)
• Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
20 Aug 12
It was a good win for Newcastle in their season opener at home against a tough Hot Spurs. But it was a hard fought win. It would have been a draw if not for the brilliance of Ben Arfa. Somehow when I watched the game, an exciting game, I could not help to feel that both the teams do not have a commanding figure at the central of the park to make things happen. Rafael Van der Vaart was nearly that man but still fell short. Lennon was menacing with his run but Bale was just not himself. The Newcastle midfielders were good individually but they did not provide a lot of useful passes to Demba Ba and Cisse. That Demba Ba goal was a gem. I hope Newcastle will keep on fighting hard for a top 4 finish but they will need more to be a serious contender for the title.
1 person likes this
@ram_cv (16513)
• India
20 Aug 12
I think the fact that they beat Spurs was what really was the highlight to me. Last year they were good at putting away small teams and struggled against bigger teams. So now they are beginning to chip away on the bigger teams so that is really progress. The key though would be consistency and that is one aspect we might need to keep an eye on.
Cheers!
Ram
