The knives are out it seems for Craig Eastmond and Gael Clichy after a poor performance last night.
I've watched the game twice now and despite Gael being done through the legs (which does happen, noone is superhuman) we didn't play badly. In the period after our goal we took our foot off the gas which let them in. Our closing down was very poor. In the second half we didn't put our chances away, but we created plenty.
Lets be clear. We will qualify from the group and I still expect us to finish top. We are superior in goal difference and now we have to play Braga and Partizan. Hardly a daunting task provided the guys show the same focus they started with last night.
I'm not one to dwell on negatives, Eastmond's own goal was unfortunate, goals like that happen every week to every team. Carragher and Dunne have practically made a career out of it. Clichy got mugged, he knows it. Srna is an established, experienced, talented attacking full back and he got one over on Clichy. It doesn't make Clichy a bad player.
Theo took his goal extremely well last night. Its exactly what I want to see from him. A Thierry-esque goal, breaking free of his marker and just running like Forrest until he can see the whites of the keepers eyes before placing his shot calmly into the corner. A great finish. Simple, efficient and well deserved for a player who is still trying to win over his critics. Many forget he's so young.
So what now? We re-focus on Newcastle, on the Premier league until we have to worry about the Champions League again. We're back home and we need to put on a performance to ensure there are no retaliations from the Carling Cup tie.
Jack Wilshire put in a good performance last night, as did Squillaci. Djourou had a bad game and he knows it. Fabianski did well too, despite shipping two goals.
There is a bit to take from this, Eastmond isn't ready yet, but he will be. He fought back well to try and make up for his goal but he was a bit off the pace and could have done with a few mins in the PL before being launched into his Euro debut. I was impressed with Eastmond's effort and to villify him and Clichy is foolish.
Bring on the Geordies!
WG
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