Our football club is moving in the right direction.
Newcastle United, led by the best people, is upsetting the right people.
This may have reached its apex (so far...) on Tuesday night and in the aftermath of the game, as Arsenal and the compliant media squealed about how unfair everything was.
The refusal to roll over
It's interesting to see how many managers are quick to say after a game how great the opposition was, what a fantastic job the opposing team's manager is doing, and so on.
That is, after the manager (who is lavishing praise) has won the game.
I believe the word we're looking for is...patronising. I just smacked you, and now I'm patting you on the back. We saw it all the time when Steve Bruce was at Newcastle United: clueless tactics and team selection, NUFC folding easily, and the opposing manager praising Bruce after his team easily defeated his Newcastle side.
Arsenal were flying into this game, with talk of them finishing ten points clear at the top after Tuesday. The Gunners had won all of their Premier League home games this season and had never failed to score in any of their 16 PL games, both at home and away.
I saw 'expert' after 'expert' predict a certain Arsenal victory, by at least a couple of goals.The vast majority of pundits offer no acceptance. Journalists, whoever, that this was unquestionably a case of very likely... The irresistible force collides with the immovable object.
Newcastle United concede at least a couple of goals?
Hmmmm, Newcastle United has now (after Arsenal) played 42 matches under Eddie Howe, and do you know how many times Newcastle has conceded two or more goals?
I doubt that any non-NUFC supporters will come close. The answer is four. Home and away against Manchester City, away at Tottenham (April 2022), and the only other time, in August at Anfield, when the referee kept adding on time until Liverpool scored their second (winning) goal.Remember Steve Bruce's total mess with the team, especially the defense!!!
Eddie Howe turned that defense around in the second half of last season by reintroducing Rafa's outstanding £3.5m buy Fabian Schar, whom Bruce thought was inferior to Ciaran Clark and Jamaal Lascelles. Howe started with Dubravka (yet another brilliant Rafa signing, costing £4m back in 2018), then spent £27m on three defenders to complete his new style defense, Trippier (£12m) on the right, Burn (£13m) in the middle with Schar, and Targett (£2m loan and unwanted at Villa).Eddie Howe then upgraded once more with bargain signings, England goalkeeper Nick Pope for an unbelievable £10 million, and Sven Botman, a central defender who looks like a world class player in the making (Targett was also secured on a permanent £13 million transfer).
Botmann, Sven Mr. Eddie Nketiah
Don't forget that Newcastle entered Tuesday night's game with the best defensive record in the Premier League (11 goals in 17 games) and NUFC on the back of five clean sheets in a row (all competitions), which then became six in a row.
It's not fair that Newcastle United wouldn't let us score.Yes, Mikel Arteta's squealing and the compliant media were a joy to see / hear.
Newcastle United had surrendered and lost all eleven of their previous visits to The Emirates. But not this time.
Wasting time
It's not fair that Newcastle United is wasting time.
Of course, that's correct, with Newcastle becoming the first team in football history to try to limit the amount of time the superior in form opposition has to score the winning goal. Yes, that has never happened before. Unless, of course, you were at St James' Park three days earlier when Leeds did it even better, or is that worse?
It wasn't long ago that a certain club's favorite song was 'one nil to the Arsenal,' because time after time they took the lead, then completely destroyed it, using any tactics necessary, especially time wasting. They also had a decent goalkeeper and defense at the time...
In recent years, when Manchester United were at their weakest point(s), you could see them, the Premier League's biggest spenders on wages AND transfer fees, go all out negativity and time wasting from the first minute to avoid humiliation at Old Trafford at home to Manchester City.
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