First game we still look nervous at the back, thought Cedric pled very well and looks like a good signing. Some good signs going forward though.Need Bertrand back as soon as possible though, all in all not to bad for the first game.

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Threatening going forward but poor defensively. Even Fonte had a 'mare. Cedric summed us up really: attacking he looks great, but he was caught wrong-side so many times and was lucky not be sent off. Wise decision to sub him, even though his assist for Pelle was excellent. Newcastle looked decent but I'm concerned by how many times we have the ball away in midfield and by the shakiness of our defence. Another CB is a must

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An odd line up saw us playing more or less 4-2-4 in the first half and consequently were frequently over-run by the Geordies attack. Luckily Davies & Wanyama soaked up a lot of pressure and gradually wrested midfield away from Colbeck & Co aided I suspect by bringing Long on in place of Rodrigues. Under pressure Soares looked very shaky and you cannot but wonder if he is taking this "step up" to the PL too seriously, it seemed to be weighing on his mind a bit. He was skinned regularly by Gabidon and others found it quite easy to get in behind him and of course their first goal came form that side. Jay didn't really get into the game at all and it was strange to start him when clearly he is not yet match fit or combative enough. Matt did not enjoy his best game today and on this showing isn't really another Luke Shaw. Jose was out of sorts all afternoon but got better support from Martina who took some pressure off second half.

The forwards were erratic as ever but if we don't boss the midfield what are they supposed to do with hurried balls lobbed straight to them? For the brief period towards the end when we did take command of midfield probably because the Geordies tired quicker than us, with the ball held up our strikers were able suddenly to weave their patterns and of course it led to our second goal and what should have been our third. Can't blame Mane for his glaring miss he'd worked his socks off against cynical defenders all afternoon and must have been pooped when at last he was through on goal.

Overall not an auspicious start to proceedings and one can Imagine Ronald being literally hoping mad this evening, certainly days off this week.

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Overall not an auspicious start to proceedings and one can Imagine Ronald being literally hopping mad this evening, certainly no days off this week lads.

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Flakey - gonna need a new schneiderlin

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Defence looked shaky at times, passing was generally off throughout the game. Played badly and got a result, and could/should have won it. On the face of it not so bad. Once Ron tweaks it and we tidy up we're on the right track still.

Cedric needs support defensively, but going forward he looks decent Thought Cuco did OK when he came on. Jrod needs some games to get that sharpness back. Tadic continues to frustrate with some great play mixed in with sloppy moments. Jose not the usual assured performance we expect from him.

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This finished 5 - 3 on pens

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Blimey, do we miss Schnederlin or what! Davis simply can't do that holding role. Hopefully Romeu will prove to be a good acquisition because I think Clasie is to small for the Premier League. Perhaps bought for the Europa League?Everton's forwards bullied us today and we were outnumbered in midfield in the first half. Both Tadic and Long don't bring enough to the team to warrant playing both of them in the same game. Think Long is an impact player only and flatters to deceive when he is played from the start. Pelle did well against a well organised defence. Mane not as effective when out wide, must play off Pelle. We are far to open at the moment and Ron has some work to do!!

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Everton did to us what we were doing to sides last season. For me, first 20 mins were important: if Mane or Pelle score then I'd have fancied us to win 3-0.
Problem is, you can't give sides like Everton a goal head-start, which is essentially what their first goal was. What's especially annoying is that it was almost identical to Newcastle's second goal last week - counter attack and further defensive frailties exposed when the two CBs are upfield.
Midfield was fairly poor. I don't think Vic and Davis works as a partnership. Romeu looked ok when he came on, but all shows how vital Schneiderlin was.
Only positives I can find are in the performances of Mane and Pelle. Ok, they missed chances (especially Pelle), but at least they were doing something.
And to round it all off: still need a CB

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I thought that both full backs were very poor and failed to stop fast runs and crosses. Romeu had a reasonable first start, pity about the early booking which may have restricted him.
Evertons fast powerful breaks just overwhelmed us, what a pity we cannot do likewise. Mane and Pelle tried throughout but others such as Tadic were inefff#ective.
We need Bernard urgently plus a lot more. Not a good day.

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