August 12, 2007

Match Review :Bolton vs Newcastle

It was a match between two Sams..One of them was trying to create a new revolution and win over the fans in a club that had enjoyed so much success in the past..Another one was trying to emulate the feat of his predecessor..Sam Allardyce had a big responsibility in bringing Newcastle and the Geordie fans success after they had been suffering dreadful results for the past seasons..Having managed by Graame Sounnes and Glenn Roeder,the club had experienced defeat after defeat and finished in unthinkable positions in the league..For a club with such a huge fan base and history,the results certainly didn't represent their prowess and totally showed that they were underachieving..Meanwhile,the pressure was on Sammy Lee to deliver the points for Bolton against Newcastle..Having most of the players that were under Big Sam's era..He would be glad they continued the success that Big Sam has brought the club to in the seven years he had been there..Well,both clubs were eager to get things started..Big Sam had a great reception from the fans..Unexpectedly,it was the away team which started very brightly..Newcastle were playing very well..Everything worked well..The effectiveness of bringing in the new players certainly had shown..Mark Viduka was holding the balls and dribbling past players with his big physique..It was like he had been wearing the black and white shirt for years now..Alan Smith played in the midfield area where he has been there when he was in Manchester United..He had told Big Sam that he would be as flexible as possible to help the club achieve success..and he certainly didn't disappoint..he was chasing the balls and kept possession very well..Another new signing David Rozenhal,the Czech from PSG also did have a good performance..He was keeping the Bolton strike force of Anelka And Kevin Davies at bay..Bolton didn't really have the chance to attack the Newcastle defence..They were throwing direct balls into the Newcastle defence but they did not prevail..Mean while Newcastle had very good possession of the ball..and had a their first great chance when the skipper Geremi stepped to take a free kick..The ball swerved wide..But he could have done better though with past history showing that he had scored many great goals from free kicks when he was with Middlesbrough and Chelsea..A few minutes after that,Newcastle had another free kick and Charles N'zogbia steeped to take the kick and scored directly..It was from the right side of the pitch and the ball curved pass all the players waiting for the ball in the penalty area including the goalkeeper Jaaskelainen..Newcastle were off to a good start..The fans were celebrating and the players were in joy..But as always Big Sam still looks calm as ever..Sam Allardyce has certainly put in a lot of effort in educating his players on how to beat his proteges..And well it worked magically again after the first goal..In the 21st minute,James Milner's cross found Martins and he finished it with a superb overhead kick..The agony continued for Bolton when they were 3-0 down in the 27th minute when Martins shot from distance was deflected of Abdoulaye Faye sending Jaaskelainen the wrong way..Despite speculations that he will be leaving Newcastle,he still played fantastically well..At half time,Sammy Lee brought in El Hadji Diouf for Ricardo Vaz Te..Diouf brought in some trickery and troubled the Newcastle backfour..In the 50th minute,Newcastle's defence was bombarded by a counter attack initiated by Bolton..After a superb pass from Nolan,Anelka gave Steve Harper no chance and finished it with a excellent strike into the corner..But they didn't really troubled Newcastle too much after that..Newcastle kept their defence tight and kept possession of the ball..Big Sam made tactical changes to the game by bringing in Solano for Martins and Ameobi for Viduka..Till the 90th minute,the game stayed at 3-1 and Newcastle were overjoyed to have a great win in the first match of their new season..Big Sam must also be pleased with his side's performance especially winning over his old club..

Remarks: Bolton could have made a bigger impact on the game by
putting balls wider into the wings..They should have put Diouf
in the starting line up which could have possibly strengthen
their attack by providing them with width..While Newcastle
played a well organized game..the defence still have to buck
up as they will be facing even tougher matches..Other than
that,the strikeforce of Newcastle seems fantastic..Lets hope
Martins and Viduka will have a great season..

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