Nuno Espirito Santo

[DeesideRed]

I didn’t know where to put this but without set pieces and penalties we have the 8th best defence in the league. Open play we are a decent, Let’s just hope Nuno and his staff can sort the set pieces out.

Or if all our 2-3 defeats were 3-2 wins we'd be 6th. Means nothing sadly.

Ultimately if my Auntie was my Uncle she'd be a man. Freekicks and corners are nearly always won in open play as are penalties. Eg. The corner we conceded against Bournemouth was unnecessary. 

We need to improve our defending full stop.

As for MGW in midfield. He scares me enough when he gets the ball up high. Plus although his work rate is fantastic, he was nowhere near any Newcastle players for most of his time in the CM role.

He has a certain skill set (super quick feet, fantastic control and work rate, huge confidence) that make him a nailed on #10 in the modern game. Back in the day Cloughie would probably have played him wide left or more likely sold him! He is so close to being a really really special player. Nearly..

It is good to see some people being realistic about MGW, he's a good player and has development potential but at present he's not at the level of Maddison, Gallagher etc. This is where you'd hope he'd progress to within next couple of years, Maddison for example is being trusted to get on the ball deep but only when he has Sarr and Hoijberg behind him, similar type of player.