English Premier League – Newcastle 2011 Preview
If there is one thing you can count on Newcastle providing year in and year out, it’s entertainment. A storied club with a historical past, the Toon are always a fun club to follow with all of its controversy.
Odds to win the 2011-12 Premiership outright 1000/1
Nonetheless, the fans of the club seem fed up with off-the-field issues distracting management from the team and games, and this could very well be a very defining year for Newcastle.
The Magpies are going through a transition year, to say the least, as they have lost a huge portion of their team over the last eight months or so, and now have to find a way to move forward and embrace change.
Forward Andy Carroll, who was the leader of the team for so long (and led the team with 13 goals in 2010) has moved on greener pitches bolting to Liverpool’s Anfield last January. The loss of Carroll and fellow scoring machine, midfielder Kevin Nolan, takes a major portion of the club’s offense out of the picture. Those two players were the guiding force to the team’s offensive strategy, and loosing them will provide for an interesting project for management.
Forward Demba Ba was considered to be Carroll’s replacement long before his departure, and now will get his chance to show Newcastle fans what he can do. Ba is a very promising young forward, but has issues staying healthy for long periods of time. His style, for a French soccer player, is a bit odd as he possesses a lot of the power-play characteristics as your typical English player, which should bode well for his offensive prowess. [ad-3678122]
Besides Ba, the team added several players over the transfer period, and the majority of them have loads of potential.
Left winger Sylvain Marveaux came over from France to play for Newcastle, and he is looking to fill the hole that Nolan left when he moved on to West Ham United. The combination of Ba and Marveaux could be a staple of Newcastle soccer for years to come if both projects pan out.
Other than that, the roster is very thin and lacks the depth a team usually needs to make a deep run at the Premiership title, and if the team looses their best defender Sanchez Jose Enrique like a lot of people are predicting, then that problem could be even worse than it is now.
Newcastle also has a lot of players that have trouble staying on the field, and if they were to loose a player to a major injury for the year, they could be in big trouble.
Matt’s Prediction:
The squad is extremely talented, but they lack the depth it takes to make it to the Champions League. I fear that this year will be another letdown for Newcastle fans, but their future is looking up with young talented players.
If they can keep their squad healthy for the majority of the season, they should finish in the top half of the table.
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