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Scouting Report

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This coming Sunday Newcastle United welcome West Ham United to the St James’ Park, in a Premier League fixture, but who do the Hammers have to be aware of?

After last season it is fair to say that Alan Pardew assembled a squad capable of challenging for the Champions League spots and manage to push all the way until the final hurdle; finishing with the substitute of Europa League football instead, but even so their performance throughout the year was faultless.

Looking through the line-up Newcastle often go with, it’s fair to say they have a fair few match winners in their side. Here are five players that I believe we need to keep a constant watch on throughout the match.

Hatem Ben Arfa

Now this is a player who is capable of making something happen out of nowhere, from the second Newcastle signed Hatem from Marseille in August 2010 in a scruffy 1 year loan deal (with an option to make it permanent) which was eventually triggered once he made 25 appearances for the club.

Hatem is a player that is full of flair and great individual talents, he constantly demonstrated that he has terrific pace, dribbling and shooting ability, with the goal he scored against Bolton on the 9th April ringing plenty of bells.

The thing is, he is capable of scoring from all over the pitch, his technique is next to none and many Newcastle fans have gone as far to say his the “Geordie Messi” which in any case is fair compliment to any players class.

With him being able to play through the middle or on the wings, I can see him causing all sorts of problems for Joey O’Brien and George McCartney, who in comparison to Hatem lack serious pace.

Yohan Cabaye

Where can I start with this lad? Well he is a player of just sheer class and I’m sure he would be able to walk straight into most of the top clubs around the world and Newcastle have done wonders to snatch him from Lille for an undisclosed fee, after he managed to make a name for himself by winning the French Ligue 1 title before his departure.

Yohan is in the mold of the likes of Iniesta, Fabregas, Nasri or Santi Cazorla a real playmaker when he has the ball at his feet. I feel as though when I see him play its hard to fined flaws in his game, you could argue defensively he could work on his skills, but when he is going forward he is expert. He possesses great vision and craft, capable of splitting a defense like it’s nothing, but it’s his ability to find the back of the net which is something that is starting to shine through his performances, (not quite like your Lampard and Gerrards) but he is getting there and in time he will be the name on a lot of fans lips.

When matching up against the West Ham side, I can’t help but think Mark Noble will just man mark him and take him out of the game completely, I mean I could be wrong, but I just can’t see him fooling the young Englishmen who is having one of the seasons of his career so far.

Demba Ba

The former West Ham striker was once admired at West Ham after scoring 7 goals in 12 games for the Hammers, however he wasn’t going to stay with us for long due to us getting relegated, triggering a release clause in his contract. The clause then caught the attention of Alan Pardew who jumped at the chance to sign the Senegalese forward, who would go on to become an instant hit for the club.

 

After signing for Newcastle Ba became even more deadly in front of goal finishing that season with 16 goals for the Baggies. Despite his lethal form this year, he has managed to form a formidable partnership with his name-sake Demba Cisse, whom this season has started to outshine Ba in the goal tally.

Whether he is firing on all cylinders or not, you cannot fault this guys power and finesse in front of goal (on form or off it) and no doubt he will be fired up for the match against his former club.  The likes of Winston Reid and James Collins will have to be on their game when playing against a striker of his quality and if im honest I have my doubts if they will be able to tame him…time will tell.

Demba Cisse

Now here we have a player of unbelievable teckers that no one had really heard of until his time at Newcastle began.

Many Premier League fans were in for an unexpected treat after Newcastle confirmed the signing of Cisse from SC Freiburg for a fee reported in the region of £8million and being given the famous number 9 shirt, a number a few fans could argue, he is begging to live up to.

In his first season he went on to score 13 goals with a fair few of them being absolute crackers. The goal most people remember Cisse for his his wonder strike, which was struck with the outside of the his right boot, from thirty-yards out on the volley, this was eventually voted the goal of the season by BBC and no doubt his best goal of his career.

This weekend, I can see us containing him as he has a little less strength than Demba Ba does and with the likes of Collins and Reid at the back we have a couple of animals who will be determined to do a good job against him, Demba Ba is still questionable.

Tim Krul

And finally the last player I believe who could turn the game in Newcastle’s favour, their number one Tim Krul.

In 2005 Newcastle signed the little-known goalkeeper on a free transfer after he failed to gain a permanent contract with ADO Den Haag. Years would soon pass until he was finally ready to take the number one jersey and start to stake his claim in the famous black and white striped jerseys.

After a serious of starts and substitute appearances whilst keepers such as Shay Given and Steve Harper dealt with injuries, he was hailed as being a great keeper. It wasn’t long till Pardew decided to give him the nod ahead of the others and Krul made the most of it. During their season in the Championship he started to make a name for himself and it wasn’t long till he was officially named as Newcastle’s number one, pleasing many fans.

Krul is a goalkeeper who has saves in his locker other goalkeepers could only dream of making, he is a true asset to the side and without him between the stick I honestly believe they wouldn’t be half as good as they have been showing the past few seasons.

With him in goal I know we are going to struggle to find the net, so in all honesty I hope and pray that Kevin Nolan and Andy Carroll can torment him to the max and maybe bag a goal each, that would really kick start out season and give us the push we so badly need.

So there we have it, five players who could change the game in favour of the Geordies. Lets just hope a couple of our own golden boys can turn the match our way and get the 3 points. COYI!

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