When I had seen the team sheet I was excited to see Bale, Holtby & Lennon in an advanced position, but a little concerned that Dempsey had started. I wouldn't lie or hold back and hopefully the readers would know this about me.
However 5 minutes into the game and I was almost able to jump around the living room (still unable to venture out yet), a freekick by Bale gave us a deserved lead. We continued to play well, but Newcastle came into it and scored soon enough. My head did drop without a doubt, but I was happy that the midfield were looking sharp and creating (we had 2 handballs turned down) and Holtby was showing just how good he was. Although we had to wait until the 78th minute I was happy with how the game was going.
Bale was electrifying and there were clear signs that he was causing great issues for the Newcastle team. I was disappointed to see Holtby be removed instead of Dempsey for Adebayor, but I would rather we keep Holtby available as he has played consistently well throughout his short time at the club.
What had surprised me was how unlucky Bale was not to have scored 4 maybe more. It was only down to the great awareness of Krul that kept Newcastle's goals conceded so low.
Looking back before the game I was concerned as to whether we would have enough to push on and maintain our league position, but given the performances against Man Utd and now Newcastle my concerns are certainly calmed.
With how the team has dropped at this stage previously all fans would concede that there was some concern that history was to repeat itself, but I have a renewed faith and given how well AVB has done with the squad we should all have more confidence.
Speaking of confidence though this is one of the key area's that AVB seems to have tackled. Bale is the most confident that we have ever seen, even Harry must admit that when Bale played through the middle with him he was lost, but under AVB we are seeing a more complete player.
With games against West Ham, Arsenal and Liverpool coming up I will not be as concerned now, I think we have what it takes to see this season out and for the first time in our Premier league history finish above 2 of the other London clubs that has long over shadowed us.
As I said lets focus on the positives for this article and at the moment I can't help but smile looking back at how panicked I was following the shut of the transfer window. Kaboul coming back as we speak and Defoe back in 4 weeks, I think we are about to encounter unchartered waters as we will finish strongly this season.
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