Gus Poyet has urged his players to play to their strengths on Saturday when they face Newcastle United in the FA Cup third round, live in front of the ITV cameras...
The Seagulls beat the Premier League outfit in the fourth round last season but after watching Alan Pardew’s side’s narrow defeat to Everton on Wednesday night Poyet is wary of their powerful approach.
The Albion boss told seagulls.co.uk, “I was very impressed with the power, strength and how competitive Newcastle were against Everton. If it’s the same type of game on Saturday then it will be very difficult for us. It is up to us to make it a different game and I have to concentrate on picking the players that are good enough to do that.
“We need to be solid and good technically. If we impose our game and they don’t have their best of days then we will see. They are very quick and strong and will make it difficult for us to play our style of football, but that’s what we need to do.
“I prefer to play Premier League teams and not Championship sides, so it’s great for us. When you play against better teams you need to be very good and make it difficult for them as well as hoping for a bit of luck. This game is even more interesting because of last year. Newcastle will come here in a different way, they will make it even more difficult and it will be another great game of football for the supporters.”
While Poyet made it clear he’ll field his strongest side on Saturday, he did explain that Pardew, with Premier League survival the main priority, may not be afforded the same luxury.
“It’s not a great time for Newcastle in the league. They played Wednesday night so I’m sure there are a few things Alan Pardew will think about. That said, it’s a cup competition live on TV so I wouldn’t be surprised if they do play their best team.
“We always play our best players on the day. The only exception to this was when we were in League One and we were convinced that getting promotion was the only thing that mattered. Some say cup games are a distraction but I think they are good for experience.
“I appreciate it can be seen as a distraction, it happened to me in my first season here. We played one cup game and won but then we lost two league games. Then we won in the cup again but lost another two league games. Overall it may look good because you are winning a few games but you don’t get any points for the cup games so you need to be careful.
“It’s very clear for us though; we play to win and we have a week to recover after so we will play the best team.”
The presence of the TV cameras on Saturday means an earlier 12.30pm kick-off for the Seagulls and Poyet revealed a change in preparation.
“Our boys will need to come in earlier and have a nice meal for breakfast. We will train the same on Friday so nothing will change in that respect. The players need to be careful because some of them like to lie-in late on Saturday morning but they will have to get up earlier.
“That will mean that they will need to go to bed earlier but I’m not going to go past every house to make sure they are all in bed. I will make sure we tell them and then we will trust them.
“It’s more difficult for Newcastle because they will train today, then travel down tomorrow and have to be ready early for the kick-off.”
Original article
The Seagulls beat the Premier League outfit in the fourth round last season but after watching Alan Pardew’s side’s narrow defeat to Everton on Wednesday night Poyet is wary of their powerful approach.
The Albion boss told seagulls.co.uk, “I was very impressed with the power, strength and how competitive Newcastle were against Everton. If it’s the same type of game on Saturday then it will be very difficult for us. It is up to us to make it a different game and I have to concentrate on picking the players that are good enough to do that.
“We need to be solid and good technically. If we impose our game and they don’t have their best of days then we will see. They are very quick and strong and will make it difficult for us to play our style of football, but that’s what we need to do.
“I prefer to play Premier League teams and not Championship sides, so it’s great for us. When you play against better teams you need to be very good and make it difficult for them as well as hoping for a bit of luck. This game is even more interesting because of last year. Newcastle will come here in a different way, they will make it even more difficult and it will be another great game of football for the supporters.”
While Poyet made it clear he’ll field his strongest side on Saturday, he did explain that Pardew, with Premier League survival the main priority, may not be afforded the same luxury.
“It’s not a great time for Newcastle in the league. They played Wednesday night so I’m sure there are a few things Alan Pardew will think about. That said, it’s a cup competition live on TV so I wouldn’t be surprised if they do play their best team.
“We always play our best players on the day. The only exception to this was when we were in League One and we were convinced that getting promotion was the only thing that mattered. Some say cup games are a distraction but I think they are good for experience.
“I appreciate it can be seen as a distraction, it happened to me in my first season here. We played one cup game and won but then we lost two league games. Then we won in the cup again but lost another two league games. Overall it may look good because you are winning a few games but you don’t get any points for the cup games so you need to be careful.
“It’s very clear for us though; we play to win and we have a week to recover after so we will play the best team.”
The presence of the TV cameras on Saturday means an earlier 12.30pm kick-off for the Seagulls and Poyet revealed a change in preparation.
“Our boys will need to come in earlier and have a nice meal for breakfast. We will train the same on Friday so nothing will change in that respect. The players need to be careful because some of them like to lie-in late on Saturday morning but they will have to get up earlier.
“That will mean that they will need to go to bed earlier but I’m not going to go past every house to make sure they are all in bed. I will make sure we tell them and then we will trust them.
“It’s more difficult for Newcastle because they will train today, then travel down tomorrow and have to be ready early for the kick-off.”
Original article