A great point for the Magpies this afternoon, with our unbeaten streak extending to six games in the Premier League.
Arguably, we were the better team at the London Stadium today, just lacking a little bit of quality up front to win the game.
All in all a great point given the circumstances, missing three key players in Trippier, Saint-Maximin and Wilson, and a promising display ahead of next weekend’s trip to Brentford.
Here’s our marks out of 10 following today’s 1-1 draw at West Ham:
Martin Dubravka – 6 – Couldn’t do anything about the goal, but was quick off his line when he neeed to be on a few occasions. Made a smart first half save to deny Bowen.
Emil Krafth – 4 – The Swede often looks out of his depth at this level and sloppily conceded the free-kick that led to West Ham’s goal. Bullied by Antonio and overhit too many crosses at the other end. Needs to be moved on.
Fabian Schar – 7 – Yet another solid showing from the Swiss centre back. Just shows you what having a good partner does for confidence. Stood up to the powerful Antonio, refusing to get too engaged, and stepped out of defence well with the ball at times.
Dan Burn – 8 – The Geordie giant is looking like an absolutely fantastic piece of business. Wins everything in the air, looks composed on the ball and won his duels on the deck, too. Undroppable at present.
Matt Targett – 8 – Keep playing like this and we’ll be looking to buy him permanently! Kept Bowen quiet all afternoon, timing a few tackles superbly and making one strong block to deny Antonio. Steady on the ball and linked up well with Murphy at times.
Jonjo Shelvey – 6 – A quiet afternoon for Shelvey. Thought he was lucky to avoid a booking on Zouma first half. Helped us dominate possession in the opening 45 minutes but was very quiet in the second.
Joelinton – 7 – Covered every blade of grass once again. Won the ball back well in midfield and won his individual battles against Soucek and Rice. Arguably our most influential player. Wasteful in the final third at times but steady in possession and carries the ball well.
Joe Willock – 8.5* – Absolutely fantastic performance from Willock this afternoon. Outstanding first half in transition and thoroughly deserved his goal. Took it extremely well with a clever finish and perhaps would’ve had two goals on another day. Made the driving runs we saw and loved last season and ran himself into the ground again. My man of the match.
Ryan Fraser – 7 – Took off due to fatigue late second half; which is no surprise given the way he ran himself into the ground once again, working so hard off the ball. Decent in possession and showed good movement off the ball to get himself into dangerous areas.
Jacob Murphy – 6 – Some fantastic moments but lacking end quality in the final third. Linked up nicely with Targett in the first half, won us several corners, but tired in the second and became a little sloppy. Will be a decent squad player in years to come in my opinion.
Chris Wood – 5 – Another quiet afternoon for the Kiwi. Looks very isolated up front, had no sight of goal which is a worry. Desperately needs a goal for confidence.
SUBS:
Miguel Almiron – 5 – Worked hard after coming on, running the clock down to bring home a point. Took a heavy challenge from Fornals after pinching the ball back late on.
Bruno Guimarães – N/A – Didn’t play long enough to warrant a rating.
Not a fan of Krafth but 4 that’s a harsh score, and 5 for Wood (donk) is generous IMO, reverse those and the marks seem fairer.
West Ham we’re there for the taking injuries to the squad meant a missed opportunity.
Brentford look to be in free fall…. It’s a must win when we go down there.
Joseph(Quote)
Football fans – Toon fans included – seem to get an idea about a player into their head and no matter what they see, they just can’t (or won’t) change their viewpoint.
I have no particular allegiance to Krafth but a 4 is just ridiculous. You obviously don’t like him for whatever reason and marked him based on that dislike, rather than his performance on the day. He played well and made very few mistakes.
Shelvey always gets in in the neck in these ratings because some fans can’t get past the fact that he’s been a bit rash in the past. So again he gets marked down because of some distant memory.
Your mark for Dubravka seems to completely ignore his amazing save from Bowen, where he got a hand onto the ball putting it onto the bar from 6 yards out.
Finally, if you are going to slag Wood off you might want to take into account the complete lack of service he got, finally resorting to playing left wing, just to get some action.
BykerBill(Quote)
What a surprise, Krafth gives away free kick that leads to goal and you give him a 4.
He was actually fairly solid after that, just admit you score players based on if you like them or not.
Dubravka a 6 really the save from Bowen alone warrants an 8
David(Quote)