NUFC player ratings vs West Ham – One 8, a 7.5, a few 7s, three 6s and four 5s

Perhaps a slight come down after our heroics on Tuesday night, the Magpies were held to a 1-1 draw against West Ham last night.

Not our best performance at all by any means, but we take a point and move on.

Here come the ratings from a frustrating evening on Tyneside:

Nick Pope – 6 – Couldn’t do a lot about the scrappy West Ham goal. Didn’t make a save all afternoon.

Kieran Trippier – 6 – Got done by Paqueta for the West Ham goal at the far post. Will have been disappointed by the sloppy defending. Got forward well but final product wasn’t there. Set piece delivery was pretty good but nobody got on the end of them.

Fabian Schar – 6 – Sloppy performance from the Swiss international. Was decent defensively but he gifted the ball straight back to West Ham players three or four times.

Sven Botman – 7 – Won his battle with Antonio in the air and showed superb strength in the second half to hold off the powerful striker. A few loose passes and risky balls out from the back, but was our best defender on the night.

Dan Burn – 5 – Didn’t manage to get anything going with Saint-Maximin down the left. Lacked the quality to affect the game whenever he did get forward and had his hands full with Jarrod Bowen. Strong in the air but a little sloppy on the deck.

Sean Longstaff – 7 – Beautiful pass for Wilson’s goal, splitting the defence with the sort of ball we’d expect from the absent Bruno Guimaraes. Was tidy in possession and did the dirty work well. One of our better players on the day.

Joelinton – 8 – Held his own against the outstanding Declan Rice. Made more ball recoveries (13) than any other player and looked at home moving into a central role in midfield. Our best player in the first half and tried to drive us on in the second, doing well to see out a tough second 45 on a booking.

Joe Willock – 5 – Denied a goal which was disallowed in the first minute. Other than that, it felt like he never really found space to get at the West Ham defence and was wasteful in the final third. Booked in the first half for a cynical foul.

Miguel Almiron – 5 – Really quiet showing from the Paraguayan other than the incident in the first minute. Form has dipped considerably since his goal scoring run. Seemed afraid to cross the ball for whatever reason and often went back to Trippier rather than taking on his man.

Allan Saint-Maximin – 5 – Ran himself into trouble in the first half. Looked off the pace all evening, struggling to hit the heights he is capable of. Tried to get back and help out Burn but looked in second gear at both ends. All in all a poor showing which he’ll be disappointed with. Subbed on 70 for debutant Gordon.

Callum Wilson – 7 – Took his goal beautifully and continues his incredible record against West Ham. Looked a lot more sharper than recent weeks. Broke through on goal in the second half to by denied brilliantly by a last ditch tackle. Will be dissapointed to only score one – he also had a big chance with his head – but it was a much improved showing.

Substitutes:

Anthony Gordon – 7.5 – Completely changed the game, playing a beautiful pass through to Wilson for a big chance. Looked absolutely rapid and link up play demonstrated potential.

Elliot Anderson – N/A – Looked decent when he came on with some nice interplay. Looked confident on the ball.

Jacob Murphy – N/A – Only on for the final 10 minutes and didn’t really get into the game.

2 thoughts on “NUFC player ratings vs West Ham – One 8, a 7.5, a few 7s, three 6s and four 5s

  1. Yesterday Schar Botman and Burn spent too much time passing the ball sideways across the back. There were several occasions when Trippier was crying out for the ball on the right and Schar never seemed to be able to see him. The three defenders mentioned should release the ball quicker otherwise they allow the opponents to get back to defend which they did in numbers yesterday. Just a small grouse because they all often play some wonderful football at times.

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  2. St Max lacked awareness and looked a million miles off the pace of the game.
    Willock just didn’t seem to know what to do when he received the ball.
    Trippier looked ponderous and slowed what attacks we had down and Almiron wasn’t getting the ball.
    Thought Rice was head and shoulders above everyone on the pitch.
    Credit to West Ham though they didn’t allow us to play.
    Bruno was a massive miss as the back four had no link to the midfield with the ball being hoofed forward too often.
    Surprised St Max lasted so long on the pitch, looked disinterested, 3 score for me.
    Decent cameo from Gordon.

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