A major setback for Newcastle United that kills momentum we had been building as West Ham came away 2-0 winners at St James’ Park on Monday night. Here’s our marks out of 10 and comments on each player involved:
Nick Pope – 6 – Did not have much to do, but wasn’t protected well enough by his defence for either goal.
Tino Livramento – 6.5 – Strong runs forward from Tino and battled well. A good one-vs-one defender and great athlete, although his crossing was very mixed.
Fabian Schar – 5 – Tried to get us on the front foot with passes from deep, but a few were wayward and gifted back to West Ham. Cut a frustrated figure as the game went on.
Lloyd Kelly – 4 – Lost his man for the first goal, where he was beaten easily by Soucek. Did well in the first half in his physical battle with Antonio, but didn’t close down well enough for Wan-Bissaka’s strike to make it 2-0 and was later booked for a trip on Bowen. Dan Burn will walk back into the side on Saturday.
Lewis Hall – 7 – Continued his form from his England call-up and was the best of a bad bunch tonight. Good work rate for the full back who didn’t let his head drop. A creative threat in the first half, but
Sean Longstaff – 5 – Didn’t get into the game and was loose in possession. It’s winnable home games like these against a low block where his lack of quality stands out.
Bruno Guimaraes – 5.5 – Bruno pulled the strings in the first half with good passing and vision, but was one of several who just never got going in the second 45. Lost the ball in the build up to Wan-Bissaka’s goal and was forced off with a hip issue.
Joe Willock – 4 – Really struggled in the first half, where nothing seemed to come off for him. Poor passing and should’ve done better with an edge of the box opening that he couldn’t get on target. Taken off at the break.
Joelinton – 6 – All-action first half where he was all over the pitch, winning the ball back and driving us forward, but was very quiet in the second half before Murphy took his place on the right. Brilliantly physically, limited technically.
Anthony Gordon – 4 – A really poor evening from last season’s star man, who just doesn’t look the same player this term. Tried to press early on, but lacked conviction on the ball and missed a big chance to make it 1-1 in the first half.
Alexander Isak – 5 – Made a lively start but was limited to little quality service after that. Even so, he didn’t offer enough and did not deliver after that brilliant pre-match display from Wor Flags.
SUB
Harvey Barnes – 5 – Changed the game in our 4-3 win in this fixture last season but barely beat his man once here. A forgettable 45-minute cameo.
Sandro Tonali – 5 – Tried to get us going but not much came off. Passing was a little rushed and slack.
Callum Wilson – 5.5 – Good to see Wilson back, who was alive in the box and unlucky not to win what looked like a clear penalty. Other than that, starved of service and barely got a kick.
Jacob Murphy – 4 – Offered very little from the bench and struggled to do the basics, never mind change the game.
Tripper – N/A – Replaced the injured Bruno for the last few minutes.
Howe has a real problem, both full backs ok, the rest think they are better than they are.
Stop giving big contracts out or even discussing them mid season and stop the jollies abroad.
Kelly awful, Bruno caught in possession far too often, Isak and Gordon awful, Barnes no show.
The least said the better the marks seem generous to me.
Joseph(Quote)
Howe has got to start Tonali we were crying out for some composure in the midfield and he’s stuck on the bench Howe has to stop being overly loyal to certain players who should have been moved on
Darren Bebb(Quote)