One of the maddest nights we’ve seen at St James’ Park, as a match filled with chaos ended with two stoppage-time goals and a 4-3 win for Newcastle United!
Here are our marks out of 10 and comments on each player involved in a Premier League classic…
Starting 11
Pope (4) – Shaky night as he conceded three but could’ve easily conceded another when we went AWOL and totally missed a cross James Justin should’ve scored from. Leeds exploited his weakness of getting down low to his right with aplomb.
Miley (8) – Running out of superlatives. Started at right back before shifting to centre mid then to centre back after the injury to Schar and was excellent everywhere. Has made himself undroppable and gets better each week. Starboy.
Thiaw (2) – Did his best “Cacapa vs Portsmouth” impression and was rightly hooked at half time. Gave up possession for the opener, looked unusually shaky on the ball throughout, received a yellow card for a rash tackle and gave away the penalty. Awful half but hopefully that’s just an anomaly as we are light at centre back and can’t afford a dip in form.
Schar (7) – Made a goal-saving challenge to stop Calvert-Lewin scoring a certain goal and was unlucky not to score as he rattled the post. Unfortunately, he had his night ended by what looked like a serious ankle injury. Went off on a stretcher and indications are it’s a serious injury. Get well soon Fab.
Hall (6) – Delivered some wicked corners on top of the goalkeeper and put in the cross when led to the penalty. Not as effective in possession, dribbling into trouble at times, and looked a few levels below his best on and off the ball.
Joelinton (9) – A goal, a yellow card and almost getting into a fight. The Big Joe bingo card was completed! Tremendous header to bring it back to 2-2 and he was a tremendous physical presence throughout. He was the driving force. Half time came at the right time as he was in danger of losing his head.
Guimaraes (8.5) – A captains performance, coming on strong just when we needed him to once again. Kept his composure to equalise from the penalty spot but more impressive was the assist for Joelinton’s header. Joga Bonito indeed! Seemed to drag his players over the line with his enthusiasm, passion and endless energy. A warrior.
Tonali (6) – Is improving each game, but it was still a very mixed first half display before he made way at the break as Eddie rejigged his line up. Could be in real danger of not being an automatic selection unless his form improves dramatically.
Barnes (9) – Eddie’s comments about Gordon playing on the left as he doesn’t like the right made this performance even more satisfying. Playing in a less favoured position, Harvey knuckled down and was the match winner. Two goals and none celebrated with as much enthusiasm as the 102nd minute winner. Goals aside, he was easily the most threatening of all the attackers and has a knack for being in the right place at the right time.
Woltemade (4.5) – There’s a real conundrum with Big Nick. When he stays high, he’s not involved but when he drops deep he doesn’t have the pace to ensure he gets into the box in time to take advantage of a counter attack. Did lay on the opening goal for Barnes and had a shot saved by Perri, bu he was a passenger for so much of the game and you can’t help but feel like we could be getting more out of him. Will we ever see the Wissa/Woltemade strike force?
Gordon (6) – A mixed bag! Great work in the build up to Barnes’ opener and lively in the first half, but really faded in the second 45. Considering what he’s capable of at his very best, we need more from him.
Substitutes
Botman (5) – Looked very rusty and was caught woefully behind the rest of the defence for the 3rd goal, where he didn’t do enough to close down Aaronson after getting back. Not an easy game to come into and had to help guide Miley through the latter stages of the game, but we know he’ll be better once his fitness improves. Good chest down for Barnes’ winner, however!
Livramento (7) – Was a good outlet on the right and handled his defensive duties well. Has more mobility than Miley on the wing which caused Leeds problems and there’s no surprise a lot of our attack was focused down the right.
Ramsey (5) – Just seems to glide through games and look tidy without ever doing too much of note. Slipped in the lead up to Leeds goal but we really need to start seeing something soon.
Wissa (5) – Snatched at an opportunity that you’d expect him to bury and also gave away possession which directly led to the third goal. Still finding his sharpness.
Murphy (7.5) – As we have come to expect, he launched some quality crosses into the box which we should’ve capitalised on. Argument is that it’s not his job to find a colleague, it’s their job to attack the space where the ball should be going.
Luke:-
No marks for Gordon? that’s probably what he deserves lately, Barnes should be our regular threat on the left as Gordon is offering very little in terms of a goal threat.
Although not his natural game when playing as a no.9 Woltemade needs to get into the box, end of, as he is a passenger and not using his physique.
Talking of physique Joelinton played great last night, and Miley is so composed.
2 is harsh for Thiaw as he slipped when Calvert Lewin put the ball through, needs to check his studs/grips as he also slipped when Pedro got away from him for Chelsea equaliser.
All players can have a nightmare game and he has been excellent all season.
Game for a heart attack but a great result.
Joseph(Quote)
I agree. I think there’s a real conundrum with Woltemade. Howe plays 4-3-3. Howe likes pressing. Howe likes physicality. Woltemade is slow, not physical and doesn’t really make runs, so he doesn’t stretch the defence. Not stretching the defence makes life harder for the wingers. It means they have less room to exploit, which is maybe why they’ve struggled so much this season.
I think Woltemade was a panic buy. He simply doesn’t suit Howe. He’s a good player. Good touch, good finishing and good passing. But he doesn’t suit Howe. And I think Howe has made it painfully clear at this point that he’s not moving away from his style. Through thick and thin, he’s stuck to 4-3-3.
Maybe he’ll become more physical and then it will work, but I’m not confident.
Everything else seems to be improving, but 4-3-3 with Woltemade “leading” the attack doesn’t seem to be. It’s a clash of styles.
Jeremy(Quote)
I doubt we’ll see the 2 W’s combine upfront until Eddie has some proper time on the training ground. We know how meticulous he is, and how long previous signings have taken to ‘slot in’ to his preferred system. So we could assume he’ll need even longer to get the players trained up on a new formation.
When you think that the first striker we actively pursued in the summer was Joao Pedro, it’s clear that there was a willingness to work on playing a different formation with a number 10 – albeit a number 10 who has the gas to press and run in behind…
Rob(Quote)
I also think woltermade and wissa were both panic buys but when you have no body that can score goals they are a god send Gordon for me is doing nothing but we will also need two wingers murphy well he done now as are the back line
Keith Richardson(Quote)
If going to keep Wolt long term then have to play with a 10 simple as – lots of clubs play that way so what gives. He may have been a panic buy BUT that usually works both ways – when a player is offered the chance to join a club one of the first questions they ask themselves before making a decision is “does the club’s style of play suit my game?”.
Yes it’s a strange one – from both sides.
Steve(Quote)
Yep, it is a strange one. Maybe they do have plans to change formation after more training or more signings. I just feel like we would have seen Howe try two up top by now, even a little bit, if that was the long-term plan. Woltemade and Wissa haven’t played together once, I don’t think. Not even for 10 minutes.
Jeremy(Quote)
Ramsey also slipped, are they wearing proper studs for the conditions?
2x slips= 2goals conceded.
Joseph(Quote)
Stuttgart play 4 4 2 or 4 2 3 1 ., the German national team play 4 2 3 1
A more flexible approach which they switch around depending on opposition threats .. Maybe Howe’s inflexible system and tactics are the problem .. not Woltemade .. thiaw does not deserve a 2 ., plain ridiculous ., Elanga one more season then sell if not good .. Gordon the same if he does well at World Cup ., maybe bigger price opportunity.. according to Swiss observatory rankings of most expensive players .. woltemade is now worth over £109 million whilst issak has dropped and now worth sub £100… 😂🙈
Mike(Quote)
Given the game every 3 days situation is set to extend till beginning of March at least (unless we lose to Bournemouth in the FAC today) Howe can’t afford to start both W’s together, one must rest at all times just in case of injury (then the other will be forced to start every 3 days). He can perhaps try leaving one on for an additional 10 min while bringing the other on instead of doing a direct switch in subs just to see how it goes when chasing a game (like he did with Isak+Wilson). However, since Wissa was able to start, we’ve either dropped points from winning positions or won (barring the ManU away game). Leeds was the other one where we trailed & at the time of the sub it was level (2-2).
If we do go out of the FAC, the R4 weekend in Feb would be free to try the new formation & maybe once the UCL playoffs are done (unless the boys take revenge in Paris & put us into pre-quarters directly) we might see them together a bit more. Or maybe a 3rd forward arrives in Jan (with Osula headed out) which allows it immediately.
P(Quote)