A truly awful display from Newcastle United this afternoon, both as a team and individually.
Our away form has been bad this season before today, but that was a new low and a performance lacking in any sort of quality, cohesion or heart.
Here are our marks out of 10 and comments on each player involved in today’s game:
Starting XI
Pope (4) – Without his 7 saves, it could’ve been an even more one-sided scoreline, but he didn’t cover himself in glory for Paqueta’s equaliser and made a mess of Bowen’s shot that fell to Soucek in stoppage time.
Krafth (3) – Never settled on the ball, barely got forward and was often left for dead by Summerville. Hooked at half time.
Thiaw (6) – The best of an awful bunch. By no meams at his best, but got a toe on ball to stop Bowen for the penalty claim and won a vital header at the back post to stop Wilson in the first half. Moved to right-back for much of the second half.
Botman (3.5) – Had a good battle with Wilson early on, but soon turned into a disastrous afternoon. Not his usual self on the ball and put through his own goal to make it 2-1 West Ham.
Burn (3) – Looked uncomfortable all game. Very lucky not to have been booked for a blatant pull at Bowen, out of position for Botman’s own goal to allow Wan-Bissaka in behind and struggled to support attacks.
Bruno (2) – Aside from his early assist for Murphy, I thought he had an absolute stinker. Booked for a bad foul that almost saw Paqueta score from a free kick, didn’t close down his shot for their equaliser, several giveaways in bad areas and sloppy passing, summed up by him passing the ball out of play just before West Ham made it 2-1.
Tonali (4) – Lacking that bite to his play, with his work on and off the ball a few levels below what we usually come to expect from the Italian.
Joelinton (2) – Clumsy on the ball, anonymous off it. Not sure how he avoided being hooked by Howe, as he cut a frustrated figure and was offering next to in our attempts to get back into the game.
Murphy (5) – Brilliant strike for the goal, but went missing after that. One or two well hit shots flew over but he never really got at Diouf.
Woltemade (4) – Struggled to hold ball with his back to goal, often looked isolated and barely a touch in the box, if at all. Disagree with Howe’s call to take him off at the break, but he wasn’t having much joy at all. A rare bad day for big Nick.
Gordon (2) – Taking him off at half time may have been a bad call in hindsight, but I thought he had a shocker. Ran into trouble so often, passing was slack and he wasn’t doing enough at the other end to track his man. Lost the ball so cheaply in the build up to West Ham’s attack that almost won them a penalty. Went down too easily, too.
Substitutes
Osula (4) – Didn’t look liked troubling West Ham’s low block, offering a bit of energy but no end product. Had one header that he should’ve done better with.
Ramsey (4.5) – Neat on the ball, compared to some, but made very little impact. Booked late on for shoving Paqueta.
Schar (4.5) – Another going through the motions and struggling to get things going as we tried to get back into it.
Barnes (4) – A forgettable cameo. Has the quality to make the difference but we saw none of it.
Elanga (4.5) – Needs to start taking on his man more. Lack of confidence clear again. One good ball in for Osula bumps up his mark slightly.