Awful 2/10s and one 7 - Newcastle player ratings from Everton horror show
An appalling display at St James’ Park as Newcastle United were abysmal in all departments in a 1-0 defeat to Everton on Monday night.
Here are our marks out of 10 and comment on each player involved in last night’s shambles.
Starting 11
Hornicek (4) - Awful mistake for the goal but did make some decent saves to keep us in the game. Still doesn’t look like a true number one just yet and is lacking in confidence.
Dedic (4) - Didn’t look comfortable defensively against George. Blazed a shot into the Gallowgate in the second half from about 40 yards out, which summed up the evening. Far from the worst performer but didn’t provide much in attack aside from cushioning the ball to Ramsey for a volley late on.
Schar (3) - Looks like age is finally catching up with him as he looked short of athleticism on more than one occasion. Guilty of playing aimless long balls to nobody in particular and was struggling with Barry’s height at times.
Burn (4) - Cut a very frustrated figure, both at the opposition and his own teammates, throughout. Defensively did quite well but he can’t do everything alone.
Hall (3.5) - Poor performance from the usually reliable left back. Nothing worked in attack and defensively had some issues with Röhl. Has played a lot of football but needs to keep playing due to a lack of options at left back.
Nico (3.5) - Was sloppy in possession on a few occasions and seems on a different wavelength to his teammates at times. Big question marks remain about his ability out of possession as the midfield continues to be a massive weakness.
Joelinton (3.5) - Wasn’t a great night for big Joe, who tried hard but nothing much came off for him. Doesn’t seem suited to playing in a midfield two and ran over 1km more than Nico. Needs help.
Elanga (2) - Almost bundled the ball in at the back post but that was the only thing of note he did. Is looking increasingly like a really poor signing. Had a tendency to play narrow, which stifled any possible attacks down the right. All the money we’ve spent and our options on the right are Elanga and Murphy paints a grim picture.
Willock (2) - Genuinely can’t think of anything he offered in attack or defence. Clear to see he’s not suited to playing in the number ten role and we need to be accepting Besiktas’ offer in January should they decide to come back in for him.
Barnes (4) - Looked the most threatening of the front line, which isn’t saying much, but showed some endeavour when receiving the ball. Curled a couple just wide of the far post and can feel comfortable about his position in the team.
Osula (3.5) - Felt for Will. Lumping long balls to him against Tarkowski and Branthwaite is just idiotic, yet that’s the tactic we employed in the first half. Sofascore says he touched the ball 13 times all game, which seems generous to me. Can be effective when playing to his strengths but this wasn’t his night.
Substitutes
Steur (7) - Changed the game when he came on with his ability to pick a pass in between the lines, which is a foreign concept to a lot of his teammates. Has to start going forward as he’s the only one who looks remotely capable of creating opportunities.
Wissa (4) - Nearly scored late on and actually got on the ball a bit more than Osula and Willock. Still a long way off being a £55m player as he chose the selfish route again and shot when a simple pass was on in the box.
Ramsey (2) - Idiotic red card.
Murphy (NR) - Swung a few decent balls in but no one attacked them.
Toure (NR) - Only on for a few minutes, but managed to beat his man and put a few good crosses into the box.
The manager
Jaissle (1) - Serious and difficult conversations need to take place this week. We’re three months into the season and there has been absolutely no improvement on the pitch. We have significantly regressed this season and look as if we have no plan whatsoever, which is the most egregious thing of all. If there was a sense of a plan, then I could accept the odd poor performance, but this screams of a manager completely out of his depth.
We paid £9m to get him out of his contract, so the hierarchy won’t be quick to abandon ship, but significant improvements need to be made.
It’s unfair to call us a young team when we have several experienced players out there who are earning a hefty wage but not pulling their weight.
The boos at half-time and full-time spoke volumes and can’t be ignored. Fulham away is massive.
