Player Ratings v Sunderland (A)
By Wasim
August 20 2011
Goalkeeper Tim Krul was voted Man of the Match by Tyne-Talk's resident player rater Wasim4nufc, for his performance in the 1-0 win against rivals Sunderland at the Stadium of Light earlier today. Goal scorer, Ryan Taylor also scored highly. Read on to see how the rest of the team faired....
Player Ratings
Tim Krul (8.5) - Was terrific in goal today. Made some top quality saves, kicked well for the most part and handled crosses well. Two clean sheets in a row, can't ask for anything more from a keeper.
Danny Simpson (7) - Certainly got stuck in, although he was lucky not to be booked today. He put quite a few balls into the box, although he lacked decent delivery at that key time.
Steven Taylor (7.5) - Won a fair bit in the air and again combined well with Coloccini.
Fabricio Coloccini (8) - Another top quality performance from captain colossal. Read the game well, as always and saved our back line on a few occasions. Did start off being beaten early on, but showed his class, as we kept a clean sheet.
Ryan Taylor (8.5) - For someone who may not start the next game, he put in a decent performance. Got beat once or twice but that's understandable for someone played out of position. Scored an absolute beauty of a free kick, worthy of winning any game.
Joey Barton (6.5) - Was unlucky not to score with a good header, when it was illegally cleared off the line. Did not quite stamp his authority on the game the way I expected, although that was not due to lack of commitment that's for sure.
Cheik Tiote (6.5) - Lost the ball in some critical areas and does not look the same Tiote of last season. That will come with games. He did put himself about though and we have two clean sheets so can't be too hard on him.
Yohan Cabaye (7.5) - Made one foolish tackle but other than that got stuck in. Won the ball a few times, through pressing well and he almost scored with a shot from 25 yards out. A better performance than last week I'll say.
Jonas Gutierrez (8) - Won us the free kick which led to the goal and was outstanding in the second half. Took players on and showed his worth to the team. Did a lot of defensive duties too.
Gabriel Obertan (7.5) - Another player who had a better second half. Looked dangerous on the break and linked up nicely with Ameobi at times. An encouraging performance.
Shola Ameobi (8) - I thought he lead the line superbly today. May not have scored but he troubled Sunderland and won several free kicks for us. His flick on for Gosling late on, summed up his performance. Strong, won key headers and played with pride.
Substitutions
Mike Williamson (7) - Won a few important headers late on.
Dan Gosling (6.5) - Could have scored late on and got involved in the few minutes he was on.
Newcastle United Man of the Match - Tim Krul
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Krul was top draw but My MOTM was either Shola or Colo. Shola did very well and if it wasnt for Sunderland pressing so much he would have had a lot more help from the two wide men and cabaye.
Thought Tiote was again poor but like a lot of the team he has had a poor pre season. Needs to learn when to lay it off and with Barton and Cabaye alongside him he has no excuse. Saying that I have no doubt he will again be a top player for us this season.
Cabaye is finding his feet and the first two games have been hard ones for him. In both he has got better as the game has went on. Today he played a couple of lovely defence splitting balls through but we just didnt have anybody on the end of them. The right sort of quick forward would relish those types of balls. I see him getting better as the season goes on but he needs the ball at his feet, not it getting pumped up front.
Bit high on Obertan but he did stretch them in the second half along with Jonas. Jonas was a great outlet and how good will it be when we can swap the two wingers mid way through a game with the likes of Marveaux and Obertan. Opposition full backs will hate it.
Krul was phenomenal, and has been since the Brazil friendly. This summer, I worried that he could be a bit overzealous in the box. He's been calm and collected and has made every decision perfectly.
Ryan Taylor is going to get beat by fast wingers, it's a fact. However, the lad doesn't give up, and you always see him running back to cover after getting beat. That's two solid performances from him in a row. I'd like to see Ryan attack more though, I know he was on the wrong flank, but the lad can cross and fire from distance (he barely missed against Arsenal from about 40 yards out).
Simpson put a great ball towards the back post in the second half that no one went after. His deliveries were more than good enough, the problem was Ameobi went central and Cabaye to the near post, but Jonas never went far post. Either Jonas needs to run into the box, or Ameobi needs to go far post.
Most of the fans I've heard (myself included) felt that Cabaye had a marvelous game, and he's getting adjusted to the speed of the Premier League very quickly. He looked antsy on the ball in the first half, and not taking his time. He's starting to realize he doesn't have to play at light speed to be effective. His long shot on goal was well struck, but not well placed. What's odd is sky gave him a 5, making him the lowest rated player in our side (tied with Obertan).
Obertan wasn't a 7.5 for me, more like a 6.5. He played better in the second half, but to get tackled by the last man twice when released clear on goal isn't good. Also, he looks like he's 50.
If Gosling had been brought on earlier, I think he would have scored his chance. That was only his second or third touch after being brought on. It was a great run (Nolan-esque in how he snuck into the box unmarked), and a fantastic flick from Ameobi.
Pardew got the line-up right, but I wish he had made some switches earlier. The whole starting line-up played 85+ minutes. I would have liked to see Marveaux or Gosling come on at 65-70 minutes for Obertan (with Jonas going to the right). All said, he got 3 points on the road in the derby, and that's all that really matters.
P.S. It appears that Tiote is fasting for Ramadan. I'm not sure if that is why he's looked so slow the last couple games (as lots of players don't eat much for breakfast on game days, I know I didn't), but it could certainly be a contributing factor.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011:08:21:05:02:19 by waffles.
Biffins, I made Krul MOTM, simply because there were times when Sunderland were all over us and Krul made the important saves to keep things at 0-0, particularly in the first half. I do feel you have valid points regarding both Colo and Ameobi.
Certainly agree with you that if we can swap our wingers mid way through a game, it could make us very dangerous particularly as Jonas, Marveaux and Obertan have different strengths to their game and full backs may struggle to handle that.
Waffles, I do agree that Ryan Taylor has done well and perhaps if we sign a left back, he could move to right back, so that we can still use his ability to cross and take free kicks to our benefit. Simpson has done well too so it's a nice option to have I suppose. Also agree that Pardew could have made changes earlier, although I can see why he did not want to, as we managed to control the game at the very time substitutions are usually introduced.
I was not aware that Tiote was fasting, it certainly is not easy to fast and play, and credit to him. The fast ends at the end of this month so its likely he'll play one more premier league game before the fast is over. There's no doubt that he will pick his game up though and credit to all the lads, for keeping two clean sheets in a row.
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