By Mentalman
April 12 2013

Despite last nights defeat Alan Pardew's side performed well and received a standing ovation from the crowd when they left the pitch at the end of the game. Tim Krul was solid thoughout, but Moussa Sissoko who gets Man of the Match and Hatem Ben Arfa, really stood out for Tyne-Talk's Mentalman who has provided the player ratings from last night's match. Read on to see how the rest of the team faired..   

Player Ratings

Tim Krul (7) Another solid performance from the keeper and he kept us in it early on, dealt with everything he had to well although could have maybe done better for their goal.

Danny Simpson (6) He wasn't as much of a threat going forward as i thought he would be and got caught out of position on a number of occasions, as always backed off too much and totally miss read the play for their goal.

Mike Williamson (6) He played better than i was expecting and did nothing wrong, having said that he was helped out by Mbiwa, cabaye and simpson a lot in that whenever he got the ball they made sure he had at least 2 outlets for an easy pass.

Mapou Yanga Mbiwa (7) Another strong performance from MYB even with Williamson playing alongside him.

Massadio Haidara (7) It was good to see him back so soon and he put in a solid performance and made sure Santon wasn't missed too much, his defending is strong but isn't the attacking threat that Santon is which he will need to work on.

Gael Bigirimana (5) It was a big game for the young lad to come into and his first touch and crossing let him down meaning there was very little attacking threat coming from the right hand side.

Vurnon Anita (4) When i'm watching a football match i often end up focussing on an individual player rather than the match as a whole, last night it was Anita, he started well but disappeared after about 15 mins and wasn't to be seen again until he made a block in the 2nd half just as he was about to be taken off.

Yohan Cabaye (7) A true captains performance he was everywhere doing everything, unfortunately set pieces and shots let him down and also a number of poor tackles could have seen him sent off and had we got through he would have missed the next match anyway.

Jonas (7) The old Jonas seems to be making a come back, never stopped running and popped up everywhere, helped out defensively and was a threat going forward, once switched to full back he did the job required and it was telling most of the opposition attacks went down our right flank.

Moussa Sissoko (8) Yet again he was our best player, his work rate was second to none, he was everywhere and this showed when he picked up an injury deep in our half.

Papiss Cisse (7) Another good performance from the striker with another goal, their defenders struggled with him but realised how easy it is to get him caught offside.

Shola Ameobi (7) Provided the pass for the goal and missed a sitter when he fell over.

Sylvain Marveaux (7) Strong performance when he came on and again was trying the sort of pass that cisse craves, the opposition struggled with his direct running.

Hatem Ben Arfa (8) he totally changed the game when he came on especially when you take into account how much he's played in the last 6 months, the opposition lb couldn't cope and it was his determination that set up our goal and was unlucky not to score.

EL: Player Ratings: Newcastle Utd v Benfica (H)

Discussion started by TyneTalk (IP Logged), 12/04/2013 12:40

TyneTalk
12/04/2013 12:40

What do you think? You can have your say by posting below.
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.

Reply Quote Report

CY-FW
12/04/2013 15:02

If you wish you can watch the game in full and its highlights on [www.footballwatch.net]

Reply Quote Report

annie
12/04/2013 16:30

Thanks for the ratings mental, they make interesting reading.

Reply Quote Report

mentalman
12/04/2013 17:51

Annie, from your post i'm sensing that you disagree with some of what i have said

Reply Quote Report

MissC
12/04/2013 17:53

I can;t argue either way as I didn't see it. heard good things overall though despite the result

Reply Quote Report

surreymag
12/04/2013 18:23

Interesting comments like you I thought Williamson did well although his range of passing if you can call it that is limited. All the subs made an impact lets hope we can perform like we did 2nd half for 90+ minutes on Sunday.

Reply Quote Report

mentalman
12/04/2013 18:34

i was watching the match with my dad and uncle, my dad is 60 and my uncle is 74, they both said Williamson is a throw back to defenders from the 60's and 70's, good at tackling, heading and making clearances but cant really do much else! As i said whenever he got the ball ther were 3 or 4 players all giving him a simple option to get rid of the ball so there was little reason for him to make a mistake! I loved it when he got the ball on the edge of the box and set himself up for a shot only to kick the defender and fall over!

Di Canio has come out and said they have issues with fitness and finishing a match so they'll have watched that last night and be hoping our players aren't able to play against them like that for 90mins again

Reply Quote Report

annie
12/04/2013 20:46

Quote:

mentalman
Annie, from your post i'm sensing that you disagree with some of what i have said

Not at all mental, I think your assessment of each player was spot on.

Keep up the good work

Reply Quote Report

tom09
14/04/2013 02:23

Only one I would change is bigirimana from a 5 to a six I thought the young lad did well considering the importance of the game and the fact he was playing out of position the pressure and nerves he must of felt would of been immense
He didn't play great but the fact he held it together and didn't crumble I think deserves a little recognition . It was a great effort from all involved to try to overturn a result which always looked to be too much I just hope it boosts morale rather than deflates it for Sundays game and the rest of the season

Reply Quote Report

surreymag
14/04/2013 08:13

I'm sure it will we will have a few players with fresh legs today and the rest will just live off adrenalin I hope.

Reply Quote Report

mentalman
16/04/2013 15:02

Tom, Bigi was a hard one to rate, the way i do it is 5 is an average performance and even taking into account his age and playing out of position (although i believe wide right is a position he has played before) it was an average 45mins of football from him, his passing let him down, his crossing was poor and he didn't defend aswell as i'm sure Pardew was expecting!

Had i given him a 6 then he would have got the same score as Simpson and Williamsonwho both had better games than i was expecting over the full match and not just 45mins!

On another note i would ahve preffered to have seen Anita playing wide right and Bigi sitting in the middle as i'm starting to think Cabaye and Anita can't play together.

Reply Quote Report

tom09
16/04/2013 17:57

Good point about cabaye and Anita I just thought he deserved a little more for his effort considering it was a position he isn't a natural in and this would of affected his passing , just a shame this sort of commitment was severely lacking on Sunday

Reply Quote Report

Goto: Forum List•Message List•Search• Log In

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

We record all IP addresses on the Sportnetwork message boards which may be required by the authorities in case of defamatory or abusive comment. We seek to monitor the Message Boards at regular intervals. We do not associate Sportnetwork with any of the comments and do not take responsibility for any statements or opinions expressed on the Message Boards. If you have any cause for concern over any material posted here please let us know as soon as possible by e-mailing abuse@sportnetwork.net