Player Ratings v Arsenal (H)
By Wasim
February 5 2011
Cheik Tiote was awarded Man Of The Match by Tyne-Talk's player rater Wasim4nufc after he scored the equaliser in Newcastle's 4-4 draw against Arsenal at St James' Park earlier on today. Joey Barton also scored highly, whilst striker Leon Best wasn't far behind. Read on to see how the rest of the team faired...
Player Ratings
Steve Harper (5) - Hardly had many saves to make but conceded four and can't be happy with that.
Danny Simpson (6) - I thought he struggled in the first half but was our best defender in the second half. Made at least two important last ditch tackles in the second half and was good going forward throughout the match.
Mike Williamson (4.5) - Really struggled to deal with Van Persie and had a poor first half but he was always dangerous on set pieces and earned us the second penalty.
Fabricio Coloccini (4) - It was a poor showing from usually our best centre back. He simply could not handle Walcott's pace but got better as the game went on though.
Jose Enrique (5.5) - Could not handle Walcott in the first half but he started to have a bigger influence on the game in the second half and picked up an assist for our second goal. Went forward a lot in the second half.
Joey Barton (7.5) - After a horrible first half he scored two superb penalties and controlled things for us in the second half with his ability to deliver quality set pieces and to get our attacks going.
Cheik Tiote (8) - I thought he was our stand out player today. Won several challenges, passed the ball well and scored an absolute stunner to level things at 4-4. Took a while to get going but by the end of the game he wrote his name into Newcastle United folklore.
Kevin Nolan (5) - Unable to add to his goals tally today but he led from the front and along with Barton, he managed to lift the team with his in your face style.
Jonas Gutierrez (6) - Put in a good shift and linked up very nicely with Enrique in the second half. I think he sometimes gets unfair criticism as he does do some good things for us down the left.
Peter Lovenkrands (4) - A really disappointing performance from the Dane. Think he'll be dropped for the next game as he was unable to do anything of note.
Leon Best (7) - Does look poor at times but few could argue against his work rate. Scored the crucial second goal and won the all important first penalty which means that he can be effective at this level if given the chance.
Substitutes
Nile Ranger (6.5)- Did very well when coming on and certainly made an impact.
Danny Guthrie (N/A) - Came on in injury time.
Man of the Match - Cheik Tiote
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Nice ratings gotta have been a difficult week to rate. Some fair comments.
I guess giving them 7's would imply a good 90minutes which just wasn't the case
I can see why the lower scores are justified today, lack of consistancy and a poor start.
Joey gets it for me, Tiote a close second, while Ranger made a big impact coming off the bench.
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Toon4life
After recent posts people may say i'm Anti Nolan but i'm not i just think his hearts not at the club anymore!
As for Ranger, his work rate is top class and his energy is a problem for every team he as played against, all he needs to do is score that first goal and he'll start banging them in!
Its often said about strikers losing confidence if they go on a run of not scoring and i'm sure its a lot worse for a young guy trying to prove himself, Barton's penalties weren't the best and on another day/different keeper would have been easily saved unless Ranger's penalty taking is shocking then it may have been a good idea to give him a shot and break his duck albeit through a penalty!
Another point, i thought Nolan took penalties if shola wasn't playing!
In my opinion Best deserved 7.5 he should have 2 goals on the scoresheet. Ref's assistant wrongly ruled one offside.
This was probably one of the worst games for you to rate wasim as the two halves couldn't have been more diiferent. Well done with your ratings.
Maybe you should give ratings for each half? For example, Best looked like he was trying to be offside in the first half and I wouldn't have rated him above 4. But in the second half he was immense and probably deserved something like 8-8.5.
It doesn't surprise me that Lovenkrands failed to offer anything when he played in midfield most of the game.
Mental-I agree about Nolan, though he did almost turn up with the winner at the end and I certainly appreciated him stepping to Diaby. Somewhere between 4-5 is fair.