Halloween may be over for another year, but that didn’t stop Newcastle United from showing off their Jekyll and Hyde tendencies at West Ham United on Sunday afternoon.
Prior to this draw against Nuno Espirito Santo’s dejected hosts, Newcastle had collected three wins in their last three matches in all competitions.
But, regardless of that winning run, their poor away record in the Premier League this season continued at the London Stadium, as Nuno received his first Hammers win as manager, on the back of the Toon collapsing to a 3-1 defeat.
Of course, West Ham had some genuine moments of quality to thank for their well-deserved victory, as Lucas Paqueta scored that softly-marked equalizer late in the first half.
Yet they were definitely boosted by a charitable defensive performance from the away side too, with Nick Pope perhaps wishing he had done better with that first game, in hindsight.
Newcastle’s worrying defensive performance
Newcastle would have been the clear favorites for this tie in the pre-match build-up, with West Ham going 247 days without a home win ahead of their clash with Eddie Howe and Co.
However, football is very rarely played according to script, with Newcastle’s defense that looked rock solid in midweek when they comfortably beat Tottenham Hotspur replaced by a poor quality and error-prone backline at the London Stadium.
It was exactly the same defense too, except Sven Botman returned to the first team ahead of Fabian Schar. Howe would have greatly regretted having made that decision in first-half stoppage time, when Botman inexplicably placed an Aaron Wan-Bissaka cross, past his own goalkeeper, to give West Ham a slim 2-1 advantage.
The Dutchman wasn’t the only one to have an off day at the back though, with Emil Krafth hanging on at half-time after managing to win zero duels or zero tackles, as Howe was desperate to have Kieran Trippier available in his place, instead.
Aaron Ramsdale will also feel ready to usurp Pope between the sticks after a clean sheet was picked up by the former Arsenal goalkeeper against Spurs, with the former Burnley keeper having a pair of unsteady gloves, once again, when he spilled a late effort into the path of Tomas Soucek to level the victory for the hosts.
He does have some credit in the bank, however, having kept an impressive five clean sheets in the Premier League so far this season, a far cry from his error-strewn performance on Sunday.
While one of his other teammates remains on a very precarious tightrope defensively when it comes to being selected in the starting XI, after a campaign full of disastrous performances.
Howe must drop Newcastle star 3/10
Howe really tested his XI in east London, as William Osula, Jacob Ramsey and Anthony Elanga were all thrown into first-team action at some point during the chaotic clash.
The 47-year-old’s widespread tinkering did little to turn the game around, however, as Dan Burn once again struggled at left-back.
|
Burn’s Newcastle numbers by position |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Position |
Games played |
Goals + Passes |
|
CB |
82 |
2 + 2 |
|
kg |
78 |
6 + 2 |
|
From Transfermarkt |
||
In the past, the 6ft 7in giant has excelled at left-back, as evidenced by his tally of six goals when selected on the left side in 78 appearances and counting.
But, here and now, it is clear that the aging number 33 is no longer well suited to a full-back role, with comments from a Newcastle-based content creator earlier in the season that Burn being regularly selected here is the “stuff of nightmares” ringing entirely true against Nuno’s fiery hosts.
Indeed, the Blyth-born defender would contribute very little to Howe and Co’s cause in the advanced areas, with no dribbles attempted.
On top of that, Burn would also fail to win a single tackle or ground duel in the 3-1 defeat, leading Newcastle World’s Jordan Cronin to give him a disappointing 3/10 after the match.
Surely now is a good time for Lewis Hall to gain more first-team experience at left-back, facing Burn, who has shown no signs of late that he is suited for the demanding long-term position.
Hall was also back on the bench at the London Stadium, after a long absence from the first team due to injury, while Howe is now considering ditching his long-time servant for the promising youngster, as Champions League football returns to St James’ Park in midweek.
