The Good, The Bad, and The Average #36: NUFC player ratings vs. West Ham (a) [PL28]

Newcastle United earned a narrow 1-0 victory over West Ham with their hosts being about the most obliging opponents they could have wished for six days out from the cup final.

The morgue-like atmosphere at the awful London Stadium probably helped, as well, as we didn't have to be anywhere near their best to escape with three points and a clean sheet.

Harvey Barnes set up Bruno Guimarães for the winning goal in the second but neither took our Man of the Match Award, with one of their teammates' overall display winning the day.

All-in-all, while nobody in white and green was at their peak in terms of performance, the lads deserve enormous credit for winning a game that many saw as a mere distraction.

Here's how we rated all involved...

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The Good

Kieran Trippier and Bruno Guimarães went head-to-head for the Man of the Match award, but we have to go with Trippier despite Bruno's winning goal. The full-back was exemplary in much of his work, took some good set pieces, and defended well. Bruno finished brilliantly to win the game for us and played the best passes in the match throughout and his singing at the end was a delight, even if it was massively off-key!

Joelinton and Sandro Tonali completed a solid midfield trio alongside the captain, with the big Brazilian another one of our star men due to his combative play and driving runs forward with the ball. Tonali continues to frustrate with his awful passing at times, but it's impossible to knock his defensive effort. He won 9/10 duels, covered the ground at immense speed, and had a decent hand in the winning goal as well.

Out on the left, Harvey Barnes got the nod over Joe Willock and came up trumps with a vital assist for Bruno's winning goal. While he missed three first half chances, it took a couple of really good saves from Alphonse Areola to deny him, and he was the only one in a white shirt getting into those positions to shoot.

Nick Pope, Fabian Schär, and Dan Burn all played their part in earning a rare clean sheet but none were at their absolute best. Pope was only tested with a couple of shots straight at him, but he did well from high balls into the box, while Schär's passing was still a bit iffy and Burn had a few brainfarts but both centre-backs did well against the tricky front pairing of Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus.

It must've taken a lot to get the players motivated with this one with the Carabao Cup final on the horizon, so Eddie Howe deserves a lot of praise for that. We weren't at our fluid best but we got the job done and now sit joint-fifth with Manchester City.

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The Bad

What a poor, poor team West Ham United are. While they had a couple of sights of goal in the first half, their lack of impetus and tempo was laughable at times for them being the home side. It was mirrored by the morbid atmosphere in the cavernous London Stadium, which can't be a fun place to watch a game on nights like this.

Sean Longstaff was barely on the pitch for any length of time but he managed to misplace a simple pass and give away a needless free kick to put us under pressure. He loves getting into this section, doesn't he?

Fellow substitute Callum Wilson wasn't much better, especially given he had a lot more time on the pitch. He just looks a shadow of his former self at the moment, but you'd still back him if he got a chance on Sunday...

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The Average

Tino Livramento was driving us up the wall in the first half with his refusal to attack with any intent. He made an early mistake to gift West Ham a huge chance, though thankfully Soucek blasted over from close range, and then made another mistake later on when overrunning the ball in midfield and inadvertently making a chance for Bowen. Thankfully, he was much better in the second half.

We hope Alexander Isak doesn't have too many games like this, as he barely got a touch or a sniff of goal. He still showed his class with a few beautiful touches and direct runs, but he cut a frustrated figure at times.

Jacob Murphy also had a frustrating evening but grew into things in the late stages. He was anonymous before the interval, and not much he tried came off, but he stepped up to help us see things out towards the end.

Coming off the bench with Wilson with a decent amount of time on the clock, Joe Willock added some legs to the attack but failed to convert in key moments when we had opportunities to break away. He did a job.

And, finally, while Michael Salisbury looked like a bit of a berk, he handled the game quite well overall. There were naturally some silly decisions here and there, as is always the way, but he got all of the major calls right.

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The Breakdown

While this wasn't a great game for the neutral, the lads did what they needed to to get the three points.

The XI

Nick Pope – 7

Kieran Trippier – 8 ⭐️

Fabian Schär – 7

Dan Burn – 7

Tino Livramento – 6

Bruno Guimarães – 8 (off 88')

Sandro Tonali – 8

Joelinton – 8

Jacob Murphy – 6

Alexander Isak – 6 (off 79')

Harvey Barnes – 7 (off 79')

The Subs

Joe Willock – 6 (on 79')

Callum Wilson – 5 (on 79')

Sean Longstaff – 5 (on 88')

The Gaffer

Eddie Howe – 7

The Opposition

West Ham United – 2

The Ref

Michael Salisbury – 6

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The Next

Deep breaths. It's Wembley and the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool on Sunday afternoon. The game is a 4.30 p.m. (GMT) kick-off and will be shown on both ITV and Sky.

If you're heading down, please back the team with everything you have. We've already stocked up on Hall's Soothers and we promise to be more Guinness than men by the time we walk through the turnstiles.

HOWAY THE LADS! LET'S F*CKING GIVE IT TO THEM!