My Newcastle United Player Ratings vs Fulham (H)

Player Ratings

Tim Krul (8.5) - Outstanding today, the young Dutchman showed why he is our number one. Made some superb saves, which kept us with a two goal cushion for long enough to help us hold on for the win. His positioning for their goal was poor but after the saves his made, one can’t really fault him.

Danny Simpson (7.5) – Apart from a poor period in the first half when he gave the ball away needlessly, he was very good today. Made some key tackles and clearances and also put the odd good ball into the box.

Steven Taylor (8) – Another one who was outstanding today. Won many tackles and kept Fulham at bay for much of the game. He seems to be growing in confidence as he defended really well today.

Fabricio Coloccini (8) – Led the team well and again put in a solid performance. Read the game superbly and showed why he is our most important player at the moment.

Ryan Taylor (6.5) – Struggled quite a bit today. Had a difficult time handling Damien Duff. With that said, he did go forward a lot more today than in the previous games and so it helped us on attack. It was also his quick thinking which got us to open the scoring.

Gabriel Obertan (7.5) – Had a bit of a mixed game. He seems to lack a quality ball into the box although he did look dangerous when attacking the defender. He needs to do that more. He was however involved in the build up to our second goal with a good ball to Ba, after a neat run.

Yohan Cabaye (8) – I thought he too had a good game. He got stuck in, wasn’t afraid to shoot at goal and as we know it was his shot that led to our opener. Seemed to grow in confidence with that and also played some fine balls today.

Cheik Tiote (7.5) – Today was by far his best performance of the season. Broke up many Fulham attacks and won some tackles without losing the ball in dangerous areas. Seems to be getting rid of that rustiness which was evident in the previous games.

Jonas Gutierrez (7.5) – Another who grew in confidence as the game went on. His work rate was immense and recovered well after a rather quiet first half.

Peter Lovenkrands (4) – After 30 minutes, it felt as though we were playing with ten men as the Dane was largely anonymous. He was rightfully substituted after contributing very little.

Leon Best (9) – In contrast to his striker partner, he scored two very good goals. The one was a pure striker’s finish and the other was a touch of class, as he took one touch before turning the ball home. His work rate was very good too.

Substitutes

Demba Ba (8) – An impressive cameo from Ba, who showed more in the 30 minutes today than he did in all of his other outings. Set up our second with a dangerous early ball into the box and was also unlucky not to score when he hit the cross bar late on.

Haris Vuckic (N/A) – Looked good in the five minutes he was on for before going off with a hand injury.

Alan Smith (N/A) – Hardly did anything noteworthy when replacing Vuckic.

Newcastle United Man of the Match – Leon Best

Newcastle United Goals Thread 2011/2012

Premier League Goals

Sunderland (A)
Goal: R.Taylor (1-0)


Credit to Siralicdman for providing the goals.

My Newcastle United Player Ratings vs Sunderland (A)

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 for 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.

Man of the Match - Tim Krul

My Newcastle United Player Ratings vs Arsenal (H)

Player Ratings

Tim Krul (7.5) - Did not have too much to do but did well when called upon.

Danny Simpson (7) - I thought he gave a good performance. Got stuck in at times. Did leave some gaps at the back when he ventured forward a few times.

Fabricio Coloccini (8) - Our best player on the day. Lead by example. Read the game well. Was able to cover his fellow defenders and even tried to go forward when he could.

Steven Taylor (7.5) - Put in a solid performance although the biggest concern with Steven is the fact that he puts in some unnecessary challenges, which could see him get into trouble on another day. Other than that justified his selection ahead of Mike Williamson.

Ryan Taylor (6.5) - Despite being a make shift left back, he actually had a quiet evening, even though I had my concern that Arsenal were going to attack his channel. They did that a few times but we handled it and still managed a clean sheet. Hopefully he will be replaced with a proper left back ahead of our next game though.

Joey Barton (7) - I thought he had a mixed game. There were moments where he was outstanding, showing his commitment to the cause, whilst there were other moments where he gave the ball away unnecessarily. Having said that, Song should have been sent off for the stamp on Joey, whilst I can understand why he went down after the slap from Gervinho. It wasn't necessary for him to pick Gervinho up the way he did but I suppose that's Joey.

Cheik Tiote (6.5) - Seemed a bit off the pace. That will most probably be due to his visa problems. Hopefully the 90 minutes and a full weeks training will see him sharper next week. Still a very important player to us.

Yohan Cabaye (6.5) - Took a while to get into the game but showed glimpses of the player he can be for us this season. Put in a good shift and was taken off towards the end.

Jonas Gutierrez (6) - Failed to stamp his mark on the game. May be dropped for our next game. He did win us some free kicks which stopped Arsenal from getting a head of steam but that was about it for him.

Demba Ba (5.5) - Taken off at half time. That tells you he wasn't really in the game as he failed to link up well with his strike partner. It will take him some time to settle in and let's not forget Arsenal had most of the possession which will not always be the case at home this season.

Shola Ameobi (6) - Put in a good shift although he too failed to test their keeper.

Substitutes
Gabriel Obertan (7) - Showed some real pace when given the chance and looked good on the ball. Hopefully he starts next week, so that we can see more of him.

Leon Best (6.5) - Showed one good turn but other than that, never really made an impact.

Peter Lovenkrands (5.5) - Had very little time to make an impact.

Newcastle United Man of the Match - Fabricio Coloccini