11th April 2005
By
Gaz Pearson
 Steve
Harper
Harper made a complete howler for the Spurs goal and had a torrid
afternoon deputising for Shay Given. A Much better goalkeeper
than this and did himself no justice today. |
5 |
 Stephen
Carr
Solid display against his former club. Booed every time he came
near the ball but this only spurred him on (no pun intended)
and he put in a decent display albeit against a Tottenham side
lacking any width. |
7 |
 Andy
O'Brien
Erratic at times, competent at others. The mix bag of no nonsense
and stupidity that is Andy O'Brien was on show today with some
good defending followed by some dreadful mistakes. Should be
more experienced these days having been in the Premiership a
good few years now. Commitment is there, quality is not. |
6 |
 Jean-Alain
Boumsong
Commanding in the air. Sheer presence and quality makes him
automatic starter in central defence. Some superb last ditch
tackles, good in the air and decent distribution capped a good
display. Shame he is ineligible for the Lisbon game, we will
miss him badly. |
7 |
 Celestine
Babayaro
Poor back pass which put Harper in trouble for the Spurs goal.
Made some fantastic last ditch tackles but did look a little
lightweight. A good run out for him though and I am sure he
will have been happy to get the game under his belt before he
faces Lisbon on Thursday. |
6 |
 Jermaine
Jenas
Man of the Match for me. Following an absolutely horrid spell
of form he bounced back to something close to his old self in
today's game. Showed glimpses of class in the first half and
showed excellent drive and determination in the second. Our
only source of creativeness. Seems to like playing at White
Hart Lane, but must now repeat this performance against Lisbon
and Manchester Utd next week. |
8 |
 Amdy
Faye
Covers so much ground, his work rate often goes unnoticed but
following another decent performance in the heart of midfield,
I'm sure some recognition will come his way. Carried Butt in
the first half and got some much needed help when Jenas was
switched to centre midfield in the second half. |
7 |
Nicky
Butt
Awful display. Guilty of two dreadful gaffs in the first half
where he gifted Spurs the ball in their half then minutes later
in our half. Something is just not right with Nicky, be it lack
of games I just don't know. A shadow of the player seen at Manchester
Utd and for England. Needs to improve to be a regular starter. |
5 |
 Laurent
Robert
Never got into the match. Poor corners and some sloppy play
made him an obvious target for the substation in the second
half. Not his best against Lisbon either so hopefully he will
hit good form again in the return leg on Thursday. |
6 |
 Alan
Shearer
Worked hard and was on the receiving end of some strong Spurs
challenges which eventually led to his substitution. |
6 |
 Shola
Ameobi
Should have buried a header in the first half to put us 1-0
up. Poor all round display. Touch is poor, poor in the air and
lacks any quality in front of goal. Whether it's a confidence
thing I just don't know but he cried out for his chance, he
has had one, and he for me hasn't taken it. Kluivert walks back
into the team, sorry Shola.
|
5 |
Substitutes:
 James
Milner
Came of for Alan Shearer at half-time. Ran around like a headless
chicken after flick on's from Ameobi that never came his way.
Should have scored following the gaff between Robinson and King
but blazed the ball well over the net when it looked easier
to tap the ball into an unguarded goal. |
5 |
Darren
Ambrose
Did inject some life down the right side of midfield and fired
in a few fizzing free-kicks. Unfortunately they all hit the
wall. |
6 |
 Charles
N'Zogbia
Looked extremely lively down the left wing. He seemed hungry
and eager to impress. Looks a talent and hopefully will get
more chance to show what he is all about in future games. |
7 |
The Boss Man:
 Graeme
Souness
Hard day for Greame. 1-0 away from home isn't a disaster (as
Lisbon will be telling themselves) but Newcastle did contribute
to their own downfall today. A patchwork team at times lacked
balance and quality. Spurs were well short of being special
but they did look more dangerous going forward. It never looked
like we would score all day when Shearer went off. Some hard
work needs to be done if we are to taste success in the coming
week. |
6 |
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