Newcastle-Online comment: 22nd August 2004
Shay Given - 7
A solid alround game from Shay with a few decent stops, catches and
his general sweeping up, as always, was very good. Wasn't at fault
for their goal either. Solid, steady game.
Stephen Carr - 6
Mixed bag of a home debut for Carr. He looked great in spells but
had quite a few poor spells too. Got forward well and sent in one
or two decent crosses and his distribution was pretty good, especially
in the first half. A few dodgy moments in defence however and he was
mainly at fault for Atouba's goal having backed off the Cameroon international.
On an observational note he seems quite vocal and on a few occasions
he blasted his fellow team-mates, most notably Milner (after he fed
him a poor ball) and Jenas for shooting from distance when he was
in acres of space down the right. He was booed by Spurs fans whenever
he touched the ball but the Toon supporters drowned them out with
cheers.
Aaron Hughes - 7
It seems he reads the game much better when playing at the heart of
the defence and makes better decisions. Very good game with some decisive
blocks, tackles and clearances. Got rolled once or twice by Defoe
but got back to redeem himself. Few mistakes from the Irishman and
for me a bonus
Andy O'Brien - 5
He didn't look sharp nor fully fit and his performance showed this.
Defoe turned him so easy in the first half to get a shot away and
Hughes had to help him out on a few occasions. Distribution was average
too and in the air he didn't win that many balls from what I remember.
We can't be too hasrh on his performance however as he's just recovered
from Conjunctivitis - hopefully he will be sharper and react quicker
on Wednesday night.
Olivier Bernard - 5
Like Carr, in spells he was great but overall he had a poor game where
the confidence seemed to drain from him as the game wore on (much
like the whole team). From an attacking perspective there were many
instances in the game where Robert come in field to create space for
an overlap but Bernard just sat deep, coming in field himself which
allowed Spurs to gallop down our left on numerous occasions. Positionally
he was a mess. Poor game.
James Milner - 5
Worked hard but ran about like a headless chicken for the most part
and his crossing was again poor. Got a few whacks and seemed to have
been playing with this in mind at times. Some neat touches on the
ball and he nearly scored a cracking goal - smashing a first time
volley goalwards from Shearer's knock-down but Robinson tipped it
over for a corner. The technique to hit the ball so hard and on target
in a split-second was impressive. Poor game however. Someone should
tell him he doesn't have to try too hard, he should relax. Was replaced
by Ameobi on 76 minutes.
Nicky Butt - 7
Excellent in the first-half, carried on where he left off against
Middlesbrough and his distribution all game was pretty much spot on
with some fine cross-field passing and 40 yard clips forward. Not
as dominating as he was at the Riverside but in the final 10 minutes
he seemed to be everywhere and won back the ball a lot only to see
those he passed it too, give it away or let it trickle out for a throw-in.
Jermaine Jenas - 7
In the first-half he had a dynamic all-action game where he was involved
in most things and he nearly scored what would have been a great goal
after he galloped forward down our left, past his marker to the byline
before drawing Robinson out of goal. Sadly his little dink through
the keeper's legs went inches wide. His passing was very good in the
main and he was often setting the tempo with his thrusting runs and
his thumping tackles. Got on the end of a few crosses and tried his
luck from distance once or twice too. In the second half however he
faded and disappeared as he often did last Season, losing a few 60-40
tackles and dwelling on the ball a tad too much. I'll put that down
the tiredness having only just recovered from an injury though. Was
replaced by Dyer on 76 minutes.
Laurent Robert - 6
A mixed bag of a game for Robert as well. The vast majority of his
corners and crossing were very poor and so too were the numerous times
in which he cheaply gave possession away - one right up their end
which resulted in a break away in which Atouba scored from. At one
point in the second half the crowd got a bit restless with him but
to be fair he picked his head up and started to drive forward and
he clearly tried to play better - there was more determination and
he could have scored but his low drive from just inside the box was
tipped away. Lots of effort but short on quality, which is ironic
because it's usually the other way round. Was subbed for Kluivert
on 76 minutes and received canny applause.
Alan Shearer - 5
Out muscled, out fought and dominated by the impressive Ledley King.
Worked his socks off but he didn't have a sniff all game, bar one
header which went quite wide if I remember correctly. He also struggled
to get into the box at times when Bellamy, JJ and Milner broke with
pace too - leaving us without a presence. To be fair however the service
from the flanks was often woeful.
Craig Bellamy - 7
In the first-half he was electric and tore Naybet to shreds. His pace
took him past the Spurs rearguard on many occasions and within the
opening minutes he drew a save from Robinson. He bullied, harassed
and chased down everything as only he can and seemed to be on a one
man mission to destroy Spurs. One observational point I have to make
is when he got to the byline others were late in joining him too much
for my liking, forcing the little Welshman to knock it off a yellow
shirt for corners once or twice. Great in the final moments of a game
if you want to hang onto a lead but when you need a goal the bodies
from midfield have to be quicker. As the game wore on and Spurs got
deeper and deeper he had less of an impact. Great to see him in this
type of form though. My man of the match.
Subs brought on:
Kieron Dyer - 4
Brought on for Jenas and moved straight into the centre of the park.
Hardly got involved except a few runs into no man's land. He did play
one excellent through ball to Kluivert however. When he warmed up
with Kluivert the boos and jeers followed - as did clapping and cheering,
mostly the latter. It was hard to tell if the clapping and cheering
was for Kluivert though. When he eventually come on the clapping and
cheering far outweighed the booing it has to be said.
Shola Ameobi - 4
Like Dyer he hardly got involved except for tripping over the ball,
giving it away and spurning a half-chance from just inside the box.
Patrick Kluivert - 4
Made a great run into the Spurs box which Dyer spotted with a fine
ball but the Dutchman's cross spooned out for a goal-kick. Other than
that, he hardly had a touch. |
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