Newcastle United 2-2 Stoke City – My View

  A good result and an excellent second half performance from Stoke is very encouraging following poor performances at home to West Brom, Hull and Derby. In the archetypal game of two halves, it was Newcastle who completely bossed the first half, while the second belonged, without doubt to Stoke. With a lot of positives to comment on from the match, I’ll get the negatives out of the way first.

  Our first half performance was dreadful. We played with absolutely no confidence, seemed unable to hold the ball for more than a few seconds, played with far too slow a tempo, allowed Newcastle far too much time to run at us, created very little going forward and were far too easily opened up twice by Newcastle for two goals from Michael Owen. On the first occasion it was a quality ball from Jonas Gutierrez that completely cut through the Stoke defence, while Ibrahima Sonko should have been far tighter to Owen and on the second occasion our lack of pace at the back showed with Obafemi Martins easily able to get round Andy Griffin to set up Owen for a rap in, while Danny Higginbotham possibly let Owen get away from him too easily.

  if at half time you had told me that there would be two more goals in the second half, my reaction would have been ”4-0, that’s not too catastrophic.” That’s how one sided the first half was. This makes the excellent Stoke performance in the second half even more pleasing. The introduction of Ricardo Fuller after 56 minutes played a huge part in the fightback but even before Fuller came on Stoke were playing much better. We seemed far more confident, were stringing passes together, seldom just hitting it long, pressed Newcastle into mistakes, playing with an urgency that was so obviously absent in the first half, created several good goalscoring opportunities, two of which we eventually took and allowed Newcastle very little when they mustered an attack, limiting them to just one shot second half.

  While the end result is a good one, you have to question Tony Pulis’ tactics from the start. He clearly set up to try and stifle the game and get a 0-0 draw or maybe nick a win and very strangely started without our main attacking threat in Fuller. It’s little wonder our first half showing was so limp.

  Credit must go to Pulis though for making the team adapt and do far better second half. With the initial game play out of the window after eight minutes it was good to see us finally attacking Newcastle with some sort of purpose in the second half and giving what was clearly a very unconfident side no time on the ball, pressing them into errors. His tactical substitutions were also spot on, Fuller was brought on early in the second half and made the difference he often has in the past when coming on as an impact player and Michael Tonge was introduced to give us a little bit more going forward when things were just getting a little flat and Newcastle looked like they were going to be able to see the game out for a 2-1 win.

  With Rory Delap’s performance on the whole being poor and his trademark long throw being ineffective, it was great to see that we have another player in Ibrahima Sonko who can throw it just as far, if not further, than Delap, albeit without quite as much power. With Sonko being preferred to Leon Cort in defence yesterday and Ryan Shawcross facing a spell on the sidelines it is likely that Sonko will retain his place for the next few games. This means that we may still be able to utilise our most potent weapon, the long throw, without having to rely on Delap, who, being played out of position for most of the season, has failed to impress in recent weeks. This may allow either Tom Soares or Tonge to lay a more prominent role in the midfield while a rest would do Delap, who has seemed tired of late, a lot of good.

  Finally, how great to see the passion of former Newcastle player Abdoulaye Faye celebrating his late goal. He showed once again yesterday that the £2.25 million we payed for him really was a great deal, in contrast to Newcastle’s Coloccini who cost them £10.3 million and was completely skinned by Fuller before he set up Sidibe for our first goal. I must say I was a little surprised to here Abdoulaye’s squeaky little voice on Match of the Day though, a guttural growl would seem more fitting for a man of hs strength and physical stature. If he was to be injured tomorrow and out for the rest of the season, he would still be in the running for player of the season. He’s fast on his was to becoming a true Stoke legend.

Player Ratings:

Thomas Sorensen: Sorensen didn’t have his best game yesterday. Although he didn’t have a chance on either of their goals, he looked a little shaky in the air and was almost punished for dropping a corner straight to the feet of Martins, who would have scored had he been a little more alert. 5

Andy Griffin: A reasonable game from the former Newcastle man. He was skinned for pace by Martins (a race he was always going to lose) for their second goal but aside from that he did little wrong. He pulled off a fantastic bit of skill in the second half to get away from a defender but his cross, as it often is, was lacking. 6

Ibrahima Sonko:I was not at all impressed by Sonko’s performance against Derby but he was far better yesterday, he was good both in the air and on the ground and his long throws should prove to be a real asset in weeks to come. He should have been tighter to Owen for the first goal though. 7

Abdoulaye Faye: Another good performance from Abdoulaye, dominating as ever and marked with his first Stoke goal which he put away so well, showing his typical cool, in such pressurised circumstances. 8

Danny Higginbotham: A lot like Griffin. He let Owen get away from him for their second goal but aside from that did alright. He didn’t hoof the ball as much as often and did get a good headed assist for Faye’s goal. 6

Rory Delap: Another poor performance from Rory. His long throws weren’t working and he offered little else. 4

Amdy Faye: A mediocre game from Amdy, he did nothing wrong without doing a huge amount to write home about before being substituted. 6

Salif Diao: His fitness was in doubt before the match and failed to stand up to the first twenty minutes after which he was substitiuted. He did little during his time on the pitch. 5

Danny Pugh: Pugh was handed a surprise first Premier League start for Stoke and put in a solid performance, battling well. 6

Richard Cresswell: He is often not aware enough of the players around him and this was again true yesterday. At several times he chose the wrong pass or made the wrong run. Worked very hard as ever though and may have had a goal if it was not for a brilliant tackle from Taylor. 5

Mamady Sidibe:Yet another committed performance from Mama, he won the ball in the air well a lot of the time and flicked the ball onto Fuller in the build up to his own goal, which he stuck away well. 7

Subs:

Glenn Whelan: Whelan came on for Diao after twenty minutes after after a largely anonymous first half he came into his own in the second, he was central to our better passing and also wins a surprisingly high amount of aerial challenges given his short (well short for Stoke) stature. If Diao’s injury is serious he may now be given a run in the side as he seems to have risen above Olofinjana in the pecking order. 7

Ricardo Fuller: Fuller changed the game for Stoke. He was what we were lacking in the first half, the pace, the urgency, the quality on the ball. A great assist for Sidbe’s goal and an all-round excellent performance as an impact player.

Michael Tonge: Tonge had only quarter of an hour on the pitch but seemed to add something to Stoke, the vital goal was scored after he came on after all. 7

Man of the Match: Ricardo Fuller Despite having just 40 minutes on the pitch, I doubt we would have got anything from the game without Fuller’s contribution and for that he edges out Abdoulaye Faye to be the man of the match in my eyes.