I watched Newcastle United star 'fail miserably' v West Ham - but there is a greater concern
It was a game no-one thought Newcastle United could lose, yet here we are.
Three wins in a row and a night game at St James’ Park against a West Ham United whose manager was under pressure following an underwhelming start to the campaign. Surely three points was a banker? Wrong!
A goal in either half from Tomas Soucek and Aaron Wan-Bissaka inflicted a 2-0 defeat on the Magpies. Eddie Howe’s side had chances to score in the first-half but the second-half was pretty toothless.
Here are our five key takeaways from a disappointing evening on Tyneside.
Lloyd Kelly blows his opportunity
Let’s begin at the very start. Howe, as expected, brought Lloyd Kelly into the starting XI in the absence of Dan Burn, who served a one-match suspension after reaching the five yellow card threshold.
Having performed so well in the Carabao Cup win against Chelsea alongside Fabian Schar at centre-back, there were zero qualms about putting Kelly in. But this was a night where the summer signing failed miserably to grasp his opportunity.
The 26-year-old was in no man’s land as Soucek headed the Hammers in front. Rumour has it that he’s still looking the West Ham midfielder now... For the second goal, Kelly stood off Wan-Bissaka before the right-back fired the ball past Nick Pope.
Kelly just looked a yard off in everything that he did. This was his chance to stake a claim but Burn will walk back into the starting XI when United head to Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Should we be concerned about Anthony Gordon?
On the subject of poor individuals performances, look, there were plenty but Anthony Gordon is someone you hold to very high standards - and he continues to look a shadow of the player he was last season.
When Gordon has played well this campaign, it’s been through hard work and relentless running, not always through quality (Arsenal assist aside of course). Even during the win at Nottingham Forest before the break, he was poor. Last night was the same. His miss in the first-half from Jean-Clair Todibo’s mistake was bad.
He found a home of the left side of attack last term but in the opening 12 games has constantly switched from left to right. If we’re going off body language then Gordon isn’t best pleased by that.
You can accept Gordon being less effective when the rest of the team is working but not when you need your best attacking players to step up and unlock doors. Howe must find a way to get Gordon firing again, but the player too should take some responsibility for his own form.
A formula that works... or worked?
After wins against Arsenal and Nottingham Forest, we all thought Howe has cracked it with the front six - Bruno Guimaraes, Sean Longstaff and Joe Willock as the midfield three with Joelinton and Gordon on either flank and Alexander Isak in attack.
But a defeat always brings everything into question. Is that still the winning formula and West Ham can be put down as an off-day, or is it back to the drawing board?
Only Howe can answer that. To be fair, his hand may be forced if injuries to Willock (leg) and Guimaraes (glute) turn out to be lasting.
Substitutions made Newcastle... worse
That said, the players that were introduced from the bench didn’t exactly paint themselves in glory.
Harvey Barnes was brought on at half-time. He’s been labelled a super sub in recent weeks but the former Leicester City man barely got a kick as he was pocketed by Wan-Bissaka.
Sandro Tonali, a player a lot of Newcastle fans are adamant should start, kept things tidy in midfield but struggled to create any real opening. It was good to see Callum Wilson return but his impact went no further than a penalty appeal.
And then there was Jacob Murphy, who delivered plenty of crosses, not of which came to fruition.
At half-time, you felt Newcastle could still come back and win but the second-half was so flat. Howe’s subs didn’t have the desired effect, it actually made the team worse.
Familiar failings results in missed opportunity
There’s no doubting Newcastle can get up for the ‘big games’ having beaten Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Arsenal as well as a get a point from Manchester City this season. But the matches against the so-called ‘lesser’ teams is proving a problem.
From playing West Ham, Brighton & Hove Albion, Fulham, Everton and AFC Bournemouth, the Magpies have claimed just two points and scored as many goals. On that note, only Southampton, Everton and Palace have scored few goals than United this term.
When teams, especially at St James’ Park, allow Newcastle to have the ball, there is no answer. That has long been a problem and unless a solution can be found, inconsistent results will continue. And that won’t get you Europe come May.
Howe admitted it himself, this was a missed opportunity for his side. A win would have put them sixth in the table, two points behind second place Manchester City. Instead, they sit 10th.