Newcastle United produced yet another Jekyll and Hyde performance that ended in a deserved 4-2 loss to Brentford at the end of a mad week of Premier League action.
We carried our form from the Liverpool game into the first half at the Gtech Stadium, with Newcastle by far the better side despite the half-time score being 2-2.
Alexander Isak looked sharp as a dart, Harvey Barnes scored again, and Jacob Murphy played out of his skin, but it was a very different story after the sides changed ends.
We're not sure what Thomas Frank said at the interval, but his team were comfortable winners by the end, as we reverted to struggling to create any clear chances on goal.
Here's how we rated everyone involved in another chastening result for the football club, with questions sure to be asked about Eddie Howe's future in the press and on social media again this week.
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Serena Taylor/Newcastle United
This was a fine hour of work from Jacob Murphy and he was unlucky to be the second player substituted
The Good
This was one of Jacob Murphy's best displays for the club. He got the assist for the first equaliser when cutting in from the left and hitting a cross/shot that Isak got his head to and set up the second one when picking out Barnes inside the box. He should also have scored when Barnes returned the favour with a lovely left-footed cross, but mistimed his jump and headed over.
Alexander Isak looked razor sharp again, in the first half at least. He finished superbly to equalise Mbuemo's opener, showing great awareness to be in the right place to connect with Murphy's cross/shot with a header. However, he really should have made it 2-1 a little later on when going around Flekken but dwelling instead of shooting with his left foot into the unguarded net. He was almost invisible after the interval, unfortunately.
We just can't work Harvey Barnes out. He gave the ball away so sloppily for Brentford's second, passing it straight to Wissa, but made amends soon after when picked out in the box by Murphy, finishing tidily into the far corner. He returned the favour to Murphy a little while later, too, finding his opposite winger at the back post after a nice run and cross. He was good without being great.
Dan Burn was comfortably the best of our defenders, with the big man not directly at fault for any of Brentford's goals. His passing was tidy and he swept up behind Hall and Schär on numerous occasions, but he was let down badly by those around him.
While we're struggling to see how Brentford have such a great home record—they're not exactly brilliant—they did enough to win this game with their second-half effort. Mbuemo and Wissa were livewires throughout, with the latter one of the fastest players we've ever seen. They made adjustments at the break and bossed the second period, with Thomas Frank finally getting the better of Eddie Howe.
Finally, credit where credit is due to Simon Hooper. He improved markedly on the 1/10 we gave him for the Chelsea away game and didn't have anything to do with our woes today. He managed the game well and didn't show a single yellow to our lot, though we appreciate they didn't get very close to their opponents after half-time...
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We can't remember Fabian Schär having too many worse afternoons than this since Eddie Howe arrived
The Bad
This was a woeful afternoon for Fabian Schär. He didn't make enough effort to block either of Brentford's first two goals, seemingly being more concerned with not giving away a handball. Then he was primarily at fault for Brentford's third, going up to challenge for a header from a routine free-kick and missing the ball, and was also somewhat culpable for their fourth as well.
Although Nick Pope made one of the best saves of the season when preventing a Livramento own goal from Wissa's low cross early in the second half, he could have done better on Brentford's third and fourth goals. He stood no chance with the first and second due to the deflection on the first and the quality of the second, but this wasn't a great afternoon for our stopper. The less said about that mistake at the end, the better... he owes Burn a pint.
What a poor 35 minutes this was from Sandro Tonali. He had a huge chance to make it 3-3 from Isak's lofted ball to the back post but headed poorly over under minimal pressure from Collins on the edge of the six-yard box. Later on, he gave the ball away incredibly cheaply to set away the move for Brentford's fourth. (We'd still have started him over Longstaff or Joelinton...)
Not that Callum Wilson, Kieran Trippier, and particularly Miguel Almirón were much better, mind, with Miggy particularly rubbish. Wilson got just six touches in over half an hour, Trippier hit the first man with his first set-piece and failed to connect with any of his three crosses, while Almirón was once again a complete waste of a substitution. We cannot wait to see the back of him.
Joelinton is in a serious rut at the moment. While we appreciate he's a talismanic figure in the squad, and they likely prefer to have him in the team than not, we can't help but feel that if Willock had been fit here, he'd have been one of the players rotated. He won just 4/12 duels and was barely a factor in the contest, either going forward or defensively.
This might have been a game too far for Bruno Guimarães, who looked leggy and didn't have anywhere near the influence on proceedings he perhaps should have. The Brazilian could have made it 3-2 just before half-time when getting onto a sumptuous deep cross from Hall but fired his half-volley across the face of the goal, and his passing was pretty disappointing overall.
This was another game where Lewis Hall was good in possession but dodgy defensively. He got beaten too easily for Mbuemo's opener, allowing the winger to cut inside and get an unchallenged shot away from in the box. Going forward, he made a decent chance for Barnes with a nicely weighted diagonal pass and put in some wonderful deep crosses after we took short corners.
There were a lot of good moments from Tino Livramento this afternoon, but there were at least an equal number of poor ones. Like Hall on the other side, he's very good in possession but he has too many lapses defensively when he's expected to cover space or protect his central defenders. He's fine one-on-one but there's still plenty of work for him to do to improve his game.
Every time we think Eddie Howe has turned a corner and got us back on track, we serve up a half of football like that. We were very good before the break and probably deserved to be ahead based on the balance of play, but the wheels came off after the interval and by no means for the first time. He's one of the most likeable managers we've ever had but he's floundering badly this season.
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Serena Taylor/Newcastle United
When Harvey Barnes equalised it all looked set up for us to go on and press home our advantage
The Average
The most notable action of Sean Longstaff's afternoon was his shot from the edge of the box that rattled the crossbar very early on. He was tidy enough without ever being incisive for the most part, while he offered next to nothing in terms of defensive actions. A standard Longstaff performance, then, which just isn't enough against opposition as strong as this.
Anthony Gordon was the only one of the substitutes to make any kind of impact. He tried to make headway down the left with numerous dribbles and put a few dangerous low crosses into the box. He still wasn't 'good', by any stretch, but he was the only replacement who didn't want to make us claw our eyes out.
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Dan Burn is all of us in this photograph; the big man was the least of our problems defensively today
The Breakdown
If you've made it this far, we applaud you. You're clearly a glutton for punishment, just like us.
The XI
Nick Pope – 3
Tino Livramento – 5
Fabian Schär – 3
Dan Burn – 7
Lewis Hall – 5 (off 83')
Sean Longstaff – 6 (off 73')
Bruno Guimarães (c) – 5
Joelinton – 4 (off 60')
Jacob Murphy – 8 ⭐️ (off 60')
Alexander Isak – 7
Harvey Barnes – 7 (off 73')
The Subs
Sandro Tonali – 4 (on 60')
Anthony Gordon – 6 (on 60')
Callum Wilson – 5 (on 73')
Miguel Almirón – 4 (on 73')
Kieran Trippier – 5 (on 83')
The Gaffer
Eddie Howe – 5
The Opposition
Brentford – 7
The Ref
Simon Hooper – 7
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Let's hope Ruud van Nistelrooy gets less joy against us as a manager than he did as a player
The Next
After a much-needed week of respite, Leicester City will be the visitors to Gallowgate for another Saturday 3 p.m. kick-off on the 14th. Nothing less than a comfortable win will do.
Howay the lads!