Thank goodness for Toon’s home form after dip in results on road
West Ham 2 Newcastle 0
NEWCASTLE United slipped to a disappointing 2-0 defeat against West Ham United at the London Stadium last night.
Here is what we learned from this east London encounter.
1. UNCHARACTERISTIC DEFENSIVE ERRORS COST NEWCASTLE DEAR
The 3-0 defeat at home by West Ham in early December cut deep for Benitez; it was up there with the very lowest moments of the campaign for the Newcastle manager.
What frustrated Benitez was the Hammers did to Newcastle what the Magpies often do to their opponents on their travels. Manuel Pellegrini’s men picked off Newcastle on the break, and the Magpies simply could not deal with the lightningquick pace of their opponents’ counter-attacking.
In press conferences since, Benitez has repeatedly referred to that match when suggestions have been raised about why Newcastle do not attack often enough.
The Spaniard points to how open the Magpies were that day – and how they were cut apart in transition.
For Benitez it is all about “balance”; sometimes Newcastle have been far too negative and have not found the appropriate medium. On that occasion they went too far the other way in search of a much-needed victory, and the Hammers ruthlessly defeated the Magpies.
At the London Stadium, Benitez will have been just as disappointed with his Newcastle side – but for very different reasons.
Two uncharacteristic defensive errors cost the Magpies, with Schar failing to track Rice for the home side’s opener from a corner, before Lejeune dived in on Hernandez to concede the first-half penalty.
West Ham had to do very little during the opening 45 minutes to go in at the interval 2-0 up, and it will have frustrated Benitez to watch his team commit such basic mistakes.
It is hard to criticise Newcastle given their excellent recent form, but it seems this match was just a game too far for a Magpies squad who have hauled themselves away from the drop zone, although they have not quite secured their top-flight status just yet.
2. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 2019, NEWCASTLE’S MIDFIELD DUO ARE OVER-RUN
The form of Sean Longstaff – who has been nominated for the Premier League Player of the Month award for February – and Isaac Hayden has been well documented in recent weeks.
But the sight of Jonjo Shelvey lining up for the Magpies’ Under-23 side at Fulham on Friday night really brought into sharp focus just how well that duo have performed so far in 2019.
When you consider the England international was a mainstay of the Newcastle side during Benitez’s first two-and-a-half years at the helm, but is now apparently fifth in line for a midfield berth, you begin to comprehend just how dramatic the emergence of the Longstaff-hayden axis has been.
That pair had just one Premier League start between them before Boxing Day, yet they have both been ever-presents since the middle of January, and have excelled during that time.
Shelvey asked Benitez to allow him to play for the reserve team on Friday to regain some match fitness.