Two 3/10s, several 4s and a 6.5 – Newcastle player ratings from Man City defeat

Here are our marks out of 10 and comments on each player involved in yesterday’s 3-1 defeat…

Ramsdale (5.5) – Made some good saves but also had some very poor moments, giving the ball away in his own box, which proved that he is a handy keeper but not one to take us to the next level.

Trippier (5) – Tough night at the office up against the tricky and pacy Doku. Offered very little in an attacking sense and will make way for Livramento sooner rather than later.

Thiaw (5) – Mixed night for Thiaw who will feel like he could’ve done better for both of Marmoush’s goals. Has been one of our better performers this season but has also played a lot of football and has looked leggy in recent games.

Botman (5) – Won more than his share of aerial duels but was also exposed by the movement of Man City. Has also looked below his best in possession lately which is a concern. Botman or Burn vs Barcelona?

Hall (5) – Thomas Tuchel won’t have been too impressed with what he saw defensively as Savinho ran rings around him all game. Unusually switched to right back in the second half which was a baffling decision before being hooked.

Tonali (6) – Sumptuous through ball to set up the opener for Barnes and he ran the show in the first half an hour. After that we were unable to get any type of foothold jn midfield and Tonali was chasing shadows for much of the game. Endeavour and effort can’t be faulted.

Willock (4) – Completed the full game but was a non factor in attack completing only 9 of 14 passes. Defensively he made some good tackles but as the game went on he was becoming less effective in defence. Missed a real opportunity to prove that he can be a consistent contributor to the team.

Woltemade (3) – Please end this central midfield experiment! It’s doing harm to the team but also the confidence of a young player. Looks completely lost with the role he’s being asked to play and that falls on the shoulders of the coaches and management. There’s clearly a good player in there but he’s playing 20-30 yards too deep. Play him behind the striker and he will be much more effective.

Elanga (4) – Largely anonymous once again for a player who has had all of his confidence sapped out of him. Did at least have a shot in the first half but that was as good as it got. Might relish the high line of Barcelona but needs to quickly improve his decision making.

Barnes (6.5) – Took his goal tremendously, timing his run to perfection before lifting it into the top corner. Threatened the city defence constantly and was our best performer in a well beaten side.

Osula (4) – After his heroics against Man Utd any hope of a bounce in form was quickly eroded with a poor performance leading the line. Our system doesn’t get our strikers involved enough so it’s not completely down to Osula but it seems like his skill set might be more suited to the right wing than up top.

Joelinton (5) – Typical Big Joe performance off the bench. Brought energy, aggression and collected his customary yellow card. Wasn’t able to make any impact in possession.

Burn (5) – We definitely look more organised with Burn at the back but his cameo just highlighted the need for reinforcements at left back in the summer.

Wissa (3) – Four touches in half an hour tells a pretty damning story. Could’ve thrown John Ruddy up front and achieved the same performance. Needs to show something soon or he will go down as one of the worst signings in our history.

Gordon (4) – Another one who barely had a touch when he came on. Had a couple of runs but is hopefully saving his best for Barcelona.

Livramento (NR) – Welcome return, but wasn’t on long.