Shaka Hislop now admits 23-year-old Newcastle player was ‘poor’ vs West Ham

Former Newcastle United goalkeeper Shaka Hislop has criticised one of Eddie Howe’s players following the 2-2 draw with West Ham United.

The Magpies battled back after a poor first half at the London Stadium, with Alexander Isak scoring a brace to turn the game around.

 

However, Newcastle were unable to hold on, with Mohammed Kudus grabbing an equaliser for West Ham in the 89th minute. It was massively frustrating to concede late on, but a draw was certainly a fair result.

 

There were some decent performances in black and white. The aforementioned Isak was excellent, as was Kieran Trippier. Bruno Guimaraes also did well, after he narrowly avoided a red card within the first 20 minutes of the game.

However, one player who is not receiving a lot of praise is Sandro Tonali. In fact, Shaka Hislop was rather disappointed with the 23-year-old on Sunday.

Shaka Hislop thought Sandro Tonali was ‘poor’ vs West Ham
Following the 2-2 draw between Newcastle and West Ham, Hislop spoke to ESPN about what went wrong for the Magpies.

 

“Here’s something I thought I would never say,” he said.

 

“West Ham’s midfield three of Ward-Prowse, Bowen and Paqueta got the better of Newcastle’s midfield three of Guimaraes, Tonali and Longstaff.

 

“I thought Tonali was poor, if I’m being perfectly honest. As a result, West Ham have to feel hard done by.”

Tonali is still settling in at Newcastle

Firstly, Hislop has got one thing wrong. West Ham’s midfield three was James Ward-Prowse, Edson Alvarez and Tomas Soucek. Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta were out wide…

But that is not the headline here. It is his criticism of Tonali, who has started three of Newcastle’s last four games.

 

He did brilliantly against PSG before fading in the second half, but was much less impactful against West Ham. There were times when he could have been much more positive on the ball, for instance.

 

In truth, Howe would probably have rather used him off the bench, but injuries and suspension meant that wasn’t possible.

 

However, was he poor? It seems harsh to dig him out. He was no worse than anyone else out there, while he is still getting to grips with what Eddie Howe wants from him.

 

But it is fair to say that the best is certainly still to come from the £55million man.