‘Obviously’: Shearer now shares what he noticed about Newcastle during the first half vs West Ham

Newcastle United produced a real Jekyll And Hyde performance against West Ham in the eyes of Alan Shearer.

The Magpies drew with David Moyes’ side on Sunday, with Mohammed Kudus scoring a late equaliser for West Ham.

It was disappointing to concede so late, but a draw was a fair result on the balance of play.

Eddie Howe‘s side were outstanding for most of the second half, with Alexander Isak scoring a brace to turn the game on its head. He took his two goals brilliantly, meaning he now has seven in all competitions this season.

But while Newcastle did well in the second half, the first 45 minutes was a very different story.

Alan Shearer not happy with how Newcastle played in the first half vs West Ham
Alan Shearer has spoke about Newcastle’s 2-2 draw with West Ham on the latest episode of The Rest Is Football podcast, and criticised the Magpies for their performance in the first half.

“Newcastle were really poor in the fast half,” he said.

“Didn’t turn up, looked tired, obviously got a rollicking at half time. Had a few choice words.

“Understandably so because of the injuries they have got but then second half they came out and were a different team. 10 or 15 yards further up the pitch, had loads of energy, and were miles the better team for 40 minutes of that half.”

Newcastle suffered a Champions League hangover
During the first half, it felt like it was going to be one of those games. Newcastle had plenty of possession, but were unable to do anything with it.

We were slow and ponderous, whilst always looking susceptible to the counterattack. It was clear that there was a bit of a hangover from the Magpies’ Champions League exploits on Wednesday night, when they beat PSG 4-1 (just in case you had forgot…).

But Howe got a response from his players after half time, and they were much better. As Shearer says, we played higher up the pitch with more intensity, and finally started to create chances.

That led to Newcastle taking the lead, but they were not able to hang on. That was a real shame, but it should prove to be a valuable point given the circumstances.