Sean Longstaff
It has not been the easiest season for Sean. If you watch the channel, you will know by now that I would defend both of them with my life. That being said, Sean has even been honest with himself about his season; it has not been great. More frustration and high expectation have had Sean in a difficult spot this season.
He has had a couple of really good performances such as Man United at home and Spurs away have been some of his best performances in a Newcastle shirt. However, he has had some howlers. I know he can do better but I think people have been quick to write Sean off. He will get back to his best, we just need to stick with him.
Best moment: Goal at Oxford United.
Rating: 4/10.
Nabil Bentaleb
A new signing, I honestly thought we were bringing in a really solid addition into the midfield but he looks way off the pace. To be frank about it, he is hindering Matty Longstaff's exposure to first team football as well which I do not like as I feel that the man from North Shields has been really good this season. Bentaleb for me has had one good game, coming against West Brom. Other than that, he has failed to impress. If he can improve, that would be great but, ultimately, I have not been impressed. Get Matty back in ahead of him!
Best moment: West Brom performance
Rating: 3/10
Matty Longstaff
Someone who has been excellent in his breakout year, contributing three goals lots of energy. He gave us what is one of my favourite moments as a Newcastle fan, scoring the winning goal against Man United on his Premier League debut. Just like myself, he is from North Shields so for him to score that goal felt similar to when his brother, Sean scored against Burnley last season; it was a very proud moment. Other than that, I think when he has played, he has never looked out of place. You might have more quality but he works incredibly hard and we love that about him. It is not that he lacks in quality, he has it in abundance. The contract situation has constantly been on the agenda for the past few months. I would love to see him sign a new deal but it is down to one man why has not thus far and Matty is not the one at fault.
Best moment: Man United performance and interview afterwards.
Rating: 7/10
Isaac Hayden
I have nothing but praise for Hayden this season, he has been like a man possessed. One of the more underrated players in the team. I think when he does not feature in matches, we miss his grit, determination and his ability to hold a midfield. I honestly believe he is our best defensive midfielder since Cheick Tiote.
Since January 2019, he has come so far from wanting out of the club for personal reasons and by comparison, he looks a man reborn under Steve Bruce. I would love him to stay, of course, at the Toon in the long term. In England manager, Gareth Southgate's eyes, Hayden has to be higher in favour than Tottenham's Eric Dier for an international call-up as our midfield maestro has been so much better this season.
Best moment: Winner vs Chelsea
Rating: 9/10
Jonjo Shelvey
Looking back to Shelvey's performances this season, you get some moments of absolute brilliance but some moments of frustration too, something that is part of the Jonjo Shelvey package. On his day, he can be unplayable and would put him up there with some of the best in England. However, when he is having an off day, it is difficult for everyone. To be fair to Jonjo, he has been more on the side of brilliance this year and has recently settled down with a new deal too. That extra bit of creative fre
edom has really sparked something under Bruce. He is our second highest goalscorer this season with five goals so I think there is more to come from him. A solid season for Shelvey so far and I think the recent change of formation to 4-2-3-1 will help that in the long term.
Best moment: Goal vs Man City
Rating: 8/10
Just to quickly sum up Ki Sung-Yueng, who made four appearances this season prior to leaving in January. He was a good servant under Rafa Benitez but it made sense for him to leave. I would have given him a rating of 1/10 with no best moment.
In the next part, I will be talking about the wingers/attacking midfielders. Some highs and lows in that one. Stay tuned!