Pundit sums up Newcastle’s missed opportunity vs West Ham perfectly as they pass up ‘crazy’ chance

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Newcastle United started the game against West Ham like a team that was planning to go two points off second in the Premier League.

The Magpies got off to a fast start, with St James’ Park in full voice after Wor Flags’ beautiful tribute to Alexander Isak.

Newcastle United looked full of confidence when the game kicked off, as they aimed to get off to a fast start against an out of form West Ham side.

Eddie Howe’s side even had the ball in the net early, only for Alexander Isak’s goal to be ruled out for offside. But it was a simple pass that got Isak in on goal, showing that this West Ham side were there to be hurt.

Then Newcastle United conceded and the whole game changed.

Newcastle United failed to capitalise on ‘scared’ West Ham

That is the view of pundit Steve Nicol, who was staggered by how much worse Newcastle got after they went behind to Tomas Soucek’s header.

The former Liverpool defender spoke about Newcastle’s 2-0 loss to West Ham on the ESPN UK YouTube channel, admitting that the Hammers were there for the taking in the opening stages of the game.

“I was shocked at how poor Newcastle were after they went 1-0 down,” he said.

“For 10 minutes, West Ham were there for the taking. West Ham looked scared to me.

“Then they get a lifeline with the Soucek goal and the game completely changed.

“Every time they stepped on the field [a couple of years ago] home or away, there was a belief and fire in their belly. Everybody wanted the ball. Everybody was up for it. Even the crowd today was a little hesitant.

“I don’t know where Newcastle are going. Newcastle look to me like they are a mid-table side.

“The fact that if they had won they would have been a couple of points off second is crazy. I don’t know where the real Newcastle is, because this version is just limping along.”

Newcastle United completely lost their way against stubborn West Ham

As soon as West Ham went in front, the game changed. Suddenly the Hammers had a lead they could protect, while Newcastle’s fast start came to a grinding halt.

The worrying thing about Newcastle’s performance was how desperate they became. Immediately after conceding, the Magpies were shellshocked. All of that initial confidence disappeared, with Eddie Howe’s side suddenly playing like the Newcastle we saw at the start of the season.

Newcastle did recover and start playing proper football again, only to concede a second. Then the Magpies got even worse, and you just knew there was no way they were going to get back into it.

But if Newcastle had scored in that opening part of the game, the narrative could have been very different. As Nicol says, West Ham were there for the taking, yet they were gifted the lead.

That gave Julen Lopetegui’s team the confidence to pick up a vital three points, while Newcastle United squandered an incredible opportunity to move up to sixth and just two points behind second-placed Manchester City.