Opinion

West Ham 3 Newcastle 1 – Sunday 2 November 2025 2pm

I’ve learned not to be over-confident after 60 years of following Newcastle United but I was pretty sure we’d win this game.

After our fourth-minute goal, I thought we’d romp it.

So, I fear, did the Newcastle team, who seemed to take their foot off the gas for the rest of the first half, instead of swarming all over a dispirited opponent.

Predictably, in the absence of any effort from Newcastle, West Ham gained some confidence, got better, and went into the break 2-1 up.

Eddie made three somewhat baffling changes at the start of the second period, followed by another soon after. Having said that, only Thiaw, Sandro and Murphy looked worth persevering with based on the first 45 minutes.

The second half was no different.

Poor passing, players easily dispossessed and a lack of cohesion and energy. By the time the full-time whistle went, we were on our fourth right-back (Krafth, Thiaw, Murphy, Tonali) and our third bottle of sleeping pills. We were all over the place when West Ham scored their third.

I don’t like criticising the team too much but...