It was a dreadful game and our overall performance, apart from how we defended, was poor.
Baffled by the starting line up and tactics, I genuinely cannot believe that we didn't have a go at them and decided instead to sit really deep, defend, defend, defend and then hope to hit them on the break. It would have been fine if we used the ball well when we did break but at no point were Wickham, Bolasie and Zaha in the match. As already touched upon Cabaye was a waste of space and even McArthur was poor with his passing and positional play.
The sad thing is even after we scored I just knew they'd get back level because straight away we dropped back another 10 yards and our concentration went to pot.
On the plus side I thought both our full-backs were brilliant, both Dann & Delaney were mountains, and when called upon Hennessey did everything right. Puncheon was excellent when he came on and his goal was superb but has to be somewhat at fault for their second goal with his initial weak challenge and then not tracking back.
Our MoM was Jedi, he never stopped, was all over the pitch, and protected the back four brilliantly. He didn't deserve to be on the losing side.
The fans. What can you say? We never stopped singing, never stopped urging the lads on, we were loud and proud throughout, even after suffering the heartbreak at the end. I have to believe that one day we will get to see our club win a major trophy, Christ knows, if ever a set of fans deserve to experience that it's us. Contrast that to their support, the only two times they were heard was after their goals, other than that there was nothing, the soul really has been sucked out of that club.
And then we have Clattenburg. Well, we knew as soon as he was appointed there would be an issue with him, our record with him in charge speaks for itself. But even I didn't expect such a shambolic first half from him! A ref for 14 years who suddenly forgot how to play advantage?! You can forgive it once but when it happens 3 times in the space of about 20 minutes there can be no reasonable excuse. Best referee in the country?! Do me a favour, he isn't even the best referee in his own household. The man is a clown.
Big summer for the owners and Pardew now, there has to be a clear out, there has to be strengthening of the squad otherwise I can only see a season of struggle on the horizon.