3 Positives and 3 Negatives to take from Newcastle 2 Espanyol 2

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The Mag

·9 Agustus 2025

3 Positives and 3 Negatives to take from Newcastle 2 Espanyol 2

Friday night’s match ended Newcastle 2 Espanyol 2.

Ahead of each game we ask one of our writers to come up with three positives and three negatives following the game.

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An interesting night at St James’ Park…

Plenty to talk about after this one.

On this occasion it is Simon Ritter:

POSITIVES

Dan Burn will take some shifting from the heart of United’s defence.

Apart from a gung-ho run forward in the first half that left us short of numbers at the back and led to Matt Targett conceding a penalty, the big man from Blyth hardly put a foot wrong.

Jack Charlton said he didn’t learn how to be a good centre-half until he was in his thirties. The happy news is that BDB, aged 33, is still improving.

Aaron Ramsdale, making his United debut, had almost no chance with the two goals he conceded and did well to save the penalty.

He looked comfortable with the ball at his feet.

Should Nick Pope be unavailable or fall out of favour, the oft-relegated on-loan keeper will be a capable replacement.

Lewis Miley, aged 19, played the entire game and did little wrong, breaking forward with purpose, providing a perfect cross for the equaliser and losing possession far less often than Bruno Guimaraes and other teammates.

He again showed he can play a defence-splitting pass. His positional sense is a big plus.

NEGATIVES

Mistakes

Our two scorers made a lot of mistakes in what was a glorified training exercise.

Targett passed straight to an opponent only 35 yards out and within seconds we were a goal down. He also conceded the penalty.

Jacob Murphy tucked away our second goal neatly but put in another curate’s egg of a performance.

Enthusiasm is not enough

Will Osula never stopped running and played a big role in Targett’s equaliser, his first goal for United.

Enthusiasm alone is not enough at this level, however, if there is no great end product.

Sean Neave, an 18-year-old on the fringes of the first-team squad, is apparently the only other option unless one of the wide forwards moves into the middle.

We must sign at least one established striker; two if our No14 departs.

Underwhelming

While the results of pre-season games are in reality unimportant, a win in front of more than 30,000 supporters would have been welcome.

Apart from the defeat of Carlisle United behind closed doors, the build-up to next weekend has been somewhat underwhelming.

Newcastle 2 Espanyol 2

Goals:

Newcastle:

Targett 21, Jacob Murphy 79

Espanyol:

Exposito 17, Garcia 89

Attendance:

30,782