Newcastle United 0-1 Borussia Mönchengladbach - Player Ratings

Did Mbemba, Wijnaldum and Mitrovic impress during their St James' Park bows?

Well that's it then, Newcastle United's pre-season is over. Next up it's Southampton in the Premier League opener on Sunday August 9th. The backroom staff only have eight days' worth of training sessions left to get the Magpies into tip-top shape following yet another defeat. Panic stations should certainly not be taking hold, but the Magpies are starting to make a habit of losing matches - this time a 1-0 defeat to Bundesliga side Borussia Mönchengladbach at St James' Park - and they just do not look quite right yet under Steve McClaren. Undoubtedly this was a step-up in opposition compared to what the Magpies have faced to date, but in all honesty Thorgan Hazard's brilliant winner was a rare bit of quality in an otherwise turgid affair. It was obvious for all of the 21,088 present at St James' Park that this was a pre-season match, because it's pace was practically non-existent. That's all of the Magpies' pre-season fixtures gone now and yet McClaren is still searching for a defensive formula that works. Even the home debuts of Aleksandar Mitrovic, Chancel Mbemba and Georginio Wijnaldum could not lighten the spirits of a poor Newcastle display. So how did Mbemba, Mitrovic and Wijnaldum perform during their St James' Park bows? How did McClaren fare in his first match in charge of Newcastle on their home patch? And what about the rest of the players? Here's all the player ratings from the 1-0 loss to Borussia...

Contributor
Contributor

NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.