SHAY GIVEN 1 Had little chance with either goal in an afternoon when aside a late audacious effort from Overmars, he was rarely tested. Always seemed destined to be on the losing side even thouhg the Gunners were not hitting the target. 6/10 ALESSANDRO PISTONE 23 Had a shocker. Looked uncomfortable playing on the right hand side of the defence before switching after Pearce went off and was constantly embarrassed by Overmars' speed and directness. He will have to take the blame for the first Arsenal goal and this will be a day he'll quickly want to forget. 4/10 STEVE HOWEY 6 Didn't do anything specifically wrong, but never looked like he was in control of the defence. Always appeared sluggish when turned by the Arsenal front two and his lack of pace showed throughout. If he'd looked up to the other end of the pitch he would have seen how truly great defenders perform. 5/10 NIKOS DABIZAS The best of Newcastle's inadequate defence. Showed good positional sense and a willingness to try and read the game to attempt to cut out danger before it could hurt Newcastle. Again, though, his lack of pace was shown up and his yellow card, a mark of frustration more than anything else, summed up his afternoon. 7/10 STUART PEARCE 12 An unspectacular performance from the veteran defender. Played with all the grit and determination you'd expect from him, but Pearce no longer cuts the formidable figure of the warrior that he once did. Glenn Hoddle won't have seen anything today that would have made him regret his decision not to take Psycho to France. 5/10 WARREN BARTON 2 Found out to be a very average performer at the top level. He was found wanting for both pace and creativity and was constantly frustrated, which led to him committing numerous fouls and backchatting with the ref. He was lucky to escape with just a yellow card before being substituted. 4/10 ROB LEE 7 Played a captain's role in as much as he never stopped running and working for the team for the entire match. Couldn't really kick-start his side into positive action and although he won't be admitting it will maybe feel that he was let down by the ineffectual performances of his fellow midfielders. 7/10 DAVID BATTY Inconspicuous. Batty's tenacity in the middle of the park usually guarantees that he's in the thick of the action, but the Yorkshireman just wasn't there in this game. Didn't make any decisive challenges, didn't set up much in terms of attacking options and knows he let Arsenal boss the game. 4/10 TEMUR KETSBAIA Ketsbaia kicked the hordings in frustration at not being given his chance earlier this season. Well he was here and was found wanting. Had one decent shot which Seaman handled easily enough, but again, the Georgian couldn't dictate the play. 5/10 ALAN SHEARER 9 A frustrating afternoon for Mr. Narky. Given abysmal service there was very little Shearer could do to influence the outcome of the game. Except for a short period early in the second half and a late flurry when he was unlucky to hit the post, Shearer didn't look to be a threat. If England don't support him more in France he will get more yellow cards like the one he received today after lunging at Adams out of sheer exasperation. 6/10 GARY SPEED 11 Again, Speed tried hard enough, but didn't have the necessary guile or luck to turn things Newcastle's way. He snapped one crisp shot just wide of the post towards the death, but Speed has been playing Premiership football long enough for his manager to expect him to take a game by the scruff of the neck. That certainly didn't happen. 6/10 SUBSTITUTES JOHN BARNES 10 Came on for Ketsbaia, but didn't have enough time to have any kind of impact. 5/10 STEVE WATSON 19 Replaced Barton, but was incapable of influencing the game in any way. 5/10 ANDREAS ANDERSSON 40 Had one good run into the Arsenal box, but was hardly going to be the answer to Newcastle's prayers. 5/10

HOW NEWCASTLE LOST IT   THE SIMPLE truth of the matter is that Kenny Dalglish's negative tactics didn't work. Playing Shearer as a lone striker with what was in reality five players Batty, Speed, Ketsbaia, Barton and Lee - in midfield, while expecting them to give effective support in blistering heat was stupid at best, insanely negative at worst. Looking at the way Newcastle played the game in the first half you have to ask yourself if they ever believed there was any other way of winning this match other than by nicking a goal on the break. If that's the case then Dalglish will have to face up to the harsh reality over the summer that his team isn't good enough. It certainly isn't good enough defensively, as Christopher Wreh and Nicolas Anelka proved on countless occasions as they shamed Dalglish's defensive line with their speed. The tempo of the game at the highest level is frighteningly fast, even in a 90 degree heat, and if you don't have pace and the ability to read the game as a defender then you'll get caught out. It happened to Newcastle on a few occasions and they were made to pay for it twice. Mr. Dalglish has a whole lot of work to do over the summer.

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