Newcastle’s win over Liverpool at St James’ Park on Saturday was all about three men: Andy Carroll, Joey Barton and Kevin Nolan. These three players were simply awesome and have been for most of the season, contributing to the vast majority of Newcastle’s goals and assists in the Premier League so far. They have fired Newcastle up to 8th in the table, but new manager Alan Pardew will be hoping that another Magpie can keep up his good form.
They often say that the stats don’t lie and if that’s the case then Jose Enrique should be highly commended for his performance against Liverpool and his form this season. In Picklive, the LIVE fantasy football phenomenon, Jose Enrique outscored Carroll, Barton and Nolan to emerge as Newcastle’s top scorer on Saturday. He has scored bucket loads of points all season as well, trailing just Nolan and Barton in the charts.
Numbers don’t always tell the full story but you can’t deny that Jose Enrique is going from strength to strength for Newcastle. There is never a question of the Spanish left back not playing, which tells you its own story, and Enrique matches up well against any winger in the Premiership. He’s strong, has a fair amount of pace and has pretty decent positioning, something he utilised by saving a shot on the line on Saturday.
Against Liverpool he completed 40 passes, made 22 interceptions and a couple of tackles, in addition to laying the ball off for Carroll to power in Newcastle’s third goal. This shows that Enrique has a good all-round game, and while there may be question marks around Newcastle’s defending in previous games, I don’t think many criticisms are aimed at Enrique. He’s certainly becoming a fans’ favourite and the Bull has put his early difficulties in English football well and truly behind him.
