Former England striker Wayne Rooney believes Newcastle have been poor at times this season and it really showed in their 1-0 defeat by Sunderland in the Premier League.
“I thought Newcastle were poor tactically,” Rooney said on The Wayne Rooney Show. “I haven’t seen them do much this season.
“There weren’t that many tackles and Sunderland were better than them in every department.”
Sunday’s game was the first in the Premier League between the fierce rivals since 2016 but Rooney felt it bore hallmarks of further back in time.
“It felt like a game from the 90s where the quality wasn’t as high as we see today,” he said, “but the passion, that fight and drive was there.
“You could feel the anticipation and how tense it was and that’s why I enjoyed the game.”