Newcastle United look a far cry from their very best right now.
Even in some of their wins this season, Newcastle haven’t exactly covered themselves in glory.
7 Footballers Who Had The SHORTEST Primes
Now 12th in the Premier League table and with a very difficult-looking Carabao Cup clash with Chelsea to come on Wednesday, the mood feels rather low right now.
Alexander Isak is woefully out of form, while some of the defending leaves a lot to be desired.
Cole Palmer’s pass for Chelsea’s first goal on Sunday might have been a moment of supreme quality capable of hurting any team in the world but the fact Newcastle stood off him so much when he bagged the second for the Blues was hugely disappointing.
If that wasn’t bad enough, the midfield doesn’t really look as if its working.
Eddie Howe’s decision to take Sandro Tonali off at Stamford Bridge was met with boos amongst some supporters. While the Newcastle United manager admits he understood that, it wasn’t as if the Italian was covering himself in glory.
Speaking after the game, Howe admitted Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton could all improve on their displays against the Blues.
Howe claimed the midfield “did ok” in the defeat but conceded all three of the starting trio could improve on the ball.
Newcastle United’s Bruno Guimaraes reacts to Chelsea’s second goal during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Newcastle United FC at St…
Photo by Stephanie Meek – CameraSport via Getty Images
He told Newcastle World: “I thought the starting trio were OK and I say OK because we can be better. But I thought they physically did well for us, they had to as they had a lot of work to get through. Technically was OK, again it can be better.
“I thought we started the second-half poor with the ball. We made changes to try and get back into the game, I’m limited sometimes with my selections on that as in who I can bring off.”
Newcastle’s midfield has been a concern for a while now
Tonali’s ban from football obviously stopped the debate about the merits of playing those three players together but it was a concern at times last season, too.
At some point, it might be time to concede that the system just does not work with that particular trio.
On paper, it’s seriously exciting. On the pitch, however, its proving something of a problem.
Related Posts
