Newcastle United ‘miss’ £35m West Ham star as £120m decision ‘doesn’t make a whole lot of sense’
Newcastle United suffered their third Premier League defeat in four games at Brighton & Hove Albion.
You go backwards if you stand stationary, right? You wouldn’t think a team that spent an estimated £120 million in the summer transfer window would be worse off as a result. Newcastle United appear to be in this position.
You may or may not agree with that statement. Statistics, on the other hand, do not lie. The Magpies didn’t lose their second game of the 2022/23 Premier League season until February of this year. They’ve now dropped three of their first four games.
Newcastle appears to be a club trying to run before it can walk in many aspects. Here’s where that rule applies, as well as some other thoughts from a miserable afternoon on the south coast.
Have Newcastle become this season’s ‘predictable’ team?
Plan A, which was perfectly implemented last season, blowing teams away with pace, power, and passion, appears to be a distant memory.
What happened to it? Has Newcastle suffered a setback? Have they been worked out in groups? If so, where is the backup plan?
Eddie Howe currently has more questions than answers. He’s previously offered those solutions, but will need to use the international break to quickly reassess the strategies that their last three opponents – all top six competitors – have figured out and exploited with ease.
Would last season’s team beat this? Yes. The answer is undoubtedly, yes.
Sluggish midfield – balance is far from right
Watching West Ham United on Friday evening, it was evident that David Moyes places a high emphasis on a holding midfielder. Edson Alvarez, a Mexican, helped his team reclaim control and create from deep. Newcastle lacks a player of that caliber, and in situations like these, where straight, targeted balls up to the striker were so important, a shield in front of the back four was sorely lacking.
Bruno Guimaraes didn’t even come close to matching his blue and white rival, Billy Gilmour, who looked every bit the world-class talent many expected him to be when he emerged from Cobham a few years ago.
Losing Sean Longstaff on the right has stolen legs and pressuring from the midfield, and Joelinton, in my opinion, is still better suited to a left forward role, as the game has a propensity to pass him by in games like this, against very highly drilled and cunning sides.
The left-back conundrum that draws confusing answers – Burn, Targett & Hall
Last season, Howe determined that Matt Targett was not the right candidate for the job at left-back. As we all know, Dan Burn was chosen.
That was reinforced when the team went looking for another player in that position, Lewis Hall.
Howe claims he is far from fit, having only begun his pre-season upon arrival. One defensive injury has resulted in two positional adjustments, with a third occurring in the second half when club captain Jamaal Lascelles arrived to ease Targett’s suffering.
‘Champions League, you’re havin’ a larf’
The word from the Brighton faithful was unequivocal. On this particular Saturday, Newcastle United appeared to be a million miles away from becoming one of the top teams in the English Premier League.
To be sure, fans have been drooling over visits to Milan, Dortmund, and Paris, and with reason. But the attackers from those clubs will, too, if they see the highlights from the Amex – and the final 10 minutes against Liverpool. The truth is – and this is an uncomfortable one – that if Newcastle continues to play like this, that will be the only European football this team will see this season – and possibly next.
Summer business under the microscope
The word from the Brighton faithful was unequivocal. On this particular Saturday, Newcastle United appeared to be a million miles away from becoming one of the top teams in the English Premier League.
To be sure, fans have been drooling over visits to Milan, Dortmund, and Paris, and with reason. But the attackers from those clubs will, too, if they see the highlights from the Amex – and the final 10 minutes against Liverpool. The truth is – and this is an uncomfortable one – that if Newcastle continues to play like this, that will be the only European football this team will see this season – and possibly next.
While Harvey Barnes will surely provide goals and end product to the club, it’s difficult to see Tino Livramento fitting into the side in the long run, given Kieran Trippier’s history of refusing to give up the shirt.
Hall is expected to improve much more over the international break. They’ve added youthful depth and quality, but not at any of the key positions that require an upgrade.
As previously stated, a No.6, a Premier League-ready left-back, centre-half cover, and a right-sided player were all passed over in order to get other targets. It just doesn’t make sense in a summer that was characterized as a ‘tough one’ in terms of FFP and cash to spend.
