Tired Toon taken apart by Tuchel’s Blues

STEVE BRUCE was in Dubai with his son Alex watching England play cricket on Saturday afternoon. He looked well. It’s amazing what a week away from the pressure of the Premier League can do. Back in Newcastle, meanwhile, much was unchanged. The team Bruce left behind toiled in vain against Chelsea. They didn’t have a corner all day at St James’ Park and only one shot on target. It arrived in the 83rd minute, by which time they were three goals behind. Bruce had to go. That much is beyond dispute. After all the rancour, the club needed a release from him and, it must be said, vice versa.

But what is left behind? A club under ambitious new ownership that hopes to have a new full-time manager in place this week. And, more importantly, a group of players that simply do not look good enough to keep Newcastle up. Coaches make a difference. Of course they do. Ultimately, though, it’s the players who will make or break a season and after defying gravity for a number of years — first under Rafa Benitez and then Bruce — this Newcastle squad looks as though time has caught up with it. As caretaker Graeme Jones pointed out after this game, Newcastle were playing a very good side. They are the champions of Europe and this morning they lead the title race by three points. Deservedly so. Chelsea are a formidable outfit capable of shifting and changing to adapt to the rhythms of a game. Here they had to be patient and did not score until the 65th minute but there was never a sense of panic. Thomas Tuchel’s team were missing Romelu Lukaku and Mason Mount but you could not tell. But there was something worrying about Newcastle. They looked mentally worn down by the drama and uncertainty of the last few months. The home crowd were as excitable as ever before kick-off and were out of the seats as Matt Ritchie flew down the left in the second minute. But none of that was to last.

They were never overrun but they eventually succumbed to the weight of Chelsea pressure. For the winners, Reece James scored two fine goals — both struck like thunderclaps — before the effortlessly-superb Jorginho added a penalty. Tuchel’s team look as though they can improve and that’s always a good sign. Newcastle simply have to and they must do it fast.

Jones said: ‘It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out what the need is at the minute. The absolute priority is to stop conceding goals.’