Tyne for change

SOLANO: NEWCASTLE NEED TO GET BACK TO ATTACKING FOOTBALL... AND THAT MEANS A SHIFT IN MENTALITY

NEWCASTLE UNITED have been hit harder by the Covid-19 crisis than any other Premier League team.

And Nobby Solano, the club’s former Peruvian favourite, believes it is symptomatic of the luck that has dogged the team in recent years.

Newcastle’s training ground was shut in November as the virus swept through Tyneside.

The club’s trip to Aston Villa was also postponed.

Most of the first-team squad have returned to action but other members of Steve Bruce’s side are still thought to be some way off resuming their season.

And that has left Solano (above) concerned at what the future might hold.

He says: “Newcastle have been unlucky – but the clubs without those really strong squads are going to suffer most.

“It’s a situation that all clubs are going to have to deal with but it’s obviously hitting some harder than others. It seems to me Newcastle are just trying to survive this season – and trying to make sure that by the time it’s over they’re still in the Premier League.

“It hasn’t been an easy year for any club in the Premier League and for a lot of clubs outside the top six or seven, their only ambition is staying up. But in many ways that’s what Newcastle seem to have been trying to do for the past few seasons.”

Solano was part of a dashing set of Toon raiders who focused far more on scoring goals than keeping them out .

That is not an accusation that could be levelled at Bruce’s current outfit. Going into this afternoon’s match against Leicester, Newcastle have scored just 17 goals in 15 matches – in keeping with the lack of cutting edge seen last season, when they bulged the net just 38 times in 38 matches.

Finishing in 13th place was seen as being a respectable return under Bruce, who was appointed manager back in July 2019.

Solano, though, believes that despite being hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, there is still little evidence of an upturn in long-term fortunes under the former Manchester United defender, in his second season in charge.

“They’re playing very defensively, they’re playing very deep – if you defend for 80 or 90

minutes then it only takes one lapse at the back and the game has gone,” he points out. “I don’t see much improvement.

“There aren’t too many chances for the forwards – but when there are no fans in the ground it’s easier to play this way. If you don’t create any chances then you’re not going to score, and that’s the mentality I’m seeing.

“For so long, for the fans, Newcastle were all about entertainment. They would go ahead, come forward, attack.

“With this owner, the mentality has changed to survival. I don’t know how long it will be like that.

“Newcastle is all about the fans, all about giving them something to cheer on a Saturday afternoon – playing the kind of football that makes them happy.

“I hope the fans are back in the stadium soon.

“I also hope that the philosophy will have changed by the time they do come back.”