SUPER MAC Lejeune’s form a concern for Toon

CENTRE-HALF LOOKS OUT OF HIS DEPTH

NEWCASTLE have a major problem to overcome as they prepare to stop their alarming slide down the Premier League table.

It concerns central defender Florian Lejeune.

I am afraid, after watching him very closely recently, he is a major worry at the heart of United’s defence.

The sooner Jamaal Lascelles is available again after injury – this afternoon would be perfect – the better because then Rafa Benitez ought to go back to his partnership with Ciaran Clark.

The Magpies looked sound when Lascelles and Clark were together but now they are shipping goals for fun. It is not all down to Lejeune, of course, but he looks out of his depth.

It would be kinder to withdraw him from the firing line.

Lejeune had been preferred to Clark but the Irish international is vastly under-rated.

His reading of the game is so good it makes up for his lack of real pace.

I felt Lejeune at Chelsea was struggling badly when it came to his positional sense. He was all over the place and tugged other defenders out of position as a consequence.

It was not just him but the effect he had on those around him.

It worries me what Jamie Vardy could do to him tonight with his blistering pace and readiness to go past people.

Leicester are a dangerous animal because they counter-attack with such verve and speed, with Vardy their focal point. However there is no question about it, United have to beat Leicester AND Everton over the next few days. With their current run of defeats, four points out of six at home simply is not good enough. Not given the opposition. Before the new year United have four games at home out of six and, while one is admittedly against Manchester City, the others are Leicester, Everton and Brighton where points can and have to be collected. This period will define United’s season. Imagine the cushion a return of 10 points would bring. We could then enjoy 2018.

This will be a special day with my old club celebrating its 125th birthday, a historic milestone for a wonderful club and city.

I live up here by choice and I remain a big Newcastle fan.

I have been asked to take part in the celebrations as an ex-player and I am really looking forward to meeting up with a lot of old friends, but what would be even better than that would be the present of three points.

That is what matters most, then we could concentrate on spoiling Sam Allardyce’s return in midweek.