How Gayle left striker rival behind by showing he had the Dwight stuff
MITRO WAS NOT ‘ON FIRE’ IN TRAINING
IF there was thing consistent about Newcastle United last season it was the form of Dwight Gayle.
Of course, Gayle was plying his trade at the lower level of the Sky Bet Championship - but he never went more than three league games without scoring a goal and this season has entered new territory as far as goal droughts are concerned during his Newcastle career.
Last season Gayle netted 23 goals in 34 games and would arguably have had an even better tally had it not been for injury - you could also argue that the Magpies would have been promoted a little earlier had the Walthamstow-born striker been fully fit.
This season Gayle’s early performances were effected by illness in August before he picked up a calf injury which kept him out for 15 days in October with the striker also picking up a knock last month against Swansea City to complicate his season and form even further.
Gayle’s barren run this season resulted in him waiting for nine games to grab his first goal of the Premier League campaign in November before back-to-back goals in December against Chelsea and Leicester City and he’s also weighed in with an assist.
However, like Newcastle have generally struggled with the step up into the top flight again, Gayle has also suffered as a consequence of that.
The service to the frontline has been restricted and the arrival of Joselu has meant that Benitez has sometimes preferred to use the Spaniard as a target man.
Benitez has opted to use the 4-23-1 formation 13 times this season and the 4-4-1-1 system that Gayle thrived on last season, usually when paired with Mo Diame just behind him, has been used just twice.
Plus there have been a host of games where Newcastle have just tried to park the bus and this has often left Gayle standing closer to the defensive zone than in and around the danger areas at the other end.
The arrival of Islam Slimani could see Benitez change tact in some ways, but it would appear that this weekend’s clash with Gayle’s former club would represent one of the last chances for the striker to show he can do the business without the need of the January reinforcement.
Gayle has worked throughout his career to make an impact in the Premier League and anybody who knows him will tell you is down to earth character who knows the value of what he has.
Last season Gayle stopped plenty of times to talk to the media about his goals, but this season he knows he doesn’t have anything to shout about and has politely turned down some interviews until his form improves.
Gayle has been working hard in training throughout his drought and under the surveillance of GPS in training his statistics have been good.
The GPS system in place keeps a close eye on sprints and distance covered on the pitch while the coaching staff are also looking out for headers and tackles won and goal ratios - even in training sessions.
Many have asked why Gayle, Joselu and Ayoze Perez had more chances to shine this season than Aleksandar Mitrovic - who has now been loaned out at Fulham.
But the coaching staff could see that Gayle, Joselu and Perez were outperforming Mitrovic – who was also banned at the start of the season – and told all players that statistics Monday-Friday would determine
who played at the weekend.
It hasn’t been just Benitez’s decision alone to leave out Mitrovic, the Toon boss asked every member of his coaching staff to give an opinion and they all felt that he needed to work harder during the week to justify his selection.
Mitrovic continued to slump in training and despite Gayle’s lack of goals his stats and work-rate during Benitez’s sessions meant he found himself in the starting lineup 11 times while the Serbian international didn’t make the opening XI on any Premier League team sheet this term.
Unfortunately, Gayle has been unable to transfer that on to the pitch but may see a return to Selhurst Park as the ideal stage to end his current drought of 11 games.
Gayle knows every nook and cranny of the pitch at Selhurst and will also be keen to prove a point this weekend.