Too much burden placed on the shoulders of ASM
ALLAN Saint-Maximin has been absolutely brilliant for Newcastle United this season despite the dire circumstances the club have been in.
I shudder to think where Newcastle would be without his five goals and three assists this season.
Unfortunately, he is not finishing games and I believe it is because he is so fatigued by being the player who is being asked to do everything in games.
Saint-Maximin is having to travel up and down the pitch throughout the game and completing runs of 40 or 50 yards to make the team go from defence to attack.
He is also having to beat three or four players to make something happen, like he did for his goal against Watford.
When you continue having to do that whenever you get the ball, it is a tough ask for the full 90 minutes which is why we are seeing him starting to tire before the end.
I don’t think it is the fact he is unfit - he is very fit - but he is the only one in the team who can do something a little bit different
He takes people on and delivers an end product.
So I think we need other types of players around ASM so he can gel with them.
Miguel Almiron does not seem to be getting a lot of games under Eddie Howe - whether that is down to the system we play - while Ryan Fraser, despite a couple of bright moments, has not exactly hit the heights has he?
So everything is being left at the door of Saint
Maximin and I would like to see him given some help. We need more than one threat to create chances and score goals and nobody is close to that at the moment.
WATFORD WOES AND WHY WE ARE MARKING SPACE AND NOT PLAYERS
You look at the Watford game and once Newcastle went 1-0 up the Hornets started to dominate. They had a number of chances before the equaliser went in and you could see it coming even though it was late in the game.
I watched the match and listened to Eddie Howe’s words about the psychological issues with the players, who when they go ahead they start to drop deep.
Alan Shearer also stated that Newcastle had no more shots on targets at 1-0.
That is a psychological thing and if you look closely you will see the players are dropping deep but they are just doing it to cover spaces.
If you look at Watford’s equaliser you will see we dropped back and there were plenty of black and white shirts - but the man who eventually scored was left unmarked.
They got there too late. Remember it is players who score goals not spaces!
If you are touch-tight with somebody, no matter who you are marking, it is difficult for them to turn and get a shot away but if you are dropping deep and leaving players space to turn they can pick out passes or shoot from distance.
Until Newcastle get a better standard of defender in I see it being difficult.
TRANSFER FEARS COMING TRUE
I always feared Newcastle might struggle to get the players they wanted this January.
It is proving to be difficult despite all the finances they have.
My worry was the type of player the club wants would be difficult to attract one way or another.
Firstly, the selling club knows United have plenty of money so they ask for the biggest premium.
Secondly, when the bid is accepted does the player have the stomach for the relegation battle for at least four months?