Newcastle left exposed as strange summer ends with more questions than answers

In the end, it’s been a really, *really* bad window for Newcastle United. How it descended into this, is undoubtedly a topic which raises so many difficult questions.

Teething issues are guaranteed to some extent when there’s a change in leadership, and seemingly that’s led to some misalignment, disagreement and a power struggle in the background.

It’s also hard to diagnose *exactly* where these issues lie, so I’m reluctant to point the finger regarding situations which very much sit behind the scenes.

Firstly, the window doesn’t really massively change my opinion on what I think Newcastle can achieve – this is still a squad with bags of quality that is capable of competing. Every player who finished 4th in 22/23 is still here.

Having said that, the two main areas which needed improvement haven’t been addressed – right wing, and centre-back. I’m less bothered about the RW, but having only Schär as the RCB for the first half of the season is a huge risk. We all know that it was an area which needed depth – especially for a team who conceded heaps of goals last season (partly due to defensive absentees).

The PSR situation early in the window was a forgivable miscalculation, and in all honesty, they dealt with the situation well in the end. I really don’t think there was a huge amount more that could’ve been done. Selling senior figures in January was always bound to be difficult.

But the Guéhi saga over the last month has played out so badly. Clearly, there’s money available – so that isn’t an issue. We were happy to pay £65m for him.

I’ve got no issue with going for Guéhi – he’s excellent, even at that inflated price. But to show our hand in the market, insist on that one player, get played by Palace – and then at no point have an alternative which we could pivot to – is such a strange one.

It’s left us exposed in that part of the pitch. I fully empathise with the idea of players who we are absolutely sure…

Source link : https://www.nufcblog.co.uk/2024/08/31/newcastle-left-exposed-as-baffling-summer-ends-with-more-questions-than-answers/

Author : Sanjay

Publish date : 2024-08-31 17:31:40

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.