Newcastle United were humbled 4-1 by Manchester United at Old Trafford on Boxing Day, with Steve Bruce’s side to blame as architects of their own downfall after a host of defensive mistakes. For their next match the Magpies face Everton, buoyed by the arrival of serial winner Carlo Ancelotti, and if they lose Newcastle United could drop to 13th in the Premier League and ever closer to the drop zone. To avoid defeat and a repeat of the performance against the Red Devils, Bruce must make some changes, and he should start by introducing Christian Atsu from the off.
Against the Red Devils, Bruce elected to award Dwight Gayle his first start of the season in the Premier League, and it did not go to plan. The English striker was removed after 58 minutes and replaced by Atsu. In half an hour of action, the Ghanaian managed to achieve something that Gayle couldn’t, playing a key pass and he exerted a more significant attacking influence on proceedings than his teammate in half the time on the pitch. The switch also allowed Joelinton to take up a lone central role as he has done for most of the season, which he has tended to operate better in.3
Furthermore, Astu and Miguel Almiron together provide the Newcastle United side with some pace they usually lack, and the pair are an excellent out-ball to launch counter-attacks from Joelinton’s flick on’s. Together they can terrorise opposition defences, whereas alone, the Magpies build-up play becomes too predictable as it is obvious Almiron will be given the ball and try to run as far away from danger as possible. Atsu is also able to keep pace with the Paraguayan meaning he has other options and does not have to wait for his teammates to catch up with play.
Including Gayle was not the wrong decision by Bruce, in Allan Saint-Maximin’s absence through injury he trialed playing a big striker to hold the ball up and a smaller one to latch onto Joelinton’s hold up play but it did not work. Going for more pace against Everton should provide a greater attacking threat in an attempt not to lose back to back games for the first time since the opening two weeks of this season.
