After a promising opening half-hour to their encounter with Arsenal where Allan Saint-Maximin crashed a strike against the post, Newcastle United imploded to lose the fixture 4-0. Twice the Magpies conceded two goals in under four minutes as they failed to recover from setbacks and allowed the hosts to add gloss to the victory. Magpies legend Mick Quinn has suggested that Steve Bruce should bring Matt Ritchie back into the fold for the fixture against Crystal Palace and had he been on the pitch the ex-Bournemouth player would not have tolerated Sunday’s collapse.
Ritchie has established himself a key figure in the Newcastle United dressing room, and Bruce has described the converted left-back as: “Effervescent – he’s always, always positive.” Furthermore, because of his “energy“, the side misses the Scot when he is absent. A dose of his positive and commanding attitude was precisely what the Magpies required at the Emirates Stadium to get a grip of his fellow defenders who were shell-shocked after an impressive first half.
Via WhoScored, Nicolas Pepe had his best performance in an Arsenal shirt, scoring once and assisting twice to come away with a perfect ten match rating. Though had he been up against Ritchie instead of new recruit Danny Rose, the Ivorian may have faced a tougher evening and not had the time or space to excel down the Gunners’ right flank. Newcastle’s next opponents have a similar style of player in Wilfred Zaha, who the Eagles channel the majority of their attacking play though. Making the switch from Rose to Ritchie could be the way for Bruce to ensure that Zaha does not run riot just as Pepe did the week before him.
So far in his two appearances for the Toon, Rose is yet to replicate the defensive capabilities he displayed with Spurs. Via WhoScored, the England international’s tackles per game have dropped from 1.5 to one, though his interceptions have risen marginally from 0.7 per 90 minutes to one. However, Ritchie, on the whole, has proven himself to be more positionally aware averaging 1.7 interceptions per match, which is why the 30-year-old must come into the fold against Crystal Palace.
