Newcastle United: The cultured left foot of Philippe Albert

One of Newcastle United’s most popular defenders was a force in the attack as well.

Newcastle United have enjoyed fantastic contributions over the years from the back-line, and often times that work at the back can be the difference between a successful side and one that struggles. During “The Entertainers” years of the 1990s, Toon fans were treated to one of the most unique full-backs in recent memory.

Philippe Albert was a skillful and memorable part of many United teams, and remains a fan favourite to this day. The Belgian international spent six years on Tyneside, and is perhaps best remembered for producing in the attack as opposed to his own half.

For this author and many others, Albert will always be known for his magnificent chip that brought the final strike of Newcastle’s 5-0 thrashing of Manchester United in 1996.

Our recent series looking at different positions throughout the club’s history brought a few questions when it came to the defenders, and the exclusion of Albert from the list being one of them.

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Certainly a difficult decision, and what made him such a character was that few fans will re-call his “defending” very easily.

Comparisons to today’s squad?

An interesting thought is how Albert’s skillset would fit in manager Rafa Benitez’s team today. Current left-back Paul Dummett is a bit of the opposite, a hard-working and tough defender focused on stifling the opponent’s wide playmakers.

On the right, DeAndre Yedlin has certainly displayed the ability to get forward like Albert once did, but Benitez is often cautious to send too many players forward into the attack depending on their opposition’s quality.

In some ways, Albert was the perfect left-back for “The Entertainers”, as the squad was so full of quality that a full-back further up the pitch could be accounted for by fellow defenders or the midfield. It would certainly be exciting to once again see that kind of strategy, but the line-up would need to be different for that to happen.

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Newcastle United fans have seen tremendous moments at St. James’ Park, and Philippe Albert’s magical left boot delivered one of the absolute best of the bunch.