Islam Slimani has failed to impress at Newcastle United

Islam Slimani was viewed as a savior for Newcastle United’s scoring woes, but he has not lived up to expectations.

Islam Slimani has only made four appearances for Newcastle United since joining the club on loan in January. The Algerian international’s debut for the Magpies was delayed to an injury, but he is fully healthy now. In his four appearances, Slimani came on a substitute three times against Huddersfield Town, Arsenal and West Brom.

His only match as a starter was against Everton. Rafa Benitez and the Toon Army had high expectations for Slimani upon his arrival on Tyneside, but the loanee has failed to impress. Slimani is a proven scorer who has the skill to succeed on Newcastle’s front-line, but he has not been able to score.

Now with three matches remaining in the season, Slimani does not have much time to prove himself to Benitez. Slimani has fallen out of favor at Leicester City and he desperately seeks a permanent move to Newcastle to save his career.

Lack of Success

Slimani’s first two appearances for the club off the bench were decent. His aerial abilities attracted multiple defenders and he showed that he is a better passer than Dwight Gayle. In fact, in the match against Arsenal, it was Slimani’s header into the penalty area that led to Matt Ritchie’s goal.

Based on that description, it sounds like Slimani is not playing all that bad. Well, his success with Newcastle is defined by the expectations set for him. Slimani was brought in for one reason and one reason only – to score goals. Thus far, the Algerian striker has a total tally of zero goals in four appearances.

His first start for Newcastle against Everton was very poor. However, to come to his defense, the entire squad had one of their worst performances of the season. As a result of the poor collective play, I advocated that Slimani be given a second chance as a starter against West Brom.

Rafa Benitez, on the other end, disagreed and demoted Slimani to the bench for Saturday’s match. Slimani came on as a substitute in the 65th minute, but did little to nothing on the field. His gestures on the pitch resembled an arrogant player and he took an ill-advised swipe at an opposing player on a set piece.

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Modified Expectations

Slimani needs to realize that he is playing for a major club that offered him a second chance after being ignored at Leicester City. The general expectation remains the same as Newcastle need a consistent flow of goals in order to win matches. With only three matches remaining – Watford (A), Tottenham (A) and Chelsea (H), it would be re-assuring if Slimani could score in at least two of those matches.