Newcastle United’s midfield must step up against Chelsea

A disappointing start to the season has seen the Magpies only collect one point from their first two games, but that could all change with a positive performance on Sunday.

Maurizio Sarri’s turnaround of Chelsea has come far quicker than many imagined.  The London-based club have scored three goals in each of their first two Premier League games and they already look like a lock for a top four finish this season.

Newcastle defeated Chelsea 3-0 to end last season, and this weekend’s match is also at St. James’ Park with the home crowd understandably expecting a reaction to last week’s dismal 0-0 draw away to Cardiff. Aside from Kenedy, whose awful performance last week is irrelevant due to his illegibility for this fixture against his parent club, Newcastle’s midfield were the most obvious disappointment from the Cardiff game.

Unable to get a hold on what was a scrappy affair low on quality, Jonjo Shelvey and in particular Mohamed Diame looked devoid of ideas and gave the ball away far too cheaply in the middle of the field, playing directly into the hands of Neil Warnock’s side who were all too happy to keep the game as disjointed as possible.

The Duo: Shelvey and Diame

Both Shelvey and Diame were instrumental to Newcastle finishing 10th in the Premier League last season. The duo featured in over 30 matches together and formed a reliable partnership in the competition’s latter stages.

Shelvey was extremely unlucky to miss out on a call up to the England national team, but he was only able to reach such impressive levels of form with the defensive presence of Diame beside him. Despite having a notorious level of aggression and grit to his game, Shelvey is relied upon by Rafa Benitez to instead be Newcastle’s technician as he excels in turning defense into attack with his trademark long passing ability.

It’s tough to criticise Shelvey after the Cardiff City match given he played a part in nearly all of Newcastle’s limited chances, but with his attacking teammates offering little going forward, there’s no doubt he should’ve been more bullish in demanding to take the 90th minute free kick and the 95th minute penalty that Kenedy completely wasted. Ultimately though these decisions lie with the manager, and it would be harsh to totally blame Shelvey for what was perhaps Kenedy’s worst ever performance in black and white.

Diame Must Improve

If there’s any player that Toon fans should demand more from, it is the eternally frustrating figure of Mohamed Diame who has to improve almost immediately if Newcastle are to avoid another relegation scare. The Senegalese midfielder has certainly shown to be a slow starter, with his best periods of form in a Newcastle shirt coming in the second half of the Magpies’ most recent Championship and Premier League seasons.

Last season especially saw a remarkable turnaround in form for Diame as he looked like a completely different player in 2018. Currently leading the Premier League in combined tackles and interceptions for the calendar year, Diame has two more than Chelsea’s own ball-winner N’Golo Kante and is a further 12 ahead of the third-placed Jonathan Hogg of Huddersfield Town. Sunday will of course see Kante and Diame go head to head, but the former has a far more well-rounded game that has seen him become one of the Premier League’s most talented midfield players.

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Diame has clearly struggled with the ball at his feet so far this season, and Benitez will have a difficult decision to make if Diame continues to give the ball away so cheaply to the opposition. Unlike last season Diame has greater competition for his starting place with the seasoned and more technical Ki Sung-yueng likely growing more and more impatient to make his Newcastle debut.

The South Korean national team captain has 166 Premier League appearances to his name, and even with Diame’s defensive work rate Rafa will know that a team-wide pass completion percentage of 64% is absolutely woeful.

Last season, Newcastle played a rather transparent, but effective counter-attacking style, and this functioned not only from Diame and Shelvey’s rock solid defensive work, but also as a result of the pace and goal-scoring form of both Ayoze and Kenedy in attack. With Rondon seemingly Benitez’s first choice striker going forward this season, it’s unlikely that Newcastle will continue with the same approach.

Rondon’s strength is not countering with pace, but his ability to work off the service of his teammates, whether that be through crosses or long balls to his head. Provided Rondon gets the start this weekend, Diame will have to prove he can still be a valuable player in an alternate style and, with any luck, give the Toon Army a reason to recapture the excitement of last season’s victory over Chelsea.