Newcastle Toons
Fansided

Why is Yoshinori Muto struggling at Newcastle?

By Durim Halimi

NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 20: Yoshinori Muto of Newcastle United arrives at the stadium prior to the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Brighton & Hove Albion at St. James Park on October 20, 2018 in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 20: Yoshinori Muto of Newcastle United arrives at the stadium prior to the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Brighton & Hove Albion at St. James Park on October 20, 2018 in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Yoshinori Muto is not meeting expectations on Tyneside and his failure to perform is frustrating.

Newcastle United were happy to announce the arrival of Yoshinori Muto in the summer of 2018 as the club was optimistic that the £9.6million signing from FSV Mainz 05 would be a great addition. Well, in his first few months with the club, Muto has not lived up to the expectations Newcastle set forth when they signed the Japanese international striker.

Muto has made 12 Premier League appearances for Newcastle this season – five as a starter and seven as a substitute. In his 12 appearances, Muto has only managed to score one goal, has only taken six shots and has not completed any assists. To put things into perspective, Salomon Rondon has only made three more league appearances for Newcastle, but he has scored five goals, taken 34 shots and completed two assists. This raises the question, why is Muto struggling so much at Newcastle? Are Rafa Benitez’s tactics to blame or is Muto just not cut out for English football?

Analyzing Muto’s Form

Muto was a decent striker in the Bundesliga as he averaged eight goals per season, but at this rate he will fall way short of those numbers in the 2018/19 campaign. Muto showed great potential at Old Trafford when he scored a brilliant goal against Manchester United, but all of his other performances have been mediocre at best. Based on my observations, there are four factors that have impacted Muto’s form this season.

Adapting to the Premier League

  • Muto has played in the J1 League (FC Tokyo) and in the Bundesliga (FSV Mainz 05), but playing in England is completely different. The style of football that is played in England differs from the style played in other leagues as it consolidates pace and aggression. Benitez knew it would take Muto some time to adjust to English football and that is one reason for his poor form.

4-2-3-1 Formation

  • Muto is used to serving his clubs as a true number nine, but Benitez has primarily used the Japanese striker as an attacking midfielder. Sure, this role still gives Muto ample opportunities to get good looks at goal, but it requires some ball distribution and that is where Muto struggles.

Rondon and Perez

  • Managers love to see internal competition as it generates more urgency and determination for players to earn a starting role. Salomon Rondon and Ayoze Perez have been winning those battles with Muto in training and if he cannot show up his own teammates in training it is unlikely that he will have an impact against opposing teams.

Next. What is going on with Jonjo Shelvey?. dark

Injury

  • After making quite a few appearances for the club at the start of the season, Muto picked up an injury against Watford on November 3rd. That injury, plus the birth of his child in Japan, kept him out of the team for a while and he finally made his return in the 4-0 loss against Liverpool on December 26th. Unfortunately, Muto has been called up to play for Japan in the Asian Cup and he will not return until early February.