2019/20 Newcastle United Player Review: DeAndre Yedlin

The speedy American battled injuries and inconsistency in a down year for Newcastle United.

For the past few seasons, DeAndre Yedlin was the first-choice right-back for Newcastle United. But, this year, he dealt with a variety of injuries and poor play, leaving his place with the club in doubt.

2019/20 EPL stats: 16 appearances, one goal, zero big chances created, 38 recoveries

Expert Breakdown

Durim Halimi: Last season was one for DeAndre Yedlin to forget, not necessarily because he performed poorly, but his impact and overall contribution was minimal. He excelled in causing problems with his unreal pace, but his lack of defensive awareness was shocking at times.

On too many occasions last season Yedlin was caught off guard and lost his man during set pieces. His main rival for regular minutes, Javier Manquillo, improved tremendously in this area, and that is why he starts over Yedlin.

The American international reminded fans that he has sufficient talent to compete in the Premier League, but his inconsistency is what held him back from more playing time.

Carson A. Merk: This was the first season since his arrival that it was clear that he wasn’t the best option at right-back for NUFC. With Javi Manquillo steadily improving, Yedlin appeared to either stagnant or regress.

He did score a diving header vs. Bournemouth in a win, but he couldn’t produce any meaningful crosses and missed large chunks of time due to injury.

There were rumors towards the end of the season that Yedlin was looking to move away from the club and that may end up being the best for both parties. I still think he has high potential and world-class pace, but his technical ability going forward and his positioning on the backend have not improved enough.