Newcastle Boss defends £55M star from criticism for his display against Brighton

Newcastle United, already on a winless streak of 3 games before the PL break, have now had 4 games without a win, as they lost 0-1 to Brighton recently. Although Fabian Hurzeler's Brighton side wasn't going to be an easy opponent for the Magpies club either, the way they have dropped crucial points against them will surely affect their morale.

Newcastle boss defends £55M star from criticism for his display against Brighton

As Newcastle's general pattern has been this season, the club once again failed to bag in goals, despite creating brilliant opportunities. However, as was expected, Eddie Howe's side got subdued under pressure when Brighton opened their scoring against the run of the play. Not only did this influence the fixture's result, but it shattered Newcastle's morale, who, despite having been the dominant force in the first half an hour, hardly looked convincing after the goal.

Certainly, while questions were supposed to be raised on the unit's terrible finishing, a Magpies star is facing loads of criticism for his sloppy display. While manager Eddie Howe's midfield duo, Captain Guimaraes, and powerhouse star Joelinton had a decent game overall, ace midfielder Sandro Tonali faced much criticism for his performance from the fans.

Being unable to inject the required creativity expected from him, Tonali was subjected to disrespectful boos by the fans upon his substitution in the 66th minute. However, manager Eddie Howe, being the true leader he is, came to the front to defend his pivotal star midfielder,

"“I think he’s doing well; I had no issues with his performance today. I think he played well and played his part in a dominant performance today in the heartbeat of the midfield.”"

- Eddie Howe

Although manager Howe seemed quite convinced with the midfielder's progress, it was quite evident that Tonali seemed far from his expected level. So far this season, the inconsistent forms of the club's big names like Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali, and Alexander Isak have been the biggest concern for the side, on which they need urgent improvisations.

Going forward, Newcastle is scheduled to face Chelsea and Arsenal consecutively in the PL, and gathering crucial points would be mandatory for the side to keep their top-4 contentions alive. The Magpies club fans would hope that their side returns stronger than ever and bridges the gap from the convincing performance they showed this time to grabbing the complete 3 points in the upcoming matches.