It is no secret that Newcastle United are going through an injury crisis. Key dressing room figures like Joelinton and Dan Burn have been out since the start of the Premier League season while the number of absentees has been piling up with every passing game.
Going into the game against Hull, Lewis Hall was the only fit full-back at the club. As a result, Lewis Miley filled in at right-back leaving Jaissle thin in midfield options due to the concussion Nico González suffered against Leeds.
That forced the inclusion of Joe Willock in midfield and suddenly a feeling of trepidation loomed over last weekend’s game, especially considering the Magpies’ difficulties dealing with low-blocks. Yet in the eye of the storm, 18-year-old Sean Steur could be found riding it out.
Steur’s performance against Leeds
Against Leeds, Steur replaced Nico following an evenly contested twenty minutes of football and his enthusiasm was evident from the get-go. Seconds after stepping onto the pitch, he wrong-footed Jayden Bogle and looked to play Jacob Murphy in-behind.
A few minutes afterwards, he surged forward, laid it off to Harvey Barnes on the byline and immediately demanded it back by making a run into the channel and winning a throw-in.
As stated previously however, his directness is a raw trait that needs to be refined. After Leeds scored toward the end of the first-half, they were riding on their momentum and pushing for a second. Upon regaining possession, the Dutchman tried to rush play forward, misjudging Barnes’ position and underhitting his pass, which directly led to the second goal.
At that moment, the game needed a tempo-setter like Nico, someone who would remain composed and try to pick out the right pass in order to restore control.
His inexperience showed in the first goal as Anton Stach managed to comfortably drag him away and leave plenty of room for Tanaka to shoot.
It’s worth noting that he wasn’t the only man at fault in that game, though, and naivety is a good adjective to describe the team’s performance as a whole. After all, it is a young squad of players that needs time and patience to harness their abilities. And that is exactly what Sean Steur did against Hull.
A midfield masterclass against Hull
On the face of it, none of Sean Steur’s statistics from the game seem to stand out. He only engaged in four duels, and did not make an astounding number of line-breaking passes or into the final third; five of his teammates recorded a higher number of touches than him. But that is precisely why the eye test still provides immeasurable value in assessing player performance.
Both sides negated playing through the middle of the park, hence why Miley and Lewis Hall saw so much of the ball.
The nature of the opponent played to Steur’s strengths as Hull were not able to intricately press high and force the defenders and goalkeeper to constantly play long. The Hull forwards screened Steur initially preventing him from getting on the ball but once the dust settled, he was the one that kept the team ticking.
He glided effortlessly across the pitch and showcased his mobility, even evading two of his markers at once on one occasion. One moment of note for Steur was a shot from Matias Fernádez-Pardo in the 55th minute, which arose as a direct byproduct of Steur’s rapid ball advancement.
With Steur anchoring the midfield as a solo pivot, we were also able to see the best of Willock in the number eight role. The Englishman had the freedom to advance further forward when in-possession, something a box-to-box midfielder always craves. This meant that the space in pockets was readily available for Steur to dictate the midfield as there was not as much congestion as had been the case in previous games when in a strict double pivot.
Such was the Dutchman’s impact, Newcastle looked much worse off without him after he was substituted due to fatigue and were forced to dig deep in order to preserve their 2-1 lead, a testament to Steur’s abilities and the balance he provides to Matthias Jaissle.
His role moving forward
The youngster seems to relish the opportunity to be the central figure in the Magpies build-up. From that, it seems clear he likes playing at a higher tempo, one which allows him to progress the ball at pace.
Against Hull at home, that played to his strengths. He is more mobile than both Nico and Miley and the way he turns on the ball almost makes him look like a classic Spanish number six. But by lacking that little bit of game understanding to slow the ball-speed down when needed, it remains to be seen whether he can dominate proceedings in the same way against more imposing opposition.
But for now, it seems like he is a more than viable option for Jaissle going forward, assuming he is fit for the visit to Coventry on the 12th of October.
The German manager was full of praise for Steur in his post-match press conference and all but confirmed that Steur is not injured but he just needs to “adapt to the physicality of the league”.
He expects Sean Steur to be able to perform in that manner across the 90 minutes, claiming: “That will be the next step for the upcoming weeks and months”.
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