There were not many positives for Newcastle United against Manchester City on Saturday.
Eddie Howe’s side arrived full of confidence but Newcastle United’s hoodoo at the Etihad Stadium continued.
City thrashed Newcastle 4-0, Omar Marmoush scoring a first-half hat-trick before James McAtee added the fourth in the second-half.
All in all, it was a thoroughly miserable day for Newcastle – who slipped down to seventh in the Premier League table.
Naturally, not many of Howe’s players stood out. Kieran Trippier was slammed by Newcastle fans for his performance, while Lewis Hall was criticised by pundit Chris Sutton.
Still, the Newcastle United manager did find at least one positive on the day.
Eddie Howe makes pointed remark after being asked about Lewis Miley
Howe was particularly pleased with Lewis Miley.
Miley replaced Joe Willock at half-time against City and actually had Newcastle’s only shot on target of the afternoon – albeit one that was dealt with fairly easily by Ederson.
Still, Howe thinks the teenager was a leading light for Newcastle, and pointedly suggested others in the team should look towards Miley for the “bravery” he showed in a difficult environment.
“The big positive is Lewis’ performance in the second half,” he said.
“He showed, not just bravery out of possession, in terms of winning duels and covering the pitch, but also in terms of taking the ball, showing composure and making the right decisions, which we didn’t do enough of.
“He can be very proud of his performance, but some of us need to look at him because he led the way.”
Eddie Howe should accelerate behind the scenes Newcastle plan now
Howe seriously rates Miley, who shone during his breakout season last time out.
Indeed, Howe reportedly plans to build his team around the teenager going forward, albeit doing that anytime soon would be unwise.
Still, it’s his ability to come on against City and make at least something of a difference that underlines what a talent Newcastle have on their hands.
On a day when none of Willock, Bruno Guimaraes or Sandro Tonali really showed up, Miley at least provided something.
With Joelinton expected to miss a few weeks of action due to injury, Miley surely did enough to suggest he should start ahead of Willock going forward.
It would be fantastic to see him start against Nottingham Forest next week.
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