It was another difficult day for Newcastle United against Manchester City.
Eddie Howe’s side failed to lay much of a glove on the treble winners at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday night, underlining the size of the task at hand.
If Newcastle are going to mount a serious challenge in the coming years, they have to get closer to Pep Guardiola’s team.
That is not easy of course but Liverpool proved it can be done as they built up a Premier League title challenge over a few years until Jurgen Klopp’s outfit finally got their hands on the trophy.
It will take a while of course but nights like Saturday serve to remind us just how far this team needs to go.
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One player perhaps sums that up best.
Kieran Trippier says Phil Foden had too much space against Newcastle
Indeed, Phil Foden played a key role in the City win.
The England international was handed the Man of the Match award and it was he who teed up Julian Alvarez for the only goal of the game.
Newcastle simply do not have a player on Foden’s level and England teammate Kieran Trippier believes the attacker was afforded far too much space.
“We kept going and trying to find the equaliser but it wasn’t to be,” he said (via BBC Sport’s LIVE blog at 22:13).
“Phil has too much space in the pockets. There’s a lot to work on. This is the level we want to be at,
“With the pace we’ve got there’s always going to be a chance. The lads gave everything as always.”
Newcastle could do with their own Foden
That kind of player to float behind the strikers and pick locks is what Newcastle are missing.
Though losing away at City is hardly anything be ashamed of, there were a few times when the final ball was missing as Newcastle looked to counter.
Against a team like this, those moments have to be maximised.
Perhaps one day, Newcastle will have a Foden of their very own.