Newcastle United endured a dreadfully frustrating day at the office on Saturday.
In many ways, elements about the performance were promising.
Where Newcastle have relied on moments of individual quality for a lot of the season thus far, Eddie Howe’s side at least looked coherent as a team – until Danny Welbeck scored what proved to be the only goal of the game at least.
Howe’s side huffed and puffed but just couldn’t find a way through. At times, it looked as if Brighton were there for the taking but the hosts just couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net.
In isolation, that would be frustrating enough. Still, Newcastle’s lack of punch power has been a problem all season and they haven’t scored from open play since the defeat at Fulham last month. It has become a major issue.
Alan Shearer offered a scathing assessment of Newcastle’s finishing, while Howe will reportedly seek an immediate inquest into the lack of goals from his team.
One of the major points has to be Alexander Isak. So good for pretty much all of his Newcastle career to date, the striker is seriously out of form.
Indeed, Sky Sports pundit Clinton Morrison was not impressed.
Sky Sports pundit names Newcastle star who “didn’t look” sharp against Brighton
Speaking on Sky Sports News at 5.53pm BST, former Crystal Palace and Republic of Ireland forward Morrison said: “Newcastle did play well. They created loads of opportunities. Isak is only just coming back into the team, didn’t look as sharp as you have seen him previously before.
“And Gordon missed a lot of chances as well. But they did play good, Newcastle. Eddie Howe will be going away frustrated, and so will the fans and the players because they were the better team.”
Alexander Isak’s form is becoming a problem for Newcastle
Isak should be afforded at least some slack given he’s only just returned from a broken toe injury.
However, one goal all season is simply not good enough for a striker of such quality and there were some brilliant chances wasted by the Swede.
Quite whether or not the lingering contract talks are having an impact is up for debate but Newcastle need a big improvement. And quickly.
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