Alan Shearer says it looked like £13m Newcastle player didn’t know what to do vs Brighton

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Newcastle United ended the first sprint of the season in pretty poor shape.

No matter how difficult the games Eddie Howe’s side had to play were, three consecutive defeats is a pretty poor return.

Such are the standards Newcastle have set, losing to Brighton – usually hardly a disaster – was a huge disappointment following defeats to Manchester City and Liverpool.

In fact, it was the performance on the south coast to have proven most concerning.

While there were elements of the Liverpool game that were encouraging, little about the outing at the Amex Stadium was productive.

Indeed, Alan Shearer believes one player did not look like he knew what he was doing.

Alan Shearer says Dan Burn seriously struggled against Brighton

Though Dan Burn was not alone in underperforming, Shearer suggests the £13m defender did not know whether he was coming or going in marking Evan Ferguson, who scored a hat-trick in a 3-1 win.

“Dan Burn has been superb for Newcastle, but brought in from left-back to centre-half at the Amex Stadium, he didn’t know whether to go tight or drop back against Ferguson and in the end did neither,” wrote Shearer in The Athletic.

Thrust back into a central defensive role following Sven Botman’s injury, Burn was from his best.

Still, it’s not all one big blame game.

Shearer also claims the “curiously insipid” midfield did not help.

“Dan received very little protection from the midfield in front of him, which was curiously insipid and full of holes, but Ferguson punished Newcastle.”

It may be time to take Burn out of the firing line

If Botman can return for the visit of Brentford after the international break, it might be time to take Burn out of the firing line.

Howe has spoken of having versatility in his ranks in the form of Lewis Hall, who can operate at left-back.

Though Burn shouldn’t be written off, turning to the summer signing there and having Botman back in central defence may be a way to give the team a new lease of life.