Former Newcastle United defender Sebastien Bassong has admitted he was scared about Newcastle United losing momentum heading into the World Cup break.
However, he now believes that Eddie Howe’s side can pick up where they left off and enjoy what should be an exciting second half to the season.
The Magpies went into the World Cup break with 30 points on the board from 15 games, sitting third in the Premier League. Howe has got Newcastle playing good football, a lot of his team are playing the best football on their careers and they are winning games.
But the big question now is can they carry on the momentum that they had built up before the Premier League was put on hold.
Bassong thinks they can – because there weren’t too many of their players competing at the World Cup in Qatar.
Why Bassong was scared about Newcastle
The Frenchman has been speaking to Sky Sports, and commented on his former club ahead of the Premier League resuming on Boxing Day.
“Newcastle had a terrific start to the season,” Bassong said.
“And before the World Cup I was a bit scared that the World Cup was going to come in and put an end to their momentum.
“However, I know they didn’t have a lot of players going to the World Cup. So they could have been working even heavier on the team bonding, to carry on what they started.”
Toon can pick up where they left off
Newcastle had five first-team players at the World Cup – Kieran Trippier, Callum Wilson, Nick Pope, Bruno Guimaraes and Fabian Schar.
They are some of Howe’s best players, but to only lose five was not the end of the world. In contrast, Manchester City had 16 players at the World Cup, Manchester United and Chelsea had 12 and Tottenham had 11.
It could have been a lot worse for Newcastle, who look set to have all of their returning World Cup players available for tonight’s game against Bournemouth in the cup.
They will be itching to get back to club football after failing to triumph on the international stage, while the other Toon players will be ready to go as well after being put through their paces by Howe and his staff.
The players who remained on Tyneside will be the ones who would have benefitted the most from working with Howe. They should be ready to continue progressing after working closely with the manager while the World Cup was on.
Only time will tell if the World Cup has halted Newcastle’s momentum, but there is real belief among fans that the team can pick up where they left off. Former Toon defender Bassong feels the same, and is keen for his old club to continue their ‘terrific’ season.
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