BBC pundit Danny Murphy was very confused as to why Eddie Howe didn’t make one key change for Newcastle at half-time against Nottingham Forest.
Newcastle went into the break on level terms but it was Forest who were in the ascendency and creating the better chances towards the end of the first half.
Dan Burn had suffered a poor game down the left for 45 minutes and Murphy, speaking on Match of the Day, couldn’t understand why he was still on the pitch as the second half kicked off.
Burn endured one of his worst Newcastle games vs Forest
Every time Forest attacked it seemed to come down their right-hand side with Anthony Elanga beating Burn for pace every time and getting through on goal.
Howe didn’t make the change immediately and gave Burn his chance in the second half, but after Forest scored their second of the game through Chris Wood, Tino Livramento was brought on in his place for Newcastle.
It’s difficult for Burn who’s been such a reliable player for Howe since he came into the team almost two years ago for £13m, but his weaknesses are starting to be exposed a lot more after returning from his injury.
Murphy was left astounded as to how Burn was even still on the pitch and admitted that Elanga had been ‘outstanding’ against the 31-year-old all afternoon.
On the show, Murphy said: “They didn’t heed the warnings. Too often they didn’t give the ball to him [Elanga] and he was in oceans of space. He knows he has the pace on him.
“I was amazed at half time Eddie Howe didn’t change it with Livramento on the bench, because he’s such an intelligent man, but he couldn’t see it.
“And then in the first 10 seconds of the second half they got the ball out wide and he beat him. Elanga was outstanding and because of that he grew in confidence.”

Livramento should be Newcastle’s future
While you can respect what Burn has done for the club as a boyhood fan to help get the team into the Champions League, it’s obvious that he is a limited player at left-back.
Livramento, since coming into the side, has been one of Newcastle’s best players and really can do almost everything Burn can do defensively except he has a much greater attacking output.
The 21-year-old clearly has the ability to be Newcastle’s starting left-back in the long-term, but he is also very capable right now and should really be starting more games than he is.
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