Newcastle United are working to get Sandro Tonali back to his very best, Eddie Howe has confirmed.
Last season, Tonali established himself as one of the leading midfielders in the Premier League and beyond after a triumphant return from his betting ban at Newcastle United.
This time around, however, has been more difficult.
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Tonali isn’t playing well for Newcastle, and while he’s not alone in that, the dip in his performance levels has been notable.
That’s largely because the Italian is usually so good that any even slight decline feels somewhat out of character.
Still, Howe has admitted that the midfielder isn’t at his best and is ready to work on a plan to restore order.
Eddie Howe admits Sandro Tonali is underperforming at Newcastle United
The Newcastle United manager was asked about the player during Friday’s pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s Premier League clash with Crystal Palace.
Howe was asked about Tonali’s struggles this season and he did not shy away from them.
He conceded that the midfielder was struggling to scale previous heights and claimed the coaching staff were working on how to get him back to his best.
“Yeah, I think that’s the key thing, I think the standards that he’s set,” he said.
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“Last season in particular, I thought he was magnificent and him returning to the team gave us almost like a new signing, a new energy boost.
“He built really good relationships with the players around him and I think he was really, really effective in lots of different dimensions of the game.
“I think this season, for whatever reason, I don’t think he’s quite hit those levels that he did the season before.
“We’re working with him to get him back to those levels. I think we’ve seen games where he’s performed really well and even within games, there’s been moments and periods of the game where he’s been absolutely at his best.
“But it’s that consistency level for him – as it is for the team – that we’re focusing on.”
Sandro Tonali’s decline at Newcastle United explained
It’s important to remember that Tonali has had some good games this season, so it’s not as if it’s all been bad.
Furthermore, Newcastle have struggled for consistency as a collective this season. Tonali is far from alone in that.
However, his statistics in some key areas are down this season.
Per WhoScored data, Tonali averaged more tackles (1.4 to 0.8), shots (1 to 0.7) and dribbles (0.6 to 0.5) per game last season.
While not an alarming drop off, the numbers prove that he’s suffering a slight dip.
There’s little doubt that Tonali is an excellent player and, hopefully, he soon returns to his best.
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