Newcastle United have had limited options to mix things up for months now.
In a regular season, Eddie Howe would be able to turn to his bench or rotate his starting XI. But that has barely happened during the current campaign.
Newcastle started the season with a pretty deep squad, but it was quickly decimated by injuries. The biggest issue is in midfield, where Howe only has three fit options – Bruno Guimaraes, Sean Longstaff and Lewis Miley.
And while Miley has done very well, he is still only 17-years-old and is having to play far more than he should.
Joelinton and Sandro Tonali are out for the rest of the season, while it is unclear when Joe Willock and Elliot Anderson will return. As for the January transfer window, it came and went with no senior signings.
That is forcing Howe to be creative, and the Toon boss will be well aware that his midfield is too easy to play through at this moment in time. And now the Athletic’s George Caulkin has raised two potential solutions that Howe has been considering.
Eddie Howe thought about putting Fabian Schar in midfield
On the latest episode of Pod On The Tyne, Caulkin has been speaking about Howe considering alternative plans to mix things up amid the club’s injury issues.
“He had been toying in recent weeks with going to a back five in matches,” he said.
“We saw that happen at Villa.
“He had been toying with putting Fabian Schar in midfield at various points.
“It will be very interesting to see what happens next, because at the moment they are way too open.”
Fabian Schar in midfield is a risk not worth taking
Changing to a back five worked perfectly against Aston Villa. Tino Livramento came on to play on the left of defence, with Dan Burn shifting inside. It limited Villa’s ability to hurt Newcastle, as they looked to get back into the game. In the end, they did not and the Magpies won 3-1.
The other option Caulkin mentioned was putting Fabian Schar in midfield. Given how good the £3million man is on the ball, it is no surprise that Howe has considered this change. It is certainly something that some fans have been calling for amid Newcastle’s ongoing midfield issues.
But it would be a major risk, and is something that failed to work when Steve Bruce was manager at St James’ Park. He moved Schar higher up the pitch on at least three occasions during his tenure, with each game ending in defeat.
While Howe may have pondered it, it has not gone any further than that just yet. And with Willock hopefully close to a return, that should bring an end to the prospect of Schar moving into midfield.
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