Shearer highlights one Newcastle weakness Howe must fix

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Alan Shearer has expressed his concern over Newcastle United’s midfield contingent.

Newcastle United were outclassed by Brighton and Hove Albion last time out in the Premier League.

Brighton cruised to a 3-1 win over Newcastle at the Amex Stadium, with all of their goals coming from an Evan Ferguson hat-trick.

However, it wasn’t just the teenage striker’s brilliance that won the match for Brighton. The Seagulls also dominated the midfield battle.

Eddie Howe will have been bitterly disappointed that his side surrendered control in the middle of the park so easily, especially as his midfield contingent had looked so impressive in the first few matches of this season.

Bruno Guimaraes is a quality player, Joelinton brings drive and power to that part of the pitch, and summer signing Sandro Tonali looked to have settled in quickly at St James’ Park. However, all three Newcastle midfielders were below par against Brighton.

Newcastle midfield woes

Newcastle legend Alan Shearer was particularly disappointed with this aspect of the Magpies’ defeat against the south coast club. Speaking to Premier League Productions, the former striker said he was “slightly concerned at the way the midfield folded in the last 20 minutes against Liverpool and how the midfield looked [against Brighton].”

“That was a big strength of theirs against Aston Villa when we highlighted Tonali, Bruno and Joelinton. For 90 minutes, it didn’t work today. That’s probably what they’re going to be looking at during the next two weeks because they’ve got three winnable games next. They’ve got to get back on track.”

Newcastle have Premier League fixtures against Brentford, Sheffield United, and Burnley coming up after the international break, with an EFL Cup tie against Manchester City and a Champions League clash with AC Milan all set to take place in September as well.

Whilst there will be plenty of excitement and focus on the Champions League, and interest in how Newcastle cope against Manchester City in a cup competition they made the final in last season, Howe will be desperate to get more points on the board in the Premier League.

Newcastle have only won one of their first four league matches so far this season, and they need to start racking up the victories. If they are to achieve this, Howe needs his first choice midfield trio to start turning in quality performances on a consistent basis.