Newcastle opened up the Premier League Asia Trophy today, and their line-up exposed the need for reinforcements to be made by new head-coach Steve Bruce between now and the start of the season.
Considered outcasts under Rafa Benitez, Jack Colback and Achraf Lazaar were both brought in from the cold to start the game, alongside last season’s loaned out Jacob Murphy.
The lack of strikers on the books is also laid-bare, with Yoshinori Muto the only striker in the side.
But it was Colback and Lazaar that raised most fans’ eyebrows, however, and Colback made a decent early start, with a great through ball that gave Muto an opportunity.
He followed that with a dangerous cross into the box, both within the first couple of minutes.
Lazaar had a quieter start, and his first real slice of the action was in the 12th minute, when he woefully over-hit a cross that landed yards away from anyone in a black and white shirt.
Lazaar, of course, will feel Bruce’s arrival will give him a big opportunity, having been under the manager while on loan at Hillsborough last season.
Having gone a goal behind, Lazaar again over-hit an attempted through-ball for Muto, as he continued to struggle to find his touch and have any impact on the game.
Colback and Lazaar did nothing to help themselves
But overall, in a first half where Newcastle were largely chasing shadows, as they found themselves behind, neither player did much to enhance their long-term prospects for the season.
The two early instances apart, Colback’s passing was almost always sideways or backwards, and Lazaar failed to complete many – if any – telling passes at all.
Of course, trailing 0-3 at the break, it was not just those two who were poor.
It promises to be a long second half, and that could be the mantle for the whoe upcoming season.
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