Moving Fabian Schar to midfield would be mistake

Add as preferred source on Google

Newcastle’s outstanding performer this season has been Fabian Schar, with the Swiss international the shining light in an otherwise dull opening to the season.

He has been in scintillating form, whether it has been for Newcastle or the Swiss national side, and has even been chipping in with goals for both.

Toon fans will hope his performance levels will remain for the foreseeable future, with him seemingly adding numbers to his valuation on a weekly basis.

But a report in the Daily Star today suggests that Steve Bruce may be considering switching him to a defensive midfield role at Leicester on Sunday, as he bids to shore up a midfield that was overrun for long periods against Brighton.

But are Newcastle really so hard up for decent midfielders that they would need to move their star man from the position he has looked world class in?

Jonjo Shelvey has, admittedly, been woeful in recent weeks, and as we wrote previously, his career on Tyneside looks very close to being over.

But surely if he wants to pack the midfield, he has the option of Ki Sung Yueng, or a hopefully fit again Sean Longstaff to bring in – possibly even both if he wanted to add an extra body.

Bruce will still want to play with three centre-backs

Presumably he would still want to stick with his three centre-backs, so would then have to draft in someone like Federico Fernandez, to replace Schar.

It makes little sense, when the current three are used to playing together now.

Arguably, if any of the central defenders were to be replaced, it should be Jamaal Lascelles, who has struggled in the last few games, and that would be due to form, not a positional change.

Moving the one outstanding player of the season will be a mistake, and one he should refrain from making.

With the attacking threat of Leicester’s Jamie Vardy, and Ayoze Perez playing with a point to prove, they need their best centre-backs to be on top of their game.

Moving Schar to midfield looks like a desperate move from a desperate manager who does not know what to do to halt the winless run, which fans will say they saw coming as soon as Bruce was appointed.