It was a day to forget for everyone associated with Newcastle United on Sunday with a poor performance and a dismal defeat against local rivals Sunderland.
Despite all the hype before the game, it felt like Newcastle United barely even turned up for the clash at the Stadium of Light.
After losing on Sunday, do you think Newcastle United will finish higher than Sunderland this season?
They weren't particularly great, but they didn't need to be.
Almost every player, to a man, played poorly and didn’t look like they were even ready to do battle with Sunderland. Eddie Howe must take a lot of the blame for what happened on Wearside, having got his team selection and tactics all wrong.
But, the truth is, this game was already won and lost in the summer, with Sunderland’s transfer activity being far superior to Newcastle’s and setting them up for success this season.
Newcastle United’s recruitment has been poor
I think the prime example of this issue for Newcastle is embodied by Anthony Elanga. It was an odd choice for Howe to start Elanga anyway, but the player didn’t help himself with his display on Sunday.
He looked sluggish and overwhelmed, and the winger barely even had a successful touch of the ball, never mind a meaningful dribble or pass. Simply put, Elanga was wrong for this game. But in reality, he’s just wrong for Newcastle, full stop.
At Nottingham Forest, Elanga played in a counter-attacking team that liked to sit deep and then explode. With his pace, this was perfect for Elanga and it’s clear why clubs were interested in him.
Signing for Newcastle for £55m was always going to bring pressure, but it was a move that was doomed to fail anyway, as the Magpies play completely different football to the system that allowed Elanga to flourish at Forest.
He was part of a £243m summer spend for Newcastle, which included the positive signings of Nick Woltemade and Malick Thiaw, as well as the seemingly pointless acquisition of Jacob Ramsey. The jury is still out on Yoane Wissa, but you could argue that it’s already been a bad move considering his injury.
Yes, the departure of Alexander Isak skews everything for Newcastle. But, it’s impossible to say that the club didn’t spend money to try and fix that. The fact of the matter is they just did not spend it wisely.
There’s no point signing good players if they’re not the right players for the style of play and system used by Eddie Howe. That’s something Newcastle got very wrong this summer, while Sunderland did the opposite.
- READ MORE: Three ‘awful’ Newcastle players slammed by Alan Shearer after ‘rotten’ performance vs Sunderland
How Sunderland spent so wisely this summer
In contrast, Sunderland spent roughly £164m; close to £80m less than Newcastle. The Black Cats could have signed Woltemade for £65m and still had change left over for Granit Xhaka, who has arguably been the signing of the season.
The thing is, Sunderland signed the right players for Regis Le Bris. I know that is easy enough to say in hindsight, but a little bit of data analysis, scouting, and interrogative discussions between manager and recruitment team could have worked out most of Newcastle’s transfer errors this summer.
Anthony Elanga had a day to forget against Sunderland 😟 Would starting Jacob Murphy have changed things?!
Anthony Elanga has not convinced since joining Newcastle United. Anthony Elanga deserves more time to come good. Both of these things can be true at the same time.
On Sunday, the Sunderland players all looked hungry and passionate, which was a stark contrast to Newcastle’s players. The mentality wasn’t right from the off. Again, though, that’s because Sunderland found players this summer who were ready to come in and make a statement, while Newcastle’s expensive signings arguably have less to prove.
Xhaka is the antithesis of Anthony Elanga in many ways. The Swiss midfielder suits Sunderland’s system, he was a piece of the jigsaw the club needed in that he had experience and leadership qualities, and he matches the ethos of Sunderland to a tee.
This defeat will sting for Newcastle, but if they don’t get the January transfer window right, and especially next summer’s business spot on, this could end up being a regular occurrence.
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