Newcastle United were absolutely dreadful on Saturday.
For all of the talk of Newcastle United qualifying for the Champions League this season, their performance at Manchester City looked like that of a Championship side.
Indeed, City thrashed Newcastle 4-0 and, frankly, Eddie Howe’s side were lucky to escape with that.
Omar Marmoush scored a first-half hat-trick before James McAtee added a late fourth on a day where Pep Guardiola’s struggling side were made to look back to their vintage best.
Losing at the home of the Premier League champions is by no means a disaster. Still, given the context of this season and City’s struggles, to have done so while playing that badly was alarming.
Not many Newcastle players showed up on Saturday but it was a difficult day for the full-backs in particular.
Newcastle United’s English midfielder #20 Lewis Hall (R) fights for the ball with Manchester City’s Brazilian midfielder #26 Savinho (C) during the…
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Lewis Hall told he looked “absolutely petrified” against Man City
Newcastle fans slammed Trippier’s performance at City, while Trippier was unhappy with the likes of Fabian Schar.
Lewis Hall was another to have been criticised.
Speaking to BBC Radio Five Live, pundit Chris Sutton talked of how easily Savinho found it against the England international.
“Lewis Hall is absolutely petrified of Savinho, isn’t he?” he said.
“That match-up was always going to have a big bearing on this game. Hall just cannot cope.”
Newcastle United star Lewis Hall has just been sent a brutal reminder
Hall has been absolutely brilliant for Newcastle this season, though this wasn’t his first off-game.
Indeed, Hall was also criticised for his performance during the defeat to Bournemouth back in January.
Now, to suggest a 20-year-old player cannot have a poor game is of course ridiculous. He’s been so good this season that there’s little reason to delve too deep into any potentially serious problems.
However, it’s a reminder that Newcastle still have work to do with Hall. His rapid rise this season has been fantastic to see but that doesn’t mean every single issue has been addressed.
Football is brutal at times. Now it’s time to respond.
