Watchout Rafa – These Two Newcastle United Players Have Heavily Underperformed This Season

These Two Players Have Underperformed For Newcastle United This Season

Newcastle United suffered a setback in their Championship title hopes when they were beaten by Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday. Brighton & Hove Albion won their encounter over the weekend and managed to oust Rafael Benitez’s side from the top of the table. With only 5 games left to play, the margin of error is very less for the Magpies if they are to achieve promotion to the Premier League with a title finish.

Benitez arguably had the best squad in the English second-tier this season and that has allowed his team to come out on top on many occasions, despite not playing to the best of their abilities. The likes of Dwight Gayle, Matt Ritchie, and Jamaal Lascelles have been excellent for Newcastle this campaign, and have led Newcastle’s charge for promotion from the front.

However, there have been some members in the squad who haven’t been unable to deliver what was expected of them. Here we pick out two such players who have underperformed for Newcastle over the course of the season.

Yoan Gouffran

The Frenchman began the season on a great note and looked to be in fine form. Newcastle went unbeaten in Gouffran’s first 13 Championship appearances this season, in which he scored 3 goals and 3 assists.

However, Gouffran’s form has been on a huge nosedive ever since. He has found the back of the net on just 2 occasions since December last year and has set up only one goal. His ineffectiveness in the attacking third has forced Benitez to rely on loan signing Christian Atsu to provide them with impetus in the attacking third on the left-flank. 5 goals and 4 assists from 34 Championship appearances are much less than what was expected from a seasoned pro like Gouffran.

With his contract up at the end of the season, there have been no talks about a new deal, indicating that this might very well turn out to be his last year with the Tyneside club. And judging by his performances this year, Newcastle could do with a better player on the wings.

Jack Colback

The former Sunderland man was used regularly in the early parts of the season, but due to his lack of effectiveness and Isaac Hayden’s emergence, Colback was pushed out of the first-team picture. He was afforded a long run in the team once again at the turn of the year with Hayden out on the sidelines due to injury, but he failed to impress again.

The 27-year old doesn’t really get forward and help in attack, nor does he sit back and stop the opponents’ attacks by breaking up the play. More often than not, he ends up giving away needless fouls. He has made 25 appearances in the Championship this term with just one assist to show for and has accumulated 9 yellow cards.

With Hayden back again, Colback has been marginalised and it is not surprising to see that, considering the fact that the Englishman has severely underperformed.