This is how Newcastle should line-up next season
Considering our recent relegation, there are a lot of reasons for Newcastle fans to be cheerful ahead of next season: Rafa’s at the helm, apparently with money to spend, and we’re seemingly in no position to let first team players go on the cheap.
Inevitably some of the current crop will leave - players such as Sissoko, Janmaat, and Wijnaldum are expected to be among the main movers - but what’s left is enough to fill fans with a bit of confidence that we’ll make a decent fist of coming straight back up.
Discounting some of the more likely ones to depart from Tyneside, here’s how the team should line up for the coming Championship season. Obviously this doesn’t include any potential new signings that could come in before the end of the transfer window on 31st August.
Formation: 4-4-2
Goalkeeper: Karl Darlow
Chosen because he’s the more likely of the three current keepers to be fit at the start of the season, Darlow also deserves the nod for his displays towards the back end of the season. Given Krul’s contract situation - his deal runs out next summer - he could be one of the ones we move on in order to avoid losing him on a free next year.
Darlow has more than proven his worth as a Premier League keeper and deserves a decent run in the first team. He’s also got the benefit of a few years’ Championship experience with Forest. Elliot will be unlucky to lose his spot, but seeing as he’s not likely to be fit for the start of the season it’ll be difficult to shift Darlow once we get under way.
Left back: Massadio Haidara
If he’s fit, Haidara has to be first choice at left back. That’s an ‘if’ the size of Mike Ashley though given his injury record over the past few years. Haidara has been chosen over Dummett due to the fact he’s more comfortable on the ball and doesn’t try and boot it the length of the field every time he gets it, two pretty handy abilities. Dummett is a more than capable deputy though.
Central defence: Jamaal Lascelles
Lascelles got a lot of praise for his performances towards the end of the season, when he was brought in out of necessity having barely featured since moving from Nottingham Forest. Worryingly he’s likely to be the club’s oldest centre-half season if the expected departure of club captain Fabricio Coloccini goes through. At 22, that’s a lot of expectation to carry on your shoulders. Unlike the rest of the defence though he does have experience of playing in the division which is a reassurance. Plus his partnership with Mbemba means these two are likely to be our first choice no matter who comes in over the summer.
Central defence: Chancel Mbemba
Mobile and with an uncanny ability to tackle oncoming players by simply standing on the ball, Mbemba has emerged as one of the club’s best signings over the past few seasons. Not that he exactly had much competition, but he was arguably the club’s best performing outfield player last year as well. He only committed 21 fouls during his 33 appearances, which is impressive for a defender, as well as leading the club’s interception stats with 96 across those games. Fingers crossed we can keep hold of him as several foreign clubs are rumoured to be sniffing around.
Right back: Kevin Mbabu
As current first choice right back Janmaat is rumoured to be on his way out this summer Mbabu makes the cut as again he’s more likely to be here once the season kicks off. That’s no bad thing though if his five first team appearances are anything to go by. Having shackled Chelsea’s Pedro on his debut despite playing on the left, he then put in several committed displays before succumbing to injury. Again there are questions around about whether or not he’ll manage to stay fit long enough to have a run in the team.
Click '2' to view which midfielders we believe should line-up for Newcastle next season
Left midfield: Rolando Aarons
A direct player with bags of pace, if we can keep Aarons fit for the final year of his contract then he could take the league by storm. After announcing his arrival in the Premier League in the season before last with a goal against Crystal Palace, Aarons struggled to make an impression until the final day of the season just gone when he scored against Spurs. He’s shown in his handful of games so far that he’s got the ability, he just needs to be out there for long enough to make a difference.
Central midfield: Jonjo Shelvey
The player about to become the Championship’s highest paid player ever, the £80,000 a week man needs to step up to prove he’s worth the £12m paid for him six months ago. The league isn’t an unknown quantity as he featured there for Charlton at the start of his career as well as on loan at Blackpool a few seasons ago, and it’s experience that our midfield desperately needs. He’s been chosen over the other options purely because he has the ability to pick out the killer pass our strikers desperately need - even if he’s only shown it fleetingly so far.
Central midfield: Henri Saivet
The forgotten man signed at the same time as Shelvey, Saivet’s had a bit of a rough start to his Newcastle career. It doesn’t seem to be a popular opinion that the lad looks like a decent signing, and he seems to have been unfairly dropped following the 3-0 defeat to Everton at Goodison Park in which he barely put a foot wrong (despite being subbed off on the 50th minute he won more tackles and recovered the ball more times than any of his teammates, as well as completing the third highest number of passes for the team). Rafa didn’t seem to rate him and he didn’t feature again following the Everton defeat, but he definitely deserves the chance to make the central midfield spot his own.
Right midfield: Andros Townsend
The former Spurs man didn’t exactly set hearts racing when his signing was announced, and his old club probably couldn’t believe they’d convinced someone to shell out as much as Newcastle did, but he quickly showed a level of consistency and effort the team desperately needed. He’s already scored more for us than he did during his entire Spurs career, and narrowly missed out on a place in the England squad as a result. There probably won’t be many who wouldn’t want to see him stick around and continue the form he’s shown under Rafa so far.
Click '3' to view which strikers we believe should line-up for Newcastle next season
Centre forward: Ayoze Perez
One of the most gifted and exciting players to have been signed by the club in recent years, if Perez is still here then next season has to be his chance to hold down a regular place in the starting line-up. He’s good on the ball, can hold it up better than you’d expect given his size, and is able to get decent shots off from any position. Playing him on the wing is a waste, as is featuring him as a lone striker, so pairing him with a man who can take the burden off him and also flick it forward for him to latch on to seems like a no brainer.
Centre forward: Aleksandar Mitrovic
The other half of what could become a classic little and large partnership. At times frustrating due to the number of chances that he’s spurned, you can’t doubt his commitment to the cause and his ability to win the ball in the air and hold it up. He’s also shown a good touch on the rare occasion anyone is up with him in support. Worryingly though he conceded more fouls (50) than anyone else during the course of last season, and he’ll miss the first four games due to his red card against Spurs (his second of the season). For a man deemed to be aggressive he does well not to rise to a lot of the goading he gets from defenders, but needs to work some of the more reckless challenges. That said, his physicality could be a bit of a bonus in the more competitive Championship.
