Gary Neville reveals Newcastle theory as Sky pundit debates top four battle with Man Utd & Spurs
Gary Neville has a theory as to why Newcastle United won't be able to maintain a top four push, believing our energy levels aren't sustainable and will 'fall away' over the second half of the season.
Speaking on the latest episode of The Overlap, the former Man United man claimed that we ‘can’t run any faster’ than we are currently doing and that we are currently ‘hanging on’ to that final Champions League spot.
It’s no secret that we play a very high energy and high pressing system, with Eddie Howe favouring players like Miguel Almiron and new signing Anthony Gordon who are willing to run themselves into the ground, and it has worked well so far.
But, in the second half of our 1-1 draw against West Ham, it felt like tiredness crept into our game. Let’s hope our lack of depth - particularly in midfield - doesn’t cause issues during the second half of the season.
With Man United on a great run of form and Tottenham starting to pick up points once again, it will certainly be a tough battle to maintain top four, but hopefully we can avoid any major injuries and make that final push to maintain our current position.
Here's what he had to say when speaking alongside Jamie Carragher:
"I just feel like Newcastle are absolutely full pelt all the time, 100mph, they can't run any faster than they're doing and I think they're hanging on.
"I just don't think that they'll be able to do that as the season goes on and I don't think that they'll finish in the top-four.
"I hope they do, I think it'll be unbelievable if they did and it'll be a new top-four but I think they'll fall away.
"I think Newcastle with the cup final coming up as well, United will be a problem for them as well but with the cup final coming up I just don't think they'll hang onto top-four."
You can watch the episode in full below, with the top four debate beginning around the 20-minute mark:
