Newcastle United legend Malcolm MacDonald has heaped massive criticism on the club goalkeeper Rob Elliot for his performance against Manchester United last weekend.
The 31-year-old played the full 90 minutes at Old Trafford last Saturday but he endured a tough afternoon as the hosts come away with a 4-1 victory despite the Magpies opening the scoring through Dwight Gayle.
The result meant that Rafa Benitez’s side currently lie in 12th position in the league table and they are now only four points above the relegation zone following West Ham United’s draw against Leicester City on Friday evening.
Elliot has been the first-choice goalkeeper for the Tyneside club this season, featuring in every single minute of the Premier League and keeping three clean sheets in the process.
However, club icon MacDonald was extremely critical of the shot-stopper’s Premier League display last weekend and stated that he was at fault for the loss.
“I wouldn’t blame those outfield players trying to fend off two crosses, one from either side,” he wrote in the Chronicle.
“I would be looking at the goalkeeper because it was Elliot’s ball on each occasion.
“He ought to have come, cleaned out the attacker, and punched clear. Instead he stood with his heels on the line and did nothing.
“I’ve been a big fan of Elliot and paid him lots of compliments but I felt he was to blame for the match completely changing and going beyond Newcastle who had done extremely well until then.
“Elliot needs to have been made aware of his fault and then geed up to revert to better standards against Watford.”
OPINION
Although Elliot might have felt that he could have done much more to prevent a few of the goals, it is extremely harsh of MacDonald to heap the entire defeat on the goalkeeper. Newcastle started the match in superb fashion and they were very unfortunate not to find themselves with a much bigger lead. At the end of the day, Jose Mourinho’s men reacted very well and it was arguably their best performance at home this season. United dominated Newcastle in the second-half and Rafa Benitez’s side certainly lost their shape and this is why the whole team needs to take a hard look at themselves instead of the blame being shifted on one single player.