A number of Newcastle United supporters have turned to social media to slaughter the performance of Christian Atsu after playing his part in the defeat to Manchester United on Saturday.
The Magpies had taken a shock 2-0 lead at Old Trafford in the first half, Kenedy and Yoshinori Muto netting the visitors’ goals, but a second half turnaround was completed by a 90th minute winner from Alexis Sanchez to break the hearts of the Toon Army.
Despite being handed around 12 minutes of game time after being brought off from the bench, the Newcastle faithful were left apoplectic with the performance of 26-year-old Atsu, with many demanding he never features for the club again.
This is Futbol has gathered a selection of the supporters’ tweets:
Atsu biggest waste of space at NUFC
— Steven Ions (@ions316) October 6, 2018
Atsu has been an absolute abomination since coming on, yet again.
— NUFC360 (@NUFC360) October 6, 2018
As soon as Atsu chucked that simple pass away from Shelvey, I knew that was game over.
— Adam. (@AdamNUFC_) October 6, 2018
Atsu couldn't get in the Gateshead team and Perez how does he get a game . Sorry rafa just not good enough .
— Rob Watson (@whickhamrobbie) October 6, 2018
https://twitter.com/scottycoops84/status/1048640819731877888
Our biggest issue today showed in our lack of depth – Diame was wrecked in the 2nd half and made a few mistakes before the trip for Mata to score, Murphy had a poor one when he came on and Atsu was horrific when he came on, giving it away too many times. We weren't bad overall
— Nicknote (@JulioJamaica) October 6, 2018
https://twitter.com/BykerWall/status/1048639347317194752
https://twitter.com/gilesy1994/status/1048641745976799232
Atsu is pitiful
— Andrew M (@andym5588) October 6, 2018
Opinion
The Newcastle fans are right to be absolutely livid with their side after letting that two goal lead slip through their fingers, and quite frankly Atsu did more harm than good during his short cameo in the dying minutes of the clash. He looked lazy and thoughtless, and it was a combination of the two which allowed Manchester United to take advantage and snatch the three points away from the visitors’ grasp. He has suffered a mighty fall from grace since being a key part of their Championship winning campaign and it would be no surprise if this lacklustre display, where he was meant to inject some life and energy into the team during the final 10 minutes, seals his fate moving forward. Benitez might not have many other options out on the wings, but that does not make a straight swap the right decision. A defender could have bolstered the back line when it looked shaky enough. As for Atsu, a new signing could see him move to the top of the ‘for sale’ list.