OPINION
Newcastle United secured their second successive win over Bournemouth on Saturday, just when fans had finally got over their monumental victory last weekend.
United were by no means the dominant team for the majority of the match, and they were lucky that the Cherries did not put more past them in the first half.
However, they still managed to bag two goals courtesy of Salomon Rondon – his first two strikes for the club.
Rafa Benitez made some changes in the second half though, but it is safe to say that these players’ cameo appearances have given him even more of a selection headache for their game with Burnley after the international break.
One of those players is midfielder Christian Atsu – even though he only played just over ten minutes after replacing Mo Diame in the 80th minute, he contributed to this crucial win just as much as anybody else.
Now, Benitez will have to deliberate between starting the likes of Kenedy, Atsu and Diame – and based on the impressive display from the £30,000-a-week [Spotrac] star, it will be a very hard decision indeed.
Atsu has been kept out of the first team lately – his performances at the start of the season were poor – but he has made a real case for himself following the display against Bournemouth.
Benitez is facing a headache in defence, and he now faces the same with the midfield – and it will no doubt make fans start to think just who is needed in the January transfer window.
However, having selection headaches are a very positive sign following the crisis Newcastle were in up until last weekend – so it is certainly not something that Benitez should be moaning about.
Nevertheless, despite his short outing, Atsu has now surprisingly come into the forefront of the manager’s mind – and rightly so.