Former Liverpool defender Dominic Matteo has issued a no-holds-barred assessment of Rafa Benitez’s Newcastle United side, and has suggested that they are not good enough to stay in the Premier League.
The Magpies were soundly beaten 4-0 by the Reds on Boxing Day, and now sit just five points clear of safety with Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City, and Tottenham all to player between now and the beginning of February.
Assessing the club’s survival hopes on LFC TV, as quoted in the Chronicle (16.06), Matteo said:”There’s not a lot of quality in the Newcastle team. The confidence is low enough.
“They are maybe a Championship squad at best. I know you’ve got to work with what you’ve got and you expect an experienced manager like Rafa Benitez to maybe get better out of them. But for me, not good enough all round and they definitely need a centre forward. They are crying out for a goalscorer, even when they get the opportunities they can’t take them.
“Go back to the crowds, the massive numbers they are getting through the door. They’ve always at least been watching good football, good attacking teams, creating chances and playing with a bit of passion.
“There’s no passion in that Newcastle team. OK, there will be a couple of lads – [Paul] Dummett local lad, [Jamaal] Lascelles the captain – having a go, but overall there’s not enough commitment for me, not enough desire to go and win a football game.”
OPINION
Unfortunately for Newcastle fans, Matteo is not far from the mark is his dreadful appraisal of their side. Admittedly it was a relatively second string lineup that got beaten so comprehensively by Jurgen Klopp’s men, but the reality of the situation is that even with a full strength eleven, and without the barrage of injuries they have had to endure, the Magpies look like they’re in trouble. Defensively they are far from perfect, although Benitez has managed to cobble together a fairly well organised unit, but going forward they offer very little, and that could be a real issue as the season progresses. Goals will keep you up, and Newcastle don’t score enough of them. If they do avoid the drop – and with the nightmarish run of fixtures they have on the horizon it could be a big if – then it will most likely be because there are three teams worse than them, and not down to their own merits.