Tony Cascarino was not impressed in the slightest with Newcastle United striker Joselu’s performance against Watford on Saturday.
The Magpies fell to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of the Hornets in the fourth round of the FA Cup, and Cascarino labelled the player as “the least mobile centre forward in the country” following his display.
He added that the lack of depth in the Magpies starting XI – which had 11 changes made to it – was astonishing, something which was particularly defined by the fact that the 28-year-old was on the pitch from the first minute.
“Joselu is the least mobile centre forward in the country and just highlights how little depth this Newcastle United squad has. He is like me when I was 37 or 38,” he said in his Times column.
“The Spanish striker, 28, was poor again in their 2-0 defeat against Watford, who made 11 changes to their starting line-up. You know you’re in trouble when your opponents name a second-string team and you still can’t get near them.
“The lack of quality in Rafa Benítez’s squad is mind-boggling and you have got to feel sorry for those 50,000 supporters who turn up to St James’ Park week in, week out to watch their team lose.”
OPINION
Cascarino is absolutely spot on in his fierce attack on Joselu here. The attacker has not been effective in the slightest this season, and it remains to be seen why Rafa Benitez chooses to keep him at the club. He has not shown any signs of improvement over the course of the campaign, and this is something that the fans are no doubt getting rather impatient with. He dubbed the striker as the “least mobile” in England, and this was particularly evident in his woeful display against Watford. How can a forward have so little impact on a game time after time? It definitely speaks volumes about how he is not at the standard required for the Premier League anymore – or the Championship, for that matter. Benitez knows that he cannot get a high-quality talisman any time soon, which is why he continues to place his faith in the out-of-sorts player.