A lot of Newcastle United fans have reacted angrily to the latest suggestion in the Evening Chronicle of how the Toon can cope without Allan Saint-Maximin.
The Frenchman will be out until the beginning of January, and this season Newcastle have not won a match in which he hasn’t featured.
Will Newcastle be able to cope without Saint-Maximin?
Yes, they will find a way to win
No, they will struggle without him
The article believes that Newcastle should either use Christian Atsu or deploy a higher defensive line, and this has not gone down well with some Toon supporters.
Why do #nufc struggle so much without @asaintmaximin?
And is there anything they can do about it? | @DistanceCovered https://t.co/YNmvRtYA6X
— Mark Douglas (@MsiDouglas) December 18, 2019
Because they have literally nobody else capable of dribbling at pace in his area of the field?
— Matthew Warren (@Nom_Dahl_Warren) December 18, 2019
Is this a serious question?
— Two Rash Challenges Podcast (@rash_podcast) December 18, 2019
Very simple. Because he’s the only player they’ve got that can dribble past someone
— Frank Drebin (@FrankDr42855441) December 18, 2019
Because he’s the only person that looks to take on a man and drive the team forward, without him we’re sat in a defence shape terrified to move the ball forward and sit 10 yards too deep
— Dazza (@NUFC_DazzaD) December 18, 2019
Other Newcastle fans want to see their club buy another winger in January.
And yes, buy another winger ?
— Matthew Warren (@Nom_Dahl_Warren) December 18, 2019
if we could get another pacey dribbler similar to him I would be happy, it always makes teams fearful if someone can run at them with the ball
— jimmy kelly (@xskye69x) December 18, 2019
Buy more good players ??????????
— christian (@christiangrizz) December 18, 2019
What do we think?
Saint-Maximin has scored one goal and provided one assist this season, but the Magpies cannot win without him, and that is because of his ability to drive up the pitch or create something out of nothing.
Newcastle sit very deep and allow their opponents to have all of the ball, and then they rely on Saint-Maximin to spring them forward, and because he is lightning quick, this works, and it relieves pressure off the defence.
However, without the Frenchman, Steve Bruce has to come up with a new solution – as they cannot just wait for Saint-Maximin to return before they offer any attacking threat again.
The 22-year-old has made a brilliant impression on Tyneside, but his injury could spell disaster for Newcastle unless they can find a way to win without him.