Chris Waugh has been speaking on the latest episode of Pod on the Tyne about the concerns he has over Newcastle United winger Allan Saint-Maximin.
Newcastle managed to sign their maverick Frenchman from Nice back in the summer of 2019, and he has not disappointed with his ability and willingness to dribble and get the team up the pitch, having racked up a massive 9,401 yards progressed forward with the ball since he arrived on Tyneside.
Will Newcastle get relegated?
Yes!
No!
Now though, being in his third season with the club, it makes sense that defenders and managers may have begun to work him out and look to deploy at least two defenders on him whenever possible to nullify his output.
When something like this does happen and things aren’t going his way offensively, the winger will have to help out in other ways by potentially putting in the hard yards in his own defensive third, but that doesn’t appear to be the case, as he has only won four tackles all season, with just two of them coming in his own defensive third (as per FBRef). Therefore, his unwillingness to track back could be a downfall, especially with the Magpies struggling defensively this season.
Waugh believes that something isn’t quite right with Saint-Maximin at the moment.
He said: “There was also a couple of incidents where you just watch Saint-Maximin just basically give up after about three seconds of trying to track his man.
“So when Saint-Maximin is actually playing – I know it was a 4-2-3-1 almost for parts of the game, but he was essentially meant to cover the left-back and he really wasn’t.
“So both offensively and defensively, I think there’s issues with Saint-Maximin there at the moment; he doesn’t quite look right.”
TIF Thoughts on Saint-Maximin…
To have someone such as Saint-Maximin, who attempts more dribbles than anyone else in the Premier League (FBRef), is a total luxury and something that gets fans excited, however, luxury is not what Newcastle need right now as they can’t afford to be carrying anyone in their precarious position.
With players such as Jacob Murphy and Ryan Fraser waiting in the wings for a consistent run of games under Eddie Howe and having shown their versatility and willingness to play in more defensive roles as wing-backs, that could potentially see Saint-Maximin relegated to the bench in some games when Howe needs everyone to be working and tracking back for 90 minutes, and then look to unleash their French winger against teams they may be more expected to win and dominate.
In other news: ‘That’s not on’ – Newcastle star slammed after what he did v Leicester