George Caulkin has been speaking on Pod on the Tyne about how Allan Saint-Maximin irritated him during Newcastle United’s defeat last week.
Newcastle United finally saw their amazing unbeaten run come to an end when Eddie Howe’s side fell to an unfortunate 1-0 defeat at the home of Chelsea after two contentious VAR decisions went against them.
Should Saint-Maximin start tonight?
Yes!
No!
The last few results prior to the Chelsea defeat were made to look even more impressive as Newcastle did it without their star winger Allan Saint-Maximin who had missed three out of the last four games, but his cameo appearance ace didn’t impress everyone.
Caulkin reveals he was left annoyed by Saint-Maximin and his lack of effort at Stamford Bridge.
(29:12) “Newcastle pressing in the way they did against Chelsea that caused them problems and caused Chelsea to give the ball away, Chelsea looked nervous and Newcastle needed that same level of impetus and energy when Saint-Maximin came on for Almiron on and they didn’t get it.
“I was irritated with that on the day, we know what he can do with the ball at his feet, he’s sensational, he can do the unexpected and he’s Newcastle’s game-changer.
“We love him to bits but they needed him to put a shift in at that point and the energy level dropped when he came on because he wasn’t able or was unwilling to do the same thing that Almiron did.”
TIF Thoughts on Saint-Maximin…
While the French winger is having the best season of his career in front of goal with five goals and three assists and has completed 60.8% of his dribbles having attempted 171, the fact he’s got a pass completion of 71.2% (FBRef), ranking him in the bottom 10 of the squad highlighting how he can be so frustrating after doing all the skills and tricks, he struggles with the simpler side of the game.
Before Newcastle’s impressive run of form and when they were sat in the bottom three, playing a game without Saint-Maximin would have struck fear into the hearts of the Geordie faithful, however the form of Ryan Fraser and Howe’s trust in Jacob Murphy has proved that they are now no longer relying solely on Saint-Maximin.
In other news: ‘People might not like that’ – Journalist claims ‘fantastic’ 26 y/o is finished at Newcastle