Sandro Tonali has been a bit of an enigma at Newcastle United, since he signed for over £50m in the summer of 2023.
He has been restricted to just the 24 appearances in all competitions for the club.
Making 18 appearances in the Premier League (including nine starts), three starts in the League Cup, plus three appearances in the Champions League (two starts and one off the bench).
Debates have been ongoing about where he actually fits in this Newcastle United team, what’s his best actual position and so on.
The betting ban certainly hasn’t helped, as he was unavailable for over ten months. Which obviously means that it has been more difficult for him to bed in as fast as might otherwise have been the case.
So where does (or doesn’t) he fit in with Newcastle United?
I’ve looked at his past record for both the Italy national team and AC Milan.
Neither Italy nor AC Milan are set up to play like Newcastle.
Italy play 3-5-2 or 3-4-2-1, which is completely different to 4-3-3.
AC Milan played 4-2-3-1 and also 3-4-3 on a fair few occasions, again it’s a different shape.
So I’ve looked at where he’s played on the whole and where I think he’s been at his best.
For Italy he’s played most his football in LCM (left centre midfield, whilst for AC Milan he either played at the base as one of two midfielders, again left, or he played slightly further forward in the 3-4-3, again predominantly in LCM.
He did play RCM (right centre midfield) on occasions but not often.
So I’d say he’s most comfortable sat at the base which I think is his best position, or secondary he can play left centre midfield to a greater effect than right central midfield.
He’s started 14 times altogether for Newcastle United, not a lot of starts, but I have struggled to really see too many strong performances from him.
To be fair to him though, I think he’s been played slightly out of position to accommodate others more than he’s been given an opportunity to be played to his strengths. I think he has to play where Bruno Guimaraes plays if you want to get better impact from Sandro Tonali on a more regular basis.
The three games he’s actually started in that position I would say have been where he’s been at his best on the whole for the club. The two cup games in particular against Nottingham Forest and Chelsea spring to mind. The other occasion was again in the cup against Man City last season.
Not many games at LCM but he played there against PSG in that 4-1, plus on his return to the San Siro for the goalless draw against his old club AC Milan.
Most of the time he has been deployed at RCM where Sean Longstaff predominantly plays.
I’m not having a dig at Sandro Tonali but I odn’t think he’s a good RCM. Aside from the Villa game on his debut, he’s been fairly ordinary there on the whole.
Sandro Tonali Goal Newcastle United
I have always said that in my opinion it doesn’t work playing a midfield three of Bruno, Joelinton and Tonali. Not any individual’s fault, just a bad balance.
I think that if Sandro Tonali is going to start, then he’s either got to sit at the base, or go LCM (left centre midfield).
People don’t want to accept that though because it would mean one of Bruno or Joelinton would have to be moved or left out.
They are important players, both of them, but the most important thing is finding the right balance and I don’t think that comes about by trying to squeeze Sandro Tonali in out of position, so he and others can all start games.
That’s doesn’t help anybody.
We have the same problem further up the field with Harvey Barnes and Anthony Gordon, to start both, one has to play out of position to accommodate the other, but it’s not the answer for the good of the team.
We have more players that are better on the left than the right, I think Sandro Tonali is yet another one.
Playing ‘Football Manager’ just to play your best individuals in the starting eleven, simply doesn’t work in the real world, on the whole.
So if you want a better Sandro Tonali, then you either play him instead of Bruno at the base, or you play him instead of Joelinton.