Newcastle United would not recover from selling Alexander Isak to a Liverpool side that look like they have the Premier League wrapped up.
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Newcastle heading for relegation trouble?
You’d have to be insane to think that selling Isak to Liverpool would end positively for Newcastle. In fact I’d go so far as to say that if Newcastle sold him right now, they could be in relegation trouble next year.
They have no back-up striker. None, zip. Wilson can’t stay fit even when he isn’t playing, and was a last resort to get him to sign a new contract. Osula is fun but not a back-up for a team in the CL and who need to aim for the top 4/5 in the league.
Transfer wise, Howe’s approach is backfiring badly. He focuses on too few players he really wants. This was fine when no-one knew how the newly minted Newcastle would play the market – they went for good, well scouted players, who generally were not on the big club radar (Isak is a prime example). Now they are being pipped to each of their top targets by bigger fish who pay higher wages, and they have no back-up options. Newcastle always struggle with convincing players to live up there, competing against North West and London clubs is incredibly tough. Newcastle could have all the money in the world right now and still struggle to get sufficient quality to replace Isak.
Newcastle’s squad is IMO weaker than the last time they played in Europe. If the benchmark is to have at least 2 players per position, Newcastle are way short at striker, for all three midfield positions, right wing, left back and CB, with their best players in defence (Botman, Hall) having terrible injury records. The fixture schedule last time shredded the squad completely, and they have even less depth now. Take Isak out and you have very little scoring potential in that team, and lose just one of Tonali, Bruno and Joelinton and it’s hard to see how we can compete in the top half, let alone top 5.
The parsimonious strategy of the last couple of years is not paying off. Even with money, Newcastle are being too slow and too fixated on too small a pool of targets.
Even if we got some sort of ‘marquis’ signing like Grealish or Rashford, this would be a PR exercise and not a serious attempt to improve the squad. They would be a bauble but not proof of a strategy to keep us at the top end of things. Villa did well in the CL, signed players in January which was a gamble, but still ended up missing out on the CL places. Unless you are a big six club protected by PSR, it’s nearly impossible to have the squad depth to stay in the top 5, so why hasn’t the money been spread around on affordable prospects?
It sounds like knee jerk panicking and no-one would be happier than me to be completely wrong, but if you really think hard about it Newcastle are walking a tightrope. They have assembled a top class first XI no doubt about it, with a small amount of quality backups in a couple of positions, but have relied on overcoaching mediocre players to peaks that cannot be repeated each season, and had a limited schedule given the lack of European football last season.
There has to be some kind of breakthrough in the next couple of weeks otherwise it would be the most Newcastle thing in the world for their best ever season to be followed by their worst, and we’ll be back again being the laughing stock, soap opera club of the dark past.
James, Leeds
READ: Newcastle holding themselves back with ridiculous seven-word transfer stance
Liverpool have been resting since AprilReading your editorial, rightly suggesting the 25/26 title isn’t in the bag for Liverpool, a thought struck me. What differentiates Liverpool’s chances is not their summer business, as impressive as it is, it is the impact of last season.
Normally teams are battling hard through to the end of May to win the title. By the time they lift the trophy they are mentally and physically exhausted. If they are lucky, they then have a few cup finals and an international tournament to contend with. By the start of the next season they are not fully recovered, and after a bright start to the season, start to flag.
Liverpool may have steered clear of this. They managed to win the league in a year without the Euros or World Cup, and didn’t qualify for the Club World Cup. More importantly, they were on holiday in April (both metaphorically and literally) – it feels like a long time since they had a competitive game. The relief for the players must be immense.
For the avoidance of doubt, I’m not saying Liverpool will win the league, absolutely not. But they given themselves a better chance of retaining the trophy than any of the other recent winners.
Rob
Trying not to be giddy but…The volume of people who’d regularly write in to the Mailbox laughing at how poorly TAA defended in game X and Y was always noticeable. It happened in the press too. TAA was unique and eventually will get his flowers for what he did for/with the club, but that’s an email for another day. We’ve now found a right back who is as good going forward as he is going backwards.
Szoboszlai is routinely questioned about his goals and assists outputs, i.e. he doesn’t do enough of either. I don’t think that’s what his sole purpose in the squad is, and it is clear when he is absent. That being said, we’ve now added Wirtz who has demonstrated for the last few seasons he has an eye for both, and is incredibly effective in that position.
Andy Robertson had a couple of brainfarts throughout the season. He has been an excellent player for the club and absolutely still has a role. However, we are bringing in Kerkez who will bring new energy and exuberance as a result.
There is more work to be done but this is clearly the work of Champions trying to establish their position as the top club in the land. I can see what people are getting excited and (to a degree) carried away.
If we can add a striker who can score regularly to the above, then I do think we are in a very strong position to retain the title. I don’t assume it will happen, I just see a squad that was head and shoulders above, improve. Those players will need time to gel etc and 100% there will be bumps along the way.
The Mailbox is going to be flooded with over the top emails, and emails down playing us too. I think being level headed, before a ball has been kicked in anger, is the only way to navigate the window until we kick off at Bournemouth.
Barry (Perth)
Why no fuss about this World Cup?
With less than a year until the next World Cup, the Club World Cup is highlighting a lot of the issues I’ve had ahead of the tournament. I’ve been out to the past three World Cups (If you’ve not been to one, do try – watching football with people from all over the world is amazing, no matter where it is) and ahead of next year lots of people have said “oh I fancy going to that one”, to which my long-standing reply has been “I think it’ll be rubbish, but I’ll still go”.
The issues I have are very similar to with Qatar. The heat is going to be a massive issue, as we’re seeing with ethe CWC. Games in the South of the US or Mexico could be played in high 30s – the football will be slow and turgid as a result. At least Qatar had AC in the stadiums!
The host (asides from Mexico) doesn’t like football. I know the game is growing, but look at how empty these stadiums are. I know the games are sometimes in the middle of the day, but when do people expect world cup games to be played? Yes, FIFA priced it too high, but it’s added to the worries that the world cup is in a country that doesn’t care enough.
The host (again, the US), is politically questionable. This isn’t about Trump, but the US has literally just bombed one of the countries that have already qualified. That’s going to make the tournament massively overshadowed by the politics.
The distances. The problem is that the tournament is just far too spread out to make it enjoyable as a fan. Qatar, for all of the issues, was logistically excellent – and with fans all in one place it worked quite well. In Russia, most fans based themselves in Moscow or St Petersburg and tripped out to the games – and so the atmosphere in these cities was great. In Brazil, same thing with Rio, to an extent. But this world cup? New York? Maybe. But it’s so spread out, I’m not sure you’ll get that “world in one place vibe”.
The cost. This World Cup is going to be eye wateringly expensive. The $13 you paid for a beer in Qatar in a hotel is going to look like a steal. It’ll surely be $20 for a Budweiser in the stadiums/fan zones. Tickets will be astronomical and accommodation and flights, too.
All in all, it worries me as a fan. I think it’ll miss what makes World Cups great to go to. The football could be atrocious and to make it worse, England look miles off it.
James, NUFC
READ: How the 48-team 2026 World Cup works: 104 games, 39 days, 16 venues, three host nations
We need to talk about football finance
It never ceases to amaze me that you guys don’t pay much attention to football finance. Other than what happens on the pitch, no other topic is more important to football than football finance.
At least 90% of all the football clubs (including English Premier League cubs) are in an uncomfortable financial position.
Everyone seems to wait for Arab Sheiks to come to their rescue, but there aren’t enough Arab Sheiks to buy all of English football. Maybe, there aren’t enough people who can talk about football finance in an intelligent, enlightening and informative way.
However, trying to avoid the topic altogether, places a vast majority of football clubs in a more precarious financial situation.
I know that we can open new avenues for financing some of the clubs (obviously, not all football clubs) but you have to start talking a lot about the issue of football finance, before those new ideas can begin to gain some momentum. and subsequently achieve the desired results.
Victor Onwudiwe