Newcastle United defender Malick Thiaw has enjoyed a strong start to life in the Premier League after arriving from AC Milan.
Sunday brought another Newcastle United away-day defeat, as the Magpies lost 3-1 at West Ham United.
Newcastle took the lead but fell apart after Lucas Paqueta’s leveller for the Hammers.
Eddie Howe tweaked his side at the break, leading to Malick Thiaw moving over to right-back in a surprise switch.
Malick Thiaw in action for Newcastle United against Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
Shay Given on Newcastle United signing Malick Thiaw
Sandro Tonali even moved to right-back at one point, as Newcastle looked a little disjointed in the second half.
One thing we can now say is that Thiaw is not a right-back.
Thiaw joined Newcastle from AC Milan in August, and the German international has been outstanding at centre-back this season.
Howe seemingly felt that Thiaw could do a job at right-back against West Ham, but that was not the case.
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Before the game, former Magpies goalkeeper Shay Given told Sky Sports (02/11, 1:45pm) that he actually feels Thiaw’s arrival went ‘under the radar’.
Given suggested that Alexander Isak released his statement of intention to leave Newcastle on the same day as Thiaw’s arrival.
That isn’t quite accurate, as Thiaw joined Newcastle a week earlier, but the drama around Isak certainly threatened to overshadow the Thiaw deal.
Given praised Howe and the Newcastle coaching staff for helping Thiaw settle so quickly, suggesting that the defender looks like he has played in the Premier League for years.
“The day he signed was the day Isak said he wanted to leave the club,” said Given.
“It nearly went under the carpet, under the radar that they had signed a brilliant centre-half from Milan, and he’s settled into the club really well – I think that’s a credit to Eddie Howe and his staff, because he looks like he’s played in the Premier League for a number of years,” he added.
We don’t need to see Malick Thiaw at right-back again
We can understand Howe’s attempts to change Newcastle’s performance, and he certainly wanted to be more physically dominant in the second half.
Thiaw at right-back was an example of the physicality Howe wanted, but it just didn’t work in possession.
We certainly don’t need to see this experiment again, with Thiaw certainly at his best in the middle of defence.
Returns for Kieran Trippier and Valentino Livramento should rule out that prospect anyway, but Sunday was enough for us to see that Thiaw should not be shoved to right-back again.