OPINION
Newcastle United midfielder Mohamed Diame once again failed to deliver the goods against Cardiff City and he has handed Rafa Benitez a no-brainer decision to make regarding his team selection for his side’s next game against Chelsea.
The 31-year-old midfielder has been a regular member of Benitez’s side since the second half of the 2017/18 campaign when his form hit an all-time high for the club as he started dominating the midfield battle for the Magpies in his outings.
However ahead of his form dramatically improving at the start of 2018, Diame wasn’t regularly selected as he consistently put in woeful displays that kept him rooted to the bench.
While it would have been hoped that Diame would keep his end of season form going into his 2018/19 campaign, clearly he is once again struggling to do well in the Premier League for the Magpies.
The powerful midfielder was disappointing during his side’s Premier League opener against Tottenham despite several of his teammates excelling and was all over the place during his outing against Cardiff City on Saturday.
With Diame’s ideal replacement Ki Sung-yueng rooted on the bench for the Magpies’ first two league games of the season, it seems the midfielder’s ability to continue to struggle so far this season has handed Benitez a no-brainer decision to make.
Ki, who joined the club from summer, should swiftly take Diame’s place in the team against Chelsea as it’s likely that he’ll be able to submit a better performance than his teammates based on how well he did for Swansea City last season despite their woes.
The Magpies manager can’t afford to keep the faith in his usual choice especially with his side about to play a team likely to be competing for a top-four finish in the Premier League this season.
Therefore due to submitting another lacklustre performance Diame has handed Benitez an easy choice as he should be axed in favour of Ki playing against the Blues.
