OPINION
Newcastle United delivered a goalless draw with Premier League newbies Cardiff City on Saturday to register their first point of the season.
Midfielder Isaac Hayden was sent off for an unnecessary challenge 20 minutes after coming on as a substitute, while new signing Kenedy looked a shadow of the player we saw impress against Tottenham last week.
Here are three things we learned from United’s draw with Neil Warnock’s side:
Benitez must sort out Kenedy’s head
Kenedy appeared to kick out at Cardiff’s Victor Camarasa in the first half, running the risk of being charged for violent conduct. However, he was lucky to escape this ban – as reported by Sky Sports – with the Football Assosciation deeming the matter dealt with after a free kick was awarded. Benitez really needs to ensure that the Brazilian does not replicate this type of behaviour. Out through eligibility against Chelsea, Kenedy needs to address his mental state, for it ended up costing the club three points with his poor penalty.
Rondon must be started to ease goal drought
It is not hard to see that Newcastle are struggling for goals only two games in, with Joselu netting the only one in last weekend’s defeat to Spurs. It is a worrying sign that they could not muster up many chances against a newly-promoted club like Cardiff – a game that would should have been one of their easiest – and they must start Salomon Rondon to ease this temporary goal drought. Joselu may have netted already, but he has not delivered what has been expected of him, and Rondon is more than capable of rectifying this. Newcastle fans undoubtedly want more goals from their team, but the only way they are going to get that is if Benitez changes things up front. The £60,000-a-week star [Spotrac] is more of a goal threat than Joselu, and he must be started against Chelsea.
Kenedy needs to improve his away form
It is hard to understand why Kenedy’s form has dipped so much since the Tottenham match – everybody was full of praise for the midfielder last week, but he now looks like a shadow of the player he was then. Based on this showing, he needs to improve on his away form imminently or he will be a liability in the Newcastle midfield. Away form is incredibly important and he must be consistent in order to be a success at the club for another season. Losing points on the road is not an ideal scenario for Benitez, and he needs ensure that one of his star signings improves quickly. Kenedy is an extremely talented player, but he should not let the pressure of playing away get on top of him.
