OPINION
It is safe to say that Newcastle United’s attack is looking rather bland at the moment.
Salomon Rondon was drafted into the club in the hope that he would provide another dimension to the lack of firepower at United, but those hopes have not really materialised so far.
Another summer recruit in the shape of Yoshinori Muto has hardly had a look in since his arrival – which is questionable seeming as Rafa Benitez’ current formula does not appear to be working.
Rondon especially is not receiving the sufficient service that he needs to really get him firing on all cylinders for the Magpies.
Benitez needs to switch things up a bit, and there is one player who he must call upon to allow him to do that.
That player is winger Jacob Murphy.
The Spaniard made a costly error to not even include the 23-year-old in the match day squad to face Crystal Palace on Saturday – he was not even on the bench.
It is needless to say that Benitez has paid the price for this mistake, as his players only managed to grind out a 0-0 stalemate with Palace at Selhurst Park.
There was no signs of a potent Newcastle attack, but the addition of the £25,000-a-week [Spotrac] man would have made that an entirely different story on Saturday.
United are in need of an injection of energy as well as a pair of fresh legs, and Murphy is just the player who can provide those attributes.
The likes of Rondon and Joselu need more balls played into them, and that is something that the young ace can deliver in order to ease their goal scoring burden.
Newcastle fans undoubtedly want to see goals galore – but unfortunately, at the moment, they are not getting good value for money when they attend matches.
More 0-0 draws will be the case more often if the issue is not addressed – and the inclusion of Murphy into the mix would be the ideal solution.
Benitez must recognise that he made a fatal error not including the attacker in his match day plans – but he can now redeem himself by handing Murphy a shot in their next clash with Leicester City.
