OPINION
St. James’ Park was a depressing place to be on Saturday as Leicester City eased to a 2-0 win over Newcastle United to pile the pressure on the winless Magpies.
Hopes had been raised among the Newcastle faithful before the game as they prepared for a home game against a beatable Foxes side, but those were quickly dashed by a dismal performance from Rafa Benitez’s men.
Newcastle were poor at both ends of the field on Saturday, with their attack failing to fire once again, while their defence could not handle a dangerous Leicester front line.
They are now preparing to face a wounded Manchester United side at Old Trafford this weekend, with the Red Devils looking to recover from their worst start in 29 years.
If they want to come away with a point or three then Benitez must tighten up his defence, with players like Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford sure to be in rampant mood as they look for a morale-boosting win.
One simple change he must make is to wield the axe on the hopeless Ciaran Clark, and hand a rare start to summer signing Fabian Schar.
The 26-year-old Switzerland international has played just twice for the Magpies since his £3million move from Deportivo La Coruna over the summer, and it is not exactly clear why.
Schar is a player who has shown his quality on countless occasions at previous clubs, for his country, and even for Newcastle in his two appearances this season.
Clark on the other hand has seemingly forgotten how to defend, and has looked an absolute shambles at the back for Newcastle so far this season.
Exactly why Clark deputised for the injured Federico Fernandez at the weekend is unknown, but Schar must be the one to come in against the Red Devils this Saturday.
The rarely-seen 6ft 1in enforcer [Transfermarkt] has the experience to deal with the United attack, and must finally be given a chance to nail down a first-team spot ahead of the international break.
