OPINION
Newcastle United are in a dire situation in the Premier League at the moment and boss Rafa Benitez desperately needs to shake things up.
However, that does not look likely to be happening any time soon if Benitez’ latest remarks on Joselu are anything to go by.
Yes, he has scored a couple of goals this season, but apart from that, he has really struggled to find his scoring boots in recent clashes.
“You can see the workrate of Joselu in every single game is good. And he has scored some goals, too. ‘Well he has to be in the box.’ Yeah, but we need to defend, because if not we cannot regain the ball. So I think he’s one of the players who works harder than anyone,” Benitez told the Chronicle.
“You can say: ‘Oh, the strikers they have to score goals.’ Yeah, fine, but you have to take everything in context. I believe he’s a good player for us, he is giving everything, and that’s it.”
It is rather bizarre that Benitez has made these comments – yes it is a priority to defend and gain possession of the ball, but then it is as equally important to score goals, something which Joselu is not currently doing.
What is the point in going out onto the pitch to just defend? It makes no sense whatsoever. Joselu needs to be netting more goals – end of story.
That is the job that he is being paid to do, and for some reason, Benitez is allowing him to continue his goal drought in favour of a more defensive approach to games.
The more he does that, the more likely United are going to end up with a bad result – and if they really want to turn their fortunes around, then they need to start finding the back of the net more often.
It is arguable that it is not the fault of the £40,000-a-week [Spotrac] star that he is not scoring goals – if anything, it is Benitez’ responsibility.
The manager needs to stop defending the forward and get him playing in the way that the fans know he is capable of doing before it is too late.
Now is not the time to say that his work rate is “good” or that he “works harder than anyone” – that may be the case, but it is goals that Newcastle need right now.
It is time for Benitez to stop making such bizarre comments and get Joselu up to scratch again.
