OPINION
Newcastle United once again tasted the bitter sting of defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League on Saturday.
Rafael Benitez’s side’s wait for a league win continued at St James’ Park as the visitors ran out 1-0 winners courtesy of midfielder Beram Kayal’s deflected first half strike.
The Magpies pushed forward relentlessly following Brighton’s goal but did not have the ingenuity to break down Chris Hughton’s resolute Seagulls defence.
There weren’t many positives to take from the game for Newcastle but there were things to be learned. Nothing but Newcastle has identified three things supporters can take from the team’s defeat to Brighton.
Diame’s time as a starter is over
It was the same old story from the Senegal international in the middle of the Newcastle midfield. Once again the 31-year-old seemed out of sorts as he failed to make an impact defensively or offensively for his side.
At this point it’s fair to ask what exactly the 6ft Diame [Source: Transfermarkt] brings to this Magpies team? He’s sloppy in possession and too easily bypassed in the middle of the park.
Indeed, Ki Sung-yueng’s continued absence from the starting line up appears increasingly bizarre. It seems as if the former Swansea man’s career on Tyneside has been quickly consigned to the scrapheap without the player having been given a real chance. How Diame continues to make the team ahead of him is anyone’s guess.
Benitez needs to give his players fresh ideas
Newcastle looked out of ideas in the second half as they attempted to break down Brighton’s superb back four. Too often the ball was pushed out wide and crossed into the box with little chance of it finding the back of the net. Despite this being evident to everyone in attendance it was a tactic that the Magpies continually went back to.
Perhaps it’s down to the players to produce moments of magic, but Benitez clearly didn’t give his side enough of an idea of what they needed to do to break down Hughton’s side.
There was a real lack of creativity and ingenuity about this Newcastle performance and, ultimately, some of the blame for that has to go to the manager.
Perez out of sorts once again
Ayoze Perez is a talented player, we’ve seen that in the past, but the Spaniard is coasting at the moment. He has had a poor season and was below par again against the Seagulls.
There was hope that Newcastle fans would see the old Perez after he put in an improved performance alongside Yoshinori Muto against Manchester United, but clearly that wasn’t the case.
The 25-year-old needs to realise that he is on borrowed time on Tyneside. His performances haven’t been good enough for some time and he simply isn’t clinical enough. He missed a golden chance early on that would’ve completely changed this game.
