OPINION
Newcastle United summer signing Fabian Schar has hardly been given a sniff of an opportunity at St James Park and really needs to ensure Rafa Benitez stops holding him back by not using him.
The 26-year-old centre-back has tasted only 79 minutes of Premier League action and has regularly found himself rooted to the bench or not a member of the matchday squad.
Due to this Schar has been unable to stake a strong claim for why he should be featuring in the first-team as it’s a mighty hard task for a defender to standout in training.
The 6ft 1in tall defender (Source: Transfermarkt) made a splash during the last international break as he shone against England when featuring for Switzerland.
Benitez is no doubt aware of this and while he didn’t hand Schar an opportunity upon returning from his recent international duty, he won’t ignore him if he shines once again for his nation.
The 26-year-old has been selected for the Switzerland squad for UEFA Nations League and is due to face Belgium as well as Iceland over the course of the next week.
Given that Belgium in particular have a whole host of world-class attacking talents to stop then Schar can grab the headlines and force Benitez to stop holding him back and actually play him upon returning.
However the defender has to snatch his international chance to impress as an average display won’t give the Magpies boss food for thought as he does have several capable centre-backs to consider.
Schar is more than capable of being a key member of the Magpies’ team but he needs to prove to Benitez that he is better than his current options and the only way he is going to do that in the near future is by shining for Switzerland.
