OPINION
All of the Newcastle United substitutes seemed to be singing from the same hymn sheet after the impact they had on Saturday.
Ayoze Perez netted the only goal of the game when he came on for Yoshinori Muto, Ki Sung-Yueng transformed United’s attacking prowess when he replaced Jonjo Shelvey, and Fabian Schar looked like he had been in the team for years when he replaced Jamaal Lascelles.
Yes, these substitutes were forced ones made by Benitez, but they have really given him something to think about ahead of their next clash with Bournemouth.
When was the last time Newcastle fans were spoilt for choice in terms of centre-back options? Benitez now has – when he returns from injury – Florian Lejeune, Jamaal Lascelles, Federico Fernandez, Ciaran Clark and Fabian Schar at his disposal.
You get supporters moaning about lack of quality in some areas of the field, but the central defence certainly is not one of them.
If anything, Benitez now faces his biggest dilemma of the season – who should he pick as his ideal central defensive partnership?
Sometimes he may feel like he has to pick Lascelles, but after the performance of Schar left fans in awe, it is evident that there is no point in trying to fix something that is not broke.
The team won after all, so who is Benitez to suddenly change a winning formula?
It is clear that the rarely-seen ace deserves to keep his place in the first team after this encounter, after all, there were a number of times he kept Newcastle in the game duo to his no-nonsense defending.
One thing we can conclude from this is that Benitez is going to have a pretty tough time nailing down his preferred defensive partnership, but he would rather do that than be struggling to find cover.
Over to you, Rafa.
