OPINION
Rafa Benitez cannot afford to play favourites at Newcastle United with them looking more and more likely to be heavily involved in the Premier League’s relegation battle.
This means that even club captain Jamaal Lascelles should be fearing the axe regardless of his status at the club or because last season he was one of the Magpies’ must reliable performers.
While the centre-back, who earns £70,000-a-week since penning a new deal in November (Source: Daily Mail) has previously repaid Benitez’s immense faith in him, the Magpies boss must ruthlessly axe the player if his woeful form continues against Watford on Saturday.
Lascelles has looked like being a liability at the back in his recent outings, especially in his side’s 4-0 defeat to Liverpool, and with Fabian Schar lurking in the shadows ready to take his place, Benitez can afford to bin the Magpies captain from his team for a notable period.
It says a lot that 25-year-old’s best performance in recent weeks was in the 1-0 victory over Huddesfield Town as even that display saw the defender hand Benitez a red flag that should have made him take note.
At one point during the game with the Terriers, Lascelles needlessly and recklessly slid in on Laurent Depoitre with it quite surprising that a red card wasn’t issued for the tackle.
If the Magpies had been reduced to 10-men during that game then they may have dropped vital points and it could have proven to be costly in the relegation battle.
While Lascelles got away with it on that occasion, his decision to make such a tackle showed that he isn’t at his best as he is no longer the reliable defender Benitez needs to him to be.
Given that every Magpies defender struggled against the Reds on boxing day, Benitez should hand his captain one more chance to save himself from the axe against Watford and if he fails to impress then he should have no choice but ruthlessly drop him.
