OPINION
Newcastle United secured an important 1-0 win over Huddersfield Town on Saturday and several players proved their worth by battling their way to that victory.
Yet while a lot of praise will be draped on forward Salomon Rondon after he scored the winning goal, one player who usually finds himself criticised rather than adored deserves the spotlight.
The player in question is none other that Spanish full-back Javier Manquillo.
The 24-year-old is seen as the first-choice backup when it comes to the position of right-back and left-back, yet when he features fans seem to end up biting their nails as he is usually a liability.
This has continued to be the case in the majority of his six outings, ahead of the clash with the Terriers, this season but on Saturday he defied the odds to submit a display that was easily his best one yet for the club.
Manquillo has played grand total of 30 times for the Magpies in his career and it’s hard to pick out one of his performances to look at for the right reasons.
Sometimes he offers nothing going forward and other times he makes careless mistakes at the back that get punished.
However against the Terriers he looked comfortable when doing his defensive duties, got better as the game progressed and even looked like a threat on the flank which ended up seeing him supply the cross for Rondon to convert.
While Manquillo still has a long way to go before being able to win over Magpies supporters, as one performance won’t change their overall opinion, he has proven he has the quality to play a part.
The question is now whether the 24-year-old can build on that display in order to turn his Magpies career around for the better.
