Pundit Tony Cascarino has labelled Newcastle striker Joselu ‘the least mobile centre forward in the country’ after their FA Cup defeat by Watford at the weekend.
The Magpies fell to a 2-0 loss to the Hornets at St. James’ Park after a really poor display, with Joselu being one of several fringe players failing to take their chance.
Cascarino has now delivered a scathing verdict on the 28-year-old’s performance against Watford and explained that his presence in the starting XI illustrated the ‘mind-boggling’ lack of depth in the Magpies squad.
In a column for The Times, he said: “Joselu is the least mobile centre forward in the country and just highlights how little depth this Newcastle United squad has. He is like me when I was 37 or 38. The Spanish striker, 28, was poor again in their 2-0 defeat against Watford, who made 11 changes to their starting line-up.
“You know you’re in trouble when your opponents name a second-string team and you still can’t get near them. The lack of quality in Rafa Benítez’s squad is mind-boggling and you have got to feel sorry for those 50,000 supporters who turn up to St James’ Park week in, week out to watch their team lose.”
OPINION
This is quite a harsh assessment of Joselu’s talents by Cascarino, but the harsh reality of the situation is that he is one of many players in the Newcastle squad who is simply not good enough. Pundits may question manager Rafa Benitez for complaining about the squad at his disposal so much, but there is a reason he does so. He has not been given the tools to survive as easily as he could do in the Premier League, and is doing the best he can possibly do with what he has. It is unfortunate for fans to have to watch such insipid performances, with their display against Watford being particularly bad, but Benitez obviously feels like he cannot juggle two competitions with the squad he has. If it wasn’t already clear before, that display against Watford should really drive home the fact that the Magpies desperately need reinforcements before the window closes, and with just three days left there is not much time for that to happen.
