Alan Shearer has blasted Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez for deciding to make eight changes to his side against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.
The Magpies took on their Championship opponents at St James’ Park in the third round of the FA Cup, a game which saw Matt Ritchie rescue a replay for the home side minutes from the final whistle.
Shearer was not too impressed with the approach Benitez took to this clash, accusing the Spaniard of not caring about how well the club do in the competition after he made a number of changes to the side that lost 2-0 to Manchester United a few days earlier.
“Newcastle’s performance against Blackburn pretty much summed up what the club is at the moment — flat and lifeless. There were 36,440 at St James’ Park this weekend, which is a decent crowd considering everything that is going on there,” he said in his Sun column.
“And those fans were waiting to be entertained — but Newcastle gave them absolutely nothing. It is hard to remember such a flat and poor display and the Toon were fortunate to get a replay.
“Based on Saturday’s game, you would never have been able to say which team was from the Premier League and which was from the Championship. But when you make eight changes to your side like Rafa Benitez did, you always run that risk. It just upsets the whole rhythm.
“I don’t mind one or two changes but eight changes just stinks of, ‘Well, we don’t really want to be in this’.”
OPINION
Shearer is right – Newcastle’s performance was incredibly poor, which was reflected in the fact that Benitez made a staggering eight changes to the team that lost a few days earlier. In fact, making so many changes shows that the manager is not as respectful of the opposition as some people may have originally thought. Yes, admittedly securing survival in the Premier League should be at the top of his list of priorities for this season – but that does not mean he should risk going out early by essentially rotating his entire starting XI. Most managers would make at least two changes, but that was not adhered to by Benitez. This is a game that they definitely should have won – but now they face the extra task of having to travel to Ewood Park for the replay. The well-known pundit accused Newcastle of being “flat” and “lifeless” – and to be honest, it is hard not to agree with him.
