OPINION
Newcastle United right back Javier Manquillo has surprisingly been picked to start in back-to-back games by manager Rafael Benitez.
But while he impressed against Burnley last Tuesday, he fluffed his lines completely against West Ham United on Saturday. To be fair, nearly every Magpies player produced a sub-par performance in what was a woeful team display, but with so much on the line for Manquillo this was a big opportunity missed.
One good game isn’t enough for the Spaniard to usurp teammate DeAndre Yedlin permanently, and so it’s likely that the United States of America international will return to the fray against Everton on Saturday.
Manquillo could have really pressed his claim against the Hammers, instead he went out with a whimper at the London Stadium. To be fair, he could have been affected by his huge clash of heads with Aaron Cresswell in the first half, but that won’t help him play ahead of Yedlin either.
He did try his best on Saturday, there’s no doubt about that. He attempted some strong runs down the right hand side and it was clear that he was trying to offer his team an attacking presence.
However, it just never came together for him. He wasn’t as bad as the likes of Fabian Schar or Ayoze Perez, but their first team places are pretty much assured under Benitez. Manquillo’s decidedly isn’t.
To use some baseball parlance, the former Atletico Madrid man stepped up to the plate but could only produce a swing and a miss. Yedlin, then, will have been sitting rather comfortably watching his positional rival strike out at the London Stadium.
