Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer has claimed that the Magpies offered ‘zero’ threat against Aston Villa on Monday night.
Steve Bruce’s side produced a toothless performance as they fell to a disappointing 2-0 defeat at Villa Park, and Shearer wasn’t particularly impressed by his old team.
“Goal threat = Zero,” he wrote on his personal Twitter account after the game. “A poor night. @NUFC #AVNEW.”
OPINION
This is another game where the Newcastle attack failed to fire. Jonjo Shelvey produced little creativity from midfield while, Allan Saint-Maximin aside, the front three were poor as well. Plus, there were no big set piece chance for the centre backs to convert, which meant Bruce’s team never looked like scoring on Monday. The statistics back up that statement. As per WhoScored.com, Newcastle had less shots, possession and pass success rate than the Villans. They also had more corners, which shows that one of the Magpies’ main avenues to goal was shut down at Villa Park. As Shearer says, there was zero goal threat, and it was very much a poor night for Bruce’s team in every aspect. This has been a problem for Newcastle all season long – although the defence has stepped up in front of goal recently – and it’s probably something Bruce needs to look at in January.
