Sandro Tonali Seemingly ‘Out of Favor’ at Newcastle United
Newcastle United Midfielder Sandro Tonali may be unhappy on Tyneside as after a run in the team the midfielder seems to be 4th choice midfielder at the club.
The Italian international joined the club on a £55m deal in the summer transfer window last season and has not quite hit the mark that Geordies may have expected him to hit. Tonali had a positive start to life at Newcastle United as the midfielder scored on his debut for the club against Aston Villa in the Premier League. He then went on to put in an impressive performance in the Champions League against PSG at St James Park where the Magpies went on to win the game 4-1.
However things took a turn for the marquee signing, as he would be banned from all competitive football in November 2023 for breaching rules on betting and would serve a ten month suspension. The Italian returned to competitive action at the start of this season in a Carabao cup tie away at Nottingham Forest where Newcastle won the game on penalties.
In recent weeks Tonali has seen himself in and out of the starting 11 with manager Eddie Howe often preferring Sean Longstaff in the holding midfield role rather than the Italian international. After starting in recent games against Crystal Palace and Liverpool, where the 24-year-old put in great performances, he was left out of the side against Brentford last Saturday.
This led to many fans questioning the decision making of Howe and trying to understand what Tonali has to do in order to get back into the starting lineup consistently and get back in favor with Howe. When the midfielder has started games this season alongside Joelinton and Bruno Guimaraes it has not seemed to work with all three players playing a similar role in the side which has often left a gap in the midfield.
Howe has changed this in recent games and has brought Longstaff back in to the midfield in the holding role while Bruno and Joelinton are allowed to express themselves more going up the pitch. Joe Willock has also been brought back into the side recently as well with Howe trialing Joelinton and Willock interchanging positions from left wing to the left hand side of his midfield three. This worked particularly well in Newcastle’s 3-1 away win at Nottingham Forest where Joelinton found himself on the score sheet with a lovely strike from outside the area.
With Tonali yet to hold down his position in the Newcastle midfield, Howe must find a way to shape the midfield around the Italian as I believe a Newcastle midfield with both Bruno and Tonali in it will make Newcastle a much more dangerous team in the Premier League. As the quality of the midfielder is too high to be sitting on the bench every week and he can not produce the same impact off the bench with a 20 minute appearance than what he can if he was featured from the start of the game.
This will be an issue that Eddie Howe will look to resolve as Newcastle United host Leicester City at home on Saturday 14th December as Newcastle look to turn around their poor run of form in the last few games.
