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Opinion

‘Whisper it but Dwight Gayle should be first choice in this Newcastle attacking trio’

4 years ago
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With Newcastle United struggling so badly for goals this season so far, little wonder there has been so much debate about the issue.

Talk about the tactics, formation and most of all the individual players themselves.

Can Joelinton and Miguel Almiron deliver enough goals etc etc.

With only four goals in six Premier League games and only one of those coming from an attacking player, no surprise that people  have looked at whether those striker out injured might make the difference.

Andy Carroll has monopolised most of that conversation, with Allan Saint-Maximin much talked about as well.

The pair of them were available finally on Saturday and came on as late subs, helping to give the team some belated goal threat against Brighton.

Interesting to see now what side Steve Bruce picks to face Leicester on Sunday.

However, whisper it quietly but Dwight Gayle should be first choice in this Newcastle attacking trio when he is finally fit.

I think that played with Miguel Almiron and Allan Saint-Maximin, they would be full of movement and goal threat.

It is just a lazy assertion when people say he is a Championship striker who has been ‘proved’ not to be able to score in the Premier League.

At Crystal Palace he was rarely given starts in the top tie and mainly used off the pitch, yet despite making only 27 Premier League starts for Palace he still got 15 goals.

The only full Premier League season that Dwight Gayle has ever had, was after Newcastle’s promotion.

Gayle only had the likes of Atsu, Joselu and Perez to play alongside and due to the lack of quality available, Rafa Benitez had to mainly play a very negative formation.

Dwight Gayle worked his socks off and did a real job for the team, he might have only scored six goals in his 23 Premier League starts in 2017/18 but the striker was a key player in that second half of the season survival run of form.

The arrival of Kenedy at last gave some extra help going forward and Gayle’s unselfish running, often to the wing, helped create chances and open up space for Ayoze Perez in particular, who ended up as top scorer that season.

Dwight Gayle is an excellent finisher, with 60 starts in his last two Championship seasons and 47 goals, he knows where the net is.

Yes he should have scored a few more in that 2017/18 season but the number of chances coming his way each game was minimal.

Never before has he had the chance to play alongside such equally mobile and pacey players such as ASM and Almiron in the Premier League.

We have already seen that both Almiron and ASM are capable of playing all across the front line and I think that Dwight Gayle would be in his element being able to chop and change positions with those two.

The trio’s pace and movement would cause all kinds of problems for other teams and open up plenty of chances for all three of them, with Dwight Gayle at last getting a good supply line.

I’m not writing Joelinton off but just because he cost £40m, I don’t think you should automatically assume he should stay in the team.

The question is, would Steve Bruce be brave enough to play that trio and leave out the Brazilian?

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