It’s great to see him given more minutes and I don’t want it to stop. But, he is still incredibly young and he’s sitting in Ødegaard’s position, which is a physically intense and demanding role alone, let alone filling in for our best creative and attacking player.
It was never going to be an exact like for like, of course and he’s still learning. But, although Newcastle were dangerous at times, they mostly sat deep and behind the ball and absorbed pressure and hit on the counter. It looked like they were largely fine with taking a 1-0 win. They also congested the midfield, which made it harder to pass through.
So, it was going to be a tough ask for Nwaneri to help break down the defence, which I think Ødegaard helps us do. I also feel like we missed Calafiori’s ability to switch the ball across field. It looled like there was space down the right a nice lofted Calafiori pass would have helped for a nice break down the wing that was never used as an option.
It’s great to see him given more minutes and I don’t want it to stop. But, he is still incredibly young and he’s sitting in Ødegaard’s position, which is a physically intense and demanding role alone, let alone filling in for our best creative and attacking player.
It was never going to be an exact like for like, of course and he’s still learning. But, although Newcastle were dangerous at times, they mostly sat deep and behind the ball and absorbed pressure and hit on the counter. It looked like they were largely fine with taking a 1-0 win. They also congested the midfield, which made it harder to pass through.
So, it was going to be a tough ask for Nwaneri to help break down the defence, which I think Ødegaard helps us do. I also feel like we missed Calafiori’s ability to switch the ball across field. It looled like there was space down the right a nice lofted Calafiori pass would have helped for a nice break down the wing that was never used as an option.