There was a lot of disappointment when Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United starting XI to face Manchester United was announced.
While it was great to see Fabian Schar back on the bench after suggestions that his season could be over, Eddie Howe opted against making any major changes to his Newcastle United side – unless he had to.
The only change saw Kieran Trippier, who struggled at Old Trafford, come in for Tino Livramento. That was enforced, with the youngster set to miss Sunday’s game too with an ankle injury.
But Howe opted against swapping Martin Dubravka with Nick Pope, while he also kept Joelinton on the bench to begin with.
He was introduced in the second half and had a positive impact, while Schar also made his return against Manchester United.
Eddie Howe explains why Joelinton and Fabian Schar did not start
Neither player was able to inspire a comeback, and Howe has now explained the reason why he did not start Joelinton or Schar on Wednesday night.
He spoke to NUFC TV after the game, and was asked about getting key players back from injury.
“Big positives coming towards the end of the season getting those players back,” he said.
“I just felt with those guys returning… it would have been too big a risk to start them in the game. They are getting there, but they are still not 100% themselves.
“They did well when they came on, I thought.”
Newcastle getting players back from injury too late
It is great that the likes of Joelinton and Schar are fit again, but it almost too little too late. The Magpies only have one game left, and it will be interesting to see whether or not Howe thinks they are ready to return to the starting XI at Brentford.
Knowing our luck, they will be fully fit in time for the pointless trip to Australia for friendlies against Tottenham Hotspur and the A-League All Stars!
It is frustrating to have these players available again but seemingly not fit enough to start. Not having Joelinton has been a big issue for months, but Howe is reluctant to throw him back into his starting lineup.
Obviously the medical team know what is best and have a better grasp of how many minutes they can play, but it is still infuriating – and even more so given the fact we lost. It could have been a different result in Joelinton had started, as he looked decent when he came on.
Newcastle need to go all out for Europe on Sunday
Newcastle are running out of time, and they are running out of games. They have 90 minutes of football left to play, and the top six is now out of their hands. The Magpies simply must beat Brentford on Sunday, and hope that other results, such as the FA Cup final, go their way.
But to beat the Bees, we need to go all out. Howe simply has to name his best XI possible, or risk a catastrophic end to what has been a challenging season. Europe was within touching distance, but that is no longer the case after losing to Manchester United.
The post 'I just felt': Eddie Howe shares the real reason he did not start Joelinton vs Manchester United appeared first on Geordie Boot Boys.