Newcastle failed to build on any momentum a 1-0 win over Burnley gave them as they were hammered 4-0 by Leicester on Sunday.
The Magpies were torn to shreds by the Foxes in the second half as they conceded three goals from the 56th minute onwards, having gone 1-0 down in the first-half after Jamaal Lascelles was adjudged to have fouled James Maddison in the box.
Eddie Howe's team are 19th in the Premier League table after 16 games and have only won one match all campaign, whilst they have also conceded the most goals (34) in the division.
Axe him
One player who struggled against Leicester was central defender Fabian Schar, who has had a difficult season at St. James' Park.
He failed to make a single block, interception or tackle in the 90 minutes, whilst losing two of his three duels on the ground. The centre-back only completed 67% of his attempted passes and lost possession of the ball a whopping 24 times in total.
This came after he struggled badly in the win over Burnley. As per SofaScore, he lost 11 of his 13 duels and only completed 42% of his attempted passes. He also gave the ball away 20 times and made one block, whilst failing to make a tackle or interception.
Over the course of the season so far, he has lost the ball 110 times in seven Premier League appearances, whilst averaging just 1.7 tackles and interceptions per game. He has found a teammate with an abysmal 66% of his passes overall, showing that he has been dreadful with the ball at his feet this season with his failure to find the right colour shirt with his passing.
Magpies boss Eddie Howe recently admitted that he has been a fan of Schar from afar and claimed that he is a 'fantastic' player.
He said: “I have been an admirer of Fabian from afar for a long, long time. I think he’s a fantastic footballer.
“He has also shown his defensive resilience and mentality to not want to concede."
This suggests that he believes there is a good player in there and axing him from the team for a few matches could benefit him. It could give him time to get back to 100% and be ready to come back into the XI and start showing why Howe thinks he is a 'fantastic' defender.
In the 2018/19 campaign, Schar averaged a SofaScore rating of 7.14 and made 5.3 tackles and interceptions per game at centre-back for the Magpies. This level of form may be what Howe is referring to with his comments, but his form this season is a far cry from this and that is why he should be brutally axed from the team, for now.
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