In the last few matches, Rafa Benitez clearly found his preferred starting lineup, except in one position, the left-midfield.
His first try was Moussa Sissoko at LM, with Gini Wijnaldum playing the number 10 role behind Cisse or Mitrovic. Sissoko and Wijnaldum worked as interchangeable pieces, but it was clear neither one played his best on the left. Truth be said, Wijnaldum couldn’t perform well in any of those positions lately and Sissoko on the other hand, was at his best playing inside. That led to the next experiment.
That led to the next experiment. Ayoze Perez was inserted in Wijnaldum’s place. With Sissoko playing CAM, Perez had his shot to show what he could do at LM. He played this position before and is a lad who, despite being an attacker, helps to track back. But after two games it became clear it wasn’t the best position for Ayoze and wasn’t the solution to the Magpies problems.
Last game Rafa came back to Wijnaldum in the starting lineup, but he was unimpressive again. With both players not at their best form, it opens space to someone step up. In my opinion, Rafa has three options.
The first one would be with Sissoko playing LM and Jonjo Shelvey receiving a shot at the number 10 role. I think it’s a valid option since Shelvey would take advantage of the freedom of this position to give Newcastle side more creativity. He has the outside shot and can help Tiote and Colback when needed, just like Sissoko does. The negative side is, with Shelvey in this positions, Cisse will be even more isolated up front since Shelvey is more of a playmaker, not a second attacker. I like this option to start a match because you always could replace Shelvey, Tiote or Colback with an offensive player if needed. It gives Benitez a lot of options.
The second option is Siem de Jong as the 10 with Sissoko still on the left. In de Jong’s favor, the fact he played well alongside Cisse before and is a true number 10 who offers more firepower and attacking presence than Shelvey. He’s a very experienced player who can help in this tough situation.
The third and my preferred option is the youngster Rolando Aarons at LM. It allows Sissoko to play where he’s playing his best, inside. Rolando also offers a lot of pace, just like Townsend on the other side. The kid has no problems tracking back to defend and is a natural LM/LW who can deliver crosses to Cisse or Mitrovic and even score goals like he did against Manchester City last season. At his best, he can be a very nice surprise at this season’s end and help Newcastle to escape the drop.
I don’t know if Rafa is ready to try something different in those two last matches, but one of those options really can help Newcastle play better and secure his place in Premier League for next season.
