Steve McClaren believes that faltering Newcastle United forward Siem de Jong needs a goal to kickstart his Magpies’ career.
After initially struggling to break into McClaren’s side after a lengthy injury lay-off, de Jong has recently been handed the opportunity to nail down his place in the Newcastle starting XI, but, so far, the former Ajax captain has failed to impress.
In the 58th minute of his third start of the season against Aston Villa, de Jong was presented with a gilt-edged opportunity to seal the three points, however, to the disbelief of the St James’ Park Crowd, the ring-rusty Dutchman somehow missed the target from six-yards out.
Immediately after his glaring miss de Jong was pulled from the action and replaced by Ayoze Perez, but the ashen faced Dutchman was made to watch on in horror as Villa forward Jordan Ayew punished his incompetence by levelling the scoreline and stealing a share of the points.
The shocking miss was the latest in a long line of disappointments for de Jong since he moved to Newcastle from Ajax last summer, and McClaren believes that the crafty midfielder is still getting to grips with English football after missing a majority of last season through a series of devastating injury blows.
Speaking to The Chronicle, the Newcastle boss said:
“I know Siem well from Ajax. He was their best player, but they were obviously a different team and I think the year out hasn’t helped him.
I think he’s coming back slowly. He’s had to wait a long time, and he’s been frustrated
At Ajax de Jong was the fulcrum of a side that routinely dominated their opposition with calculated, possession based football, and, despite being pleased with the Dutchman’s application, McClaren acknowledges that Newcastle’s counter-attacking style is not currently playing to the 26-year-old’s strengths:
At Ajax he played in a team that dominated the ball and dominated possession. He was the focal point of that, but here it’s a little different. We don’t really dominate possession – we’re more of a transition or counter-attack team.
“But I think his experience over the last couple of games has helped us. His fitness has improved, and his running stats prove that.
“I think he said before the game: ‘I need to score a goal. Like all strikers – (be they a No) 9 or 10 – they want to score and they want assists.
“On the occasions he’s come on and got chances, there have been little deflections or the keeper has made a great save and it’s just gone over or gone wide.
He knows he needs a goal.
