- Keith Downie calls out Sven Botman
- Newcastle centre back ‘bullied’ by Brian Brobbey
- Resurfacing interview tells a damning story
North-East-focused Sky Sports News reporter Keith Downie has claimed that Newcastle centre back Sven Botman was ‘bullied’ in the mightily disappointing 2-1 derby day defeat to Sunderland at St James’ Park.
The comments made on X come after Brian Brobbey’s commanding performance in the Black Cats’ frontline. The Dutchman dominated both his fellow countryman Botman and the rest of the defence throughout the 90 minutes.
Eddie Howe favoured Botman over the ever-present Thiaw for the game. Botman was unable to repay the favour with a performance and was largely outmatched against the stocky striker.
Brobbey Bullies Botman
Eddie Howe hadn’t blessed the big centre back with a plethora of minutes in the build-up to the game. Many were rather surprised to see him take the place of Thiaw for such a big game.
Botman is usually a left-sided central defender but was tasked with playing on the right side here. Brobbey had clearly been tasked with staying away from Dan Burn and putting pressure on Botman from the first whistle.
The forward’s first foray onto Botman’s side came early in the game. Brobbey received the ball and looked to burst past Botman, leaning across the Newcastle man.
Brobbey sent his Dutch compatriot flying but was adjudged to have pulled the shirt of Botman and gave away a free kick.
It was ultimately a sign of things to come, though, as Brobbey became the outlet for Le Bris’ men. The former Ajax star constantly received the feet and held off Botman, causing him all sorts of issues throughout.
Botman was ultimately subbed off in the 54th minute, after a rather fitting collision with Brobbey that saw the Newcastle man come off worse. Botman was replaced by Thiaw and, according to Downie, will have been relatively relieved to see the back of the game.
Botman’s Brobbey admission
Interestingly, Botman has been vocal about how difficult Brobbey is to face in the past.
In an interview with Dutch media outlet ‘Day 1’, which was posted at the beginning of last year, Botman was asked a question by an interviewer:
“Have you faced a strike where you thought, ‘Holy f*ck, I really have to work hard here?”
In response, Botman initially mentioned former Toon striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, who he had faced whilst the Serbian was at Fulham before his move to the Saudi Pro League.
Botman then named another, rather damning, name. He said that Brian Brobbey was incredibly strong and extremely difficult to face.
Ultimately, Botman was clearly not incorrect, as he struggled against the Dutch mackem at the weekend. However, the resurfacing of the video doesn’t exactly show the Newcastle centre-back in the best light.
Albeit, it does give a more complete picture of why Botman struggled so much at the weekend.
Howe has decisions to make
Following on from Botman’s unflattering performance, Howe undoubtedly has a decision to make about his backline.
Malick Thiaw has now been given a game of rest, plus the March international break, in which there are six Newcastle players called up to the England squad, to recuperate whilst he is in camp with Germany.
Add in the fact that Botman has today undergone surgery on the injury he suffered, likely ruling him out for a few weeks, and Thiaw will almost certainly be reinstated until the end of the season.
It has also highlighted Newcastle’s need for a backup right centre back. The absence of Fabian Schar has left Howe’s men rather light in that area.
Schar is also getting older and will likely need to be replaced by a younger prodigy in the coming windows. Utilising Botman on his weaker side does not seem to be a plausible option going forward.
