Newcastle United at the European Championships – Summary

Newcastle United Stars The European Championships in Poland and Ukraine have shown some great talent, some already known and some more unknown gems, as this competition always does. Here, we take a look at the Newcastle players in action, and also some targets the club could be turning their eye towards.

Yohan Cabaye (France and Newcastle)

The Toon’s midfield maestro distinguished himself with some decent performances, but sadly his French side failed to progress further than the quarterfinal stage, beaten by Spain. Cabaye scored a good goal against Ukraine, and showed his general skills and solid play in the other matches. Playing 84 minutes against England, and 68 versus Ukraine, Cabaye was rested for the final game against Sweden that ended in defeat for his side. Returning to play the full 90 against Spain, he had the French’s only shot on target with a trademark free kick, which was heading towards the top left hand corner. However, despite a high overall level of performance, he simply must cut out the unnecessary fouls in his game which are becoming a hall-mark, sadly, shown by a number of fouls in the England game, and a yellow card against Spain.

Hatem Ben Arfa (France and Newcastle)

Only given a six-minute cameo against England in the first game, he wasn’t able to make much of an impact. However, given a start against Sweden with France pretty much already qualified, he failed to shine and was hauled off after 59 minutes for Chelsea’s Florent Malouda. So all in all, not a good tournament for the player who lit up the Premiership on several occasions this season. Perhaps this is evidence for how he must increase his level of consistency to truly become a high quality player.

Tim Krul (Holland and Newcastle)

Didn’t feature for Holland, but the experience of being in the squad for a major tournament will hold him in good stead for the future, and inclusion in the side was nothing less that he merited after a fine domestic season. Perhaps after the Netherlands losing all their games, he may get his chance in the future and the coming weeks.

Newcastle Targets

Mathieu Debuchy (France and Lille)

The French star is a known target for Newcastle, but they are going to have to pay more than the £4 million it is suggested they have bid. The European Championships often mean that clubs have to pay over the odds, and with Danny Simpson having a good season it probably isn’t needed to shell out a large sum. Debuchy was good going forward, but got crucified by Spain in the last eight match, showing how he appears to be the classic modern day full-back, great going forward but suspect defensively. Would be a good buy, but not if Newcastle are held to ransom over him.

Alan Dzagoev (Russia and CSKA Moscow)

The Russian star had a good tournament, despite his side being knocked out in the group stages. Out of contact in the Winter, and with Chelsea and Arsenal sniffing around, why don’t Newcastle make a sneaky bid? 

Lukasz Piszczek (Poland and Borussia Dortmund)

Similar to Debuchy, the Poland right back impressed going forward but looked suspect defensively. A great start to the tournament, laying on a goal for Lewandowski showed his talent, but he can be weak at the back and will have to be looked at in more detail if an interest was to be pursued. A stalwart of Dortmund’s recent success, he wouldn’t come cheaply, either.

Please Comment