Why I have sympathy for John Carver at Newcastle United

Why I have sympathy for John Carver at Newcastle United

Injuries and suspensions

Ask yourself how many teams would be able to cope with injuries and suspensions comparable to the ones Newcastle United have currently? Whilst this seems to have been how it always is at Newcastle United and this suggests that there is something wrong with how Newcastle treat their players, this is not a problem that Carver is responsible for. Take the main 2 centre halves and a possible 4^th choice centre half, 2 left backs, 2 defensive midfielders, the top scorer and main striker, the player Newcastle were looking to build their team around at number 10 and a flair up and coming winger who was earmarked for a big role this season and had looked threatening early season out of most sides and they would fail to reach their goals. For Newcastle, this is equal to not reaching the top half, but it is not Carver who is responsible. If you imagine Chelsea losing Terry, Cahill, Ake, Luis, Azpilicueta, Matic, Mikel, Costa, Oscar and Cuadrado for matches, they would struggle to win them and would struggle to meet their objectives.  It would leave them a line-up similar to Courtois, Ivanovic, Zouma , Christeansen, Kalas, Fabregas, Ramires, Willian, Hazard, Remy and Drogba. Similarly, if Man City lost Kompany, Demichelis, Boyata, Clichy, Kolarov, Fernando, Fernandinho, Silva, Aguero and Navas they also would fail to meet their objectives. Hart, Zabaleta, Sagna, Mangala, Milner, Lampard, Toure, Nasri, Jovetic, Dzeko and Bony are the only senior players they’d be left with, and whilst they are all talented, they wouldn’t fit a formation to carry Man City into the top 4. It is therefore, not a surprise that Carver’s Newcastle are struggling, given the struggle that teams with far superior budgets and players would also struggle given the same number of injuries.

Poor players

Added to the injuries conundrum, many of the players Newcastle have left are just not good enough. Newcastle have been left with 14 outfield players who have played minutes in the premier league and at least half of them are not good enough to finish in the top half of the league and many are not good enough for the league in general. Emmanuel Riviere has proved he is not good enough through failing to score for Newcastle in 17 league appearances. Gabriel Obertan has never shown enough consistency to be a premier league player, Sammy Ameobi likewise. Jonas Gutierrez, as much as he is loved on Tyneside was coming to the end of his playing days before being struck with testicular cancer and unfortunately is no longer Newcastle United standard. Yoan Gouffran flatters to deceive and rarely provides goals and assists which is the function of a winger. Vurnon Anita has proven he does not impose himself on the game enough and appears to do very little in midfield for either the defence or the attack. Mike Williamson has never been upgraded on since Newcastle returned to the premier league and he is a very limited defender who has had a very poor season. Adam Armstrong is at the beginning of his playing days and whilst clearly talented, it is clear he is not yet premier league standard, this is clear by him being selected for England U18s and not England U20s this international break and not 1 of the England u20 squad is a regular in the premier league, proving Armstrong still has much to do to be a premier league striker. This therefore, means that the job is currently impossible for Carver to perform well, and it is unlikely any manager would fare much better given the current situation. I’m  not saying Carver is the right man to take Newcastle forward after the summer, I just feel it is harsh to judge him entirely on recent affairs.