Premier League 2018-19, Manchester City 2-1 Newcastle United: 5 talking points

#3 Are Newcastle in trouble?

Rafael Benitez is suffering under Mike Ashley at Newcastle

In defence of Rafael Benitez’s side, Newcastle has had perhaps the trickiest start to the Premier League season of all of the 20 clubs in the division. In their first four games they’ve already played three of the so-called ‘Big Six’ in Tottenham, Chelsea and now Man City, and so it’s hardly a surprise that they’ve only picked up one point and sit in 18th position.

But pick the situation apart from a little more and it’s hard to come to any other conclusion other than the fact that Newcastle is in deep trouble.

It’s not just defensive performances – the Magpies had just 22% of the possession and 3 shots today – but it’s the fact that there are nasty stories coming out of St. James’ Park right now – stories that suggest Benitez and chairman Mike Ashley aren’t on speaking terms, and that key players like Jamaal Lascelles and Matt Ritchie are having training ground bust-ups.

According to BT Sport today, Newcastle’s whole team that faced City cost a total of around £30m. When sides like Leicester and Bournemouth – supposedly smaller clubs – can spend almost that amount on one player, something is very wrong, even in the out-of-control financial world of football in 2018.

Newcastle clearly have team spirit, judging by today’s showing, and they’ve got a strong manager in Benitez, but until Ashley allows them to up their ambitions, the situation there will continue to look negative.