Benitez must buck trend of his Newcastle reign and look to his youth

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It may be time for Rafael Benitez to look to his youth talents at Newcastle.

It’s a long, long time now since Alan Hansen claimed that ‘you don’t win anything with kids’ – and it may just be time for Newcastle United to embrace a youth movement.

The Magpies have endured a difficult start to the Premier League season, picking up just one point from their four games, though a tough fixture list – including games against Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester City – have played a huge part in that.

Fans and pundits have point to Rafael Benitez’s lack of backing in the transfer market, with no huge budget available to the Spaniard despite the Spaniard battling for funding from Mike Ashley.

Loans and bargains have been brought in by Benitez, but he has regularly ignored the club’s youth setup during his time in charge, and it may just be time for that to change in light of his lack of spending power.

Jamie Sterry and Daniel Barlaser are among the players to have struggled to break through under Benitez, whilst striker Adam Armstrong – often tipped for a bright future with his boyhood club – was sold to Blackburn Rovers this summer.

Newcastle appear to be struggling to generate top talents from their youth setup, but under-23 boss Ben Dawson is really impressing with the brand of football being played by his side.

Playmaker Sean Longstaff is the top talent coming through the ranks and should be given a chance to shine in the Premier League to try and bring a spark to this Newcastle side; after all, just look at how Harry Winks and Harry Kane have starred with Tottenham, or even Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford at Manchester United and Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Benitez wants another left back, but Liam Gibson is a promising talent, winger Cal Roberts has real potential to provide a spark whilst striker Adam Wilson is another player with a bright future, looking for a chance in a goal-shy team.

The 3-1 Carabao Cup win for Newcastle’s Under-23’s over Doncaster Rovers last week showed that there is certainly talent in the Magpies ranks – but Benitez must now consider bucking the trend of his reign, or even of his career if we’re being ultra-critical, and look to youth to kickstart his Newcastle side.