Jacob Murphy had looked to have made himself a key man at Newcastle until Wednesday night.
Rafa Benitez made a series of big calls and four changes to his Newcastle United team to face Everton on Wednesday night.
Jamaal Lascelles and Jonjo Shelvey were welcomed back – before turning in rather contrasting performances – while Mo Diame’s return was rather less heralded.
But perhaps the most intriguing decision was to hand Christian Atsu a start after his recovery from injury and to in turn drop Jacob Murphy.
While Newcastle’s season has careered off the rails in recent weeks, Murphy has been one of the side’s star men alongside Dwight Gayle.
In fact, Matt Ritchie – the winger on the opposite side – has been criticised while Murphy’s strong, determined running and improving end product have offered a threat.
Benitez may now feel he was justified in making this call as Atsu impressed and Ritchie came as close to scoring as any Newcastle player in another dire defeat.
But Murphy must be left wondering quite what he has done wrong as he was then left on the bench in the second half as Rolando Aarons instead replaced Ritchie.
It was crucial that Murphy took his opportunity in Atsu’s absence and he did, so Benitez’s decision feels very harsh indeed.
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