Newcastle United were comfortably beaten on the second weekend of the new Premier League season.
While plenty of Newcastle fans were not too impressed with Javier Manquillo’s performance in the opening day defeat to Arsenal, there are several who have questioned Steve Bruce’s decision to drop the full-back to hand Emil Krafth his debut at Norwich on Saturday.
Krafth joined the Magpies during the final days of the summer transfer window, with Sky Sports reporting that the Sweden international cost £5 million from Amiens.
Bruce included the 25-year-old in the starting lineup for the trip to Carrow Road. But it proved to be a debut to forget for the defender as Daniel Farke’s men strolled to a comfortable 3-1 win. Jonjo Shelvey’s smart finish in stoppage-time made the scoreline look a little more respectable.
And Bruce’s decision to throw Krafth straight in has been strongly criticised. Plenty of supporters on social media have suggested that the right-back looked out of his depth against the Canaries.
Whoscored.com shows that Krafth had the worst tackle success rate of any player on the pitch who attempted a challenge. He won just one of the four tackles he attempted. Meanwhile, he only completed 15 successful passes.
It would be harsh to write Krafth off when Newcastle endured such a miserable day at the office. But it is clear that the supporters believe that he needs to improve considerably if he hopes to keep his spot in the side over the coming weeks.
Here is how some of the supporters reacted to his display…
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