‘That’s shocking’: Sky Sports pundit slams Newcastle United target’s defending v Arsenal

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Newcastle United target Antonee Robinson has been slammed by pundit Alan Smith for his defending in Fulham’s defeat to Arsenal.

Fulham and Robinson have been going pretty well this season but this was an afternoon to forget.

Arsenal were 3-0 up by half time as Mikel Arteta’s title chasers ran riot at Craven Cottage.

Arsenal’s second goal didn’t look good from a Fulham perspective; Leandro Trossard stood up a cross to the back post and Gabriel Martinelli was there to nod home.

Nobody in their right mind – even the Brazilian himself – would describe Martinelli as a dominant aerial threat.

Yet Martinelli was able to sneak in ahead of a static Robinson and head the ball home, prompting anger from pundit Alan Smith.

Speaking to Sky Sports (12/03, 2:25pm), Smith suggested that Robinson’s defending for that goal was ‘shocking’.

“Antonee Robinson doesn’t do anything, he almost ducks his head, he doesn’t challenge,” said Smith. “You’ve got to get some physical presence on there, that’s shocking defending, it really is,” he added.

Newcastle United keen on Antonee Robinson

Newcastle may well have been watching Robinson’s performance against the Gunners ahead of a possible summer move.

The Magpies are being linked with a number of left backs ahead of the summer window.

Kieran Tierney and Alex Grimaldo are two options mentioned in recent weeks but Robinson is also thought to be on the radar.

TEAMtalk reported in December that Newcastle were interested in signing Robinson, with a summer move more likely than a January one.

The Sun claim that Manchester City want to sign Robinson this summer, so Newcastle may well face a battle.

Yet that back post defending may be something that Eddie Howe won’t like, especially given that he has been using a centre back in Dan Burn in that area.

Newcastle may be splitting hairs between Tierney, Grimaldo and Robinson, so every little aspect matters – and the American didn’t exactly cover himself in glory against Arsenal.

Robinson will certainly hope that this was just a one-off error and he will be looking to improve his defending from similar situation moving forward, whether that’s for Fulham, Newcastle, City or another team.