Forget Murphy: Newcastle Need to Drop Lewis Miley After Leeds

· GiveMeSport

Newcastle suffered a humiliating 4-1 defeat against Leeds on Monday night

After an acceptable start to the season under Matthias Jaissle, Newcastle United were well beaten 4-1 by Leeds United at Elland Road on Monday night.

Newcastle came into the clash against Daniel Farke's unbeaten in their three Premier League matches, winning one and drawing two, and they would have been hopeful of another positive result in Yorkshire.

However, the Magpies struggled to match their opponents and a devastating three-goal blitz in 13 minutes at the end of the first half meant it was essentially game over at the break.

Noah Okafor added a fourth before the hour-mark, with Newcastle fans having to wait for the 90th minute to have something to celebrate, when Bazoumana Toure scored from Tino Livramento's cross.

Jaissle made three changes to the team that beat Millwall 1-0 in the EFL Cup last week, as Matias Fernandez-Pardo was handed his full debut, Malick Thiaw returned to the XI to captain the side, while Lewis Miley replaced Jacob Ramsey.

There was a further blow for the German coach pre-match, with the news that Anthony Elanga missed out through injury having scored twice in their opening three league games.

Jaissle is already without Joelinton, Dan Burn and Williams Osula through injury, and will hope to have all four players back involved after the international break.

One of the former Red Bull Salzburg boss' main conundrums this season has been who starts in central midfield, following the departures of Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali during the summer.

After starting both matches in the EFL Cup, Jacob Murphy was handed his first Premier League start of the season against Leeds, but he failed to make a statement to his manager.

Newcastle fans have largely been left unimpressed with the 31-year-old this season, with many believing that he shouldn't be starting matches.

After being hooked in the 56th minute, Newcastle World said the forward 'was as bad as he was against Millwall', handing him a 3/10 rating , also getting the same mark from the Chronicle.

Murphy was far from the only performer on the night, with Thiaw and Sven Botman two more senior players who struggled in particular, as they were dominated by Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

It was also another disappointing display from 20-year-old sensation Lewis Miley in the Newcastle engine room, although he wasn't helped by the early substitution of Nico Gonzalez, which then saw him paired with 18-year-old Sean Steur in the middle.

Miley has started all four of the Magpies' Premier League matches this term, but he was brought off just after the hour-mark against Bournemouth last time out having struggled against Marco Rose's men.

It was largely the same story at Elland Road, where he played his part in the first and third goals conceded, with the opener going down as an own goal, while being too passive out of possession and too safe with the ball.

It is understandable because of his age, but Newcastle fans also know Miley is far better than he is showing right now.

Indeed, the Chronicle suggested previously that he will be the club's 'next £100m player' following Tonali's move to Tottenham Hotspur for the same fee this summer.

Once Joelinton is back, there will be even more competition for places in the Newcastle midfield, and Miley needs to show a lot more, and consistently, if he wants to continue to be a starting XI regular under Jaissle.

In the short-term, if Gonzalez is fine, then it might be time to drop Miley from the XI and give the likes of Steur and Aladji Bamba their opportunities, to try and bring the best out of the 20-year-old again.

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