Eddie Howe praises Sandro Tonali for his honesty ahead of Fulham clash
Sandro Tonali started Newcastle United's game against Fulham on the bench as the Italian continued to recover from an illness which kept him out of the game against Benfica on Tuesday.
While Tonali was named in the match squad on Tuesday, he started and ended the game on the bench; however, while he started Saturday's game against Fulham on the bench, he did come on around the hour mark to make a big contribution.
Indeed, Tonali almost found himself on the scoresheet but for a fine save from Bernd Leno after the Italian hit a volley across the face of the goal that looked like it was going to curl in at the far post. Whether it was meant to be a cross or a shot, only Tonali will know.
He's scored from a similar position before, and he admitted that it was meant to be a cross, so we know he'd have been honest about it if asked.
Sandro Tonali put the team ahead of himself
It seems that honesty is a big thing for Tonali, too, as confirmed by Eddie Howe in his post-match press conference. The gaffer admitted that Tonali had been fully transparent about his fitness heading into the game, rather than lying to push for a start, he told Howe that he wasn't fully ready to play.
“I think all options were open. I had a little chat with Sandro at the start of the second half, as the game was developing. I just said, ‘Look, how do you feel? Do you feel like you could come and be yourself?’
“He said, ‘Yeah, I feel okay'. Whereas yesterday talking to him, he still felt that he wasn’t 100% fit. So, it was great to have him so honest and thinking of the team, not himself. It’s a great quality to have.”
If only more players were honest with themselves instead of trying to be heroes
Sandro Tonali is a huge driving force for this team, and while we'd all obviously rather see him on the pitch than the bench, we have to admire how he puts the team first.
It's a long season and we'd much rather him look after himself properly and be 100% in the games that he does play than force himself to play when not totally fit.
If only more players were as honest, we'd probably avoid a lot more injuries that way. We get that they want to play, but common sense has to be exercised, too.
