'He looked tired': Eddie Howe makes excuses for poor Sandro Tonali performance against Bayer Leverkusen
It's not often we have any real need to criticise Sandro Tonali for a poor performance for Newcastle United, and while a poor performance by Tonali's standards is still average for most people, there was a notable drop off in the Italian's output last night against Bayer Leverkusen.
We highlighted Tonali as being a player for the Champions League heading into the game, and we do stick by those claims, but last night he looked to be missing a step.
There was a notable moment where he slipped over, conceding possession and setting up a quick counter for the German side, but he did recover well and tracked his man back to Aaron Ramsdale's box, doing just enough to put him off.
But other than that, he didn't quite look at the races. His passing wasn't as crisp as we've come to expect, and his running was nowhere near his usual levels.
Sandro Tonali isn't 100% according to Eddie Howe
Speaking after the game, Eddie Howe offered an explanation for Tonali's below-par showing and it seems that he's been going through it a bit lately.
“He’s had a little bit of a bitty last couple of months. He had a bad illness which really knocked him. Then he came back to fitness, then he got a knock against Tottenham. A little bit in and out.
“Today he looked tired towards the end. Simply because he’s not been playing the amount of time he would normally. It’s just a case of building his rhythm back.”
Sandro Tonali will be massive on Sunday
It's one of those cases of a player coming back from injury and simply needing the minutes to get back up to pace, rather than being reintroduced slowly.
Hopefully, Howe sticks with Tonali for Sunday as we'll need his quality in the midfield to break down Sunderland.
It's only Thursday, and derby butterflies are a real problem. How are you all coping?
