Pat Nevin says Newcastle United's midfield trio lack one key aspect to their game which holds team back
Newcastle United's midfield trio of Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali and Joelinton have often been cited as the best midfield in the Premier League.
You won't find many Newcastle fans arguing against that point, but it's good to see that the rhetoric doesn't just come from our own corner of the football world.
On their day, there isn't a better midfield trio in the Premier League. They have the perfect balance of abilities between them, and at times they synchronise perfectly.
Unfortunately, all it takes is for one of the three to be having an off day, and the whole structure collapses, and this is where Pat Nevin sees an issue.
Pat Nevin says Newcastle's midfield lacks consistency
The former Everton winger told BBC Five Live's Football Daily podcast that he doesn't feel they have the consistency to play at their best in every game.
"When Newcastle's midfield works brilliantly, they can bully anyone and are absolutely phenomenal. Tonali is a fantastic player, a monster in midfield, Guimaraes has great skills, and you have the Joelinton power.
"They were brilliant against Manchester City, but I don't think those three have it in them to do that every three or four days. That's basically the truth of it. They are very fine and strong players, but can they do it to that level every three or four days? No."
Should we be worried about the lack of consistency of our main midfield three?
If we take off our black and white specs, we feel Nevin has got a point here. Joelinton has been the one who has been misfiring the most this season, and some outlets are even calling for him to be sold (not NUFC-based outlets, we must add).
When Joelinton is off his game, that grit is lost in the centre of the park, and we don't really have a ready-made replacement for him. Jacob Ramsey has come in to back up Joelinton, but he's a very different style of player.
When Tonali is off, we see him misplace way too many passes, and Bruno gets angry and loses his cool, and that just leads to more errors.
However, can you name any player who is consistently at their best every game of the season? If you can, you're lying.
