A stunning stat emerged as I was watching the build up to last night’s win at Burnley, with Sky Sports revealing that Mo Diame has made more tackles in 2018 than any other player in the Premier League.
The stat below was shown live on Sky’s Monday Night Football prior to the game – showing Diame ahead of Everton’s Gueye and Leicester’s Ndidi – however his total will have only risen, with Mo making a number of successful tackles during our 1-2 win last night:
11 seconds in and Mo Diame has already made a tackle
— Drew Anderson (@drewanderson77) November 26, 2018
To me, this stat – and his overall performance last night – shows exactly what he does so well in this team; even if there’s certain groups of Newcastle fans who feel he doesn’t offer enough.
Yes he’s had some below par performances this season and had endured a slow start in general, but he is key to what we’re trying to achieve this season – and his tackles, interceptions and physical presence in the middle play a big part in protecting our defence and disrupting the oppositions play.
He may be 32 next summer, but if he can keep his performance levels anywhere near the standard of last night, he fully deserves a new contract – with his current deal due to expire next summer.
