Eddie Howe has been asked when Newcastle fans can expect to see more of Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall; two summer signings who’ve barely featured so far this season.
Across six games in all competitions, the pair have managed just four minutes of action between them, with Livramento featuring in the final stages of our 1-0 defeat to Man City last month.
Howe insists Tino is “training really well” but is up against the “outstanding” Kieran Trippier at right-back, with Hall also “competing for a starting spot” and building his fitness after arriving with very few minutes under his belt over pre-season.
He refused to say when either would feature, although many feel Sunday’s trip to Sheffield United could be the ideal time to play either, with many of our first-team stars fatigued from Tuesday’s trip to Milan.
Here’s what Howe had to say about both when asked for an update on their lack of game time:
“You will see them on the pitch. When? I am not sure. I will always pick a team that gives us the best chance of winning.
“Tino is training very well and is really, really good but he is fighting with Kieran Trippier who has been outstanding for us this season. Tino we see as being a huge part of our future and it’s the same with Lewis Hall.”
“Lewis has come having played no minutes during pre-season, he’s an outstanding prospect. We’re building him up and he’s competing for a starting spot.”
“I will always pick a team that gives us the best chance of winning.” Really? Tonali has trained once in a month because he’s carrying an injury, doesn’t understand English instructions, and is struggling to settle in a new country and club, but is still picked. Isak is carrying an injury and hasn’t trained but is picked. Ditto for Joelinton before he declared himself fit for Brasil and aggrevated the same injury. Eddie made such a big deal about rotating the squad, but he isn’t, and he’s risking long term injuries to players that aren’t fit enough to play in the process. We had no problems last season playing three games in a week with the squad we had, and the way things are going, we won’t be playing many more games this season.
Lee(Quote)