It is amazing how quickly a discussion can change on social media. At the beginning of the week, notable journalists and a lot of the fan base were questioning the decision to commit funds to sign Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall. Although the pair are clearly talented full-backs, the general comments were that the money – around £60m – could have been better used in other areas of the pitch. Rather than future-proof the full-back positions, there was a feeling that the club could have spent money on the now.
Following the Carabao Cup victory over Manchester United, those criticisms have quickly fallen by the wayside, as both Livramento and Hall were central to the win. The former played a key role in the opening goal, as he won the ball back, carried the ball most of the length of the pitch before playing a great through ball to Miguel Almiron to open the scoring. The athleticism coupled with the excellent reading of the game was impressive and underlined why the club were persistent in their move for the former Southampton player.
The second goal offered the chance for Hall to show his worth. He has had a slower start to life on Tyneside, but he is still in his teenage years and he is learning the game. It was never likely that he would be thrown in too soon. Like Livramento, Hall started the move with some smart play in the build-up. He then continued to join the attack and took a position up in the left half-space. When the ball dropped to him, he showed great confidence as he struck the ball on the volley past Andre Onana. It was a superb piece of individual skill.
During the game, Livramento showed his quality in both halves of the pitch. Manchester United struggled to get much change from him, as he completed two tackles and won eight of his ten ground duels. This was in addition to two clearances and four recoveries. It was an assured defensive performance from the England U21 international.
With the ball, he was very good. The standout part of his performance was his ball carrying, as he completed both of his dribbles. The run for the first goal was excellent and underlined the confidence that he has with the ball.
Meanwhile, Hall played left back and his performance was a large step up from his debut against Manchester City. He won both of his attempted tackles and made four recoveries. In possession, he grew into the game. Some of his passes were excellent and showed how he is positive with the ball. The current loanee made five passes into the final third during the game.
The club need to be given time before a transfer or an entire window can be judged. Livramento is just coming back from a serious injury and isn’t ready for an intense schedule. It is beneficial to his long-term availability to be eased into the team. While Kieran Trippier is performing to a high level, Livramento is always going to have limited minutes. However, the plan will be for the young right back to assume more and more responsibility until he is ready to take over from Trippier.
When it comes to Hall, he is only a teenager and this is his first time moving away from home. He needs to be managed carefully, which is why he hasn’t been seen on the pitch much. However, there is no doubt that he has the potential to be a great player for the club. There is no need to rush him though, as he has plenty of years to develop on Tyneside. His versatility will be important over the coming weeks as we manage an injury crisis, but he will still need to be managed.
In hindsight, the club may have done things differently during the summer, had they known that Sandro Tonali would get a lengthy ban and Harvey Barnes would get a serious injury. It is impossible to predict events like these.
A more predictable event would have been an injury to either Trippier or Dan Burn, as both players are over the age of 30 and playing lots of matches for us at full-back. When considering this, it makes sense why the club chose to allocate resources to signing full-backs.
On Wednesday, these lads showed why we signed them. It is now time to put trust in the club to manage their developments correctly. If they do, we will look back on the 2023 summer window as a fantastic one for the club.
