The biggest issue with this Newcastle team – Now very clear after Chelsea defeat?

There’s rightly a lot of frustration surrounding Newcastle United right now, and for me the most frustrating thing is the CB situation.

From a purely tactical perspective, that’s the position which would give us the largest marginal gain. Of course right wing is crucial too, but the right CB could truly be transformative too. The fact we identified that over the summer, honed in on a target – and then failed to get him, is just so, so annoying.

Our centre-backs being able to close that space between them and the midfield by jumping forward is what mitigated the lack of a no. 6 in the flat midfield.

Sven Botman is good at it, and so we’ve missed him, and I do think Fabian Schar is starting to decline physical and defensively very quickly.

I’ve seen people say that we played a “high line” at Chelsea on Sunday – which wasn’t even remotely true (to the point where I’m not sure what people are watching) – but rather it was the opposite issue really.

Our centre-backs don’t coordinate their pressure with the midfield, meaning the likes of Cole Palmer (or any no. 10 really) will always have time to receive and turn because the midfield jump high, the backline don’t – which equals massive spaces between the lines.

We lack the personnel to perform this function well for 38 games a season, and the lack of a CB signing has meant that it’s still very much the case.

I hope the return of Botman, and a January transfer window, gets us closer to where we need to be.