Bruno Guimaraes took the headlines as usual, Callum Wilson picked up where he left off in front of goal and the backline was as sturdy as could be during Newcastle United's Premier League opener with Nottingham Forest on Saturday afternoon.
But the performance of Allan Saint-Maximin also deserves high praise as the Frenchman showed an early glimpse that he may just be ready to explode this season. Eddie Howe has made no secret of his desire to improve the former Nice man amid rumours he could depart for the likes of Chelsea and Tottenham.
His future immediate looks to be on Tyneside and the player looks both settled and raring to go after a pre-season packed with off-the-pitch fitness training and one-to-one nurturing on it.
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Saturday's win saw Maxi at his brilliant best. He set the tone early on by bringing down a half-volley by Kieran Trippier in sumptuous style, before doing a few keepie-ups and moving the play on. He went on to terrorise Forest right-back Neco Williams throughout the St. James' Park clash.
Saint-Maximin looked notable fitter and quicker. He offloaded the ball at the right times and was a confident as ever carrying the ball and the team forward at pace. His movement in the box was another positive in an all-round great showing.
These are the type of performances the 24-year-old needs to show regularly under Howe this season after flattering to deceive at times in recent seasons. The Newcastle manager himself has put a lot of emphasis on Saint-Maximin over the summer to try and improve numerous parts of his game.
“We've worked really hard with Maxi during pre-season. He's in a really good place, I think. He looks happy. He's trained well. He's delivered everything that we've asked him to deliver. You know, we've pushed him physically. He's responded. So I'm hoping for a very, very good season," Howe admitted last month.
“I think my big message to him at the end of last season was, physically, we need to try and get more. And that's in every area of his game; so that's more forward runs, getting in more goalscoring positions. Obviously, he's devastating when he's one v one. I wouldn't say there's a better one v one player from an attacking perspective than Maxi in world football. So we need to get the ball in better areas.
“But I think the expectation of Maxi, he's got to be able to deliver the physical effort that I want the team to deliver. So there's been a lot of individual work towards that. And yeah, I'm expecting a great season from him.”
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