Allan Saint-Maximin is a man who is causing quite the stir amongst Newcastle United fans. There is no doubting the man’s ability but his consistency and end product have lit a fierce debate across the fan base.
The Frenchman is frustrating yet dazzling in equal measure for some, while others won’t have a bad word said against him, and some are ready to cash in on him this summer. Despite all the noise, Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe has made it clear that Saint-Maximin is part of his plans going forward.
His performance in the one-nil win over Wolves was a game for many that simply poured fuel on the already raging debate over his future on Tyneside. A moment of magic to help set up the eventual penalty was accompanied by frustrating parts of his game such as holding on to the ball for too long.
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There’s no doubting that United’s main outlet is Saint-Maxmin, who when running at pace is quite something to watch. Managers, such as Everton’s Frank Lampard, have described him as ‘unplayable’, and when he is on his game, that’s not far off the truth.
Yet in recent weeks, with Saint-Maximin lacking match fitness, we’ve seen him struggle in the black and white. Even with his role in the winning goal against Wolves, some fans still believe he’s not doing enough to earn his place.
In the recent episode of The Everything is Black and White Podcast, host Andrew Musgrove and Newcastle United Editor Aaron Stokes addressed the Allan Saint-Maximin debate.
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Andrew Musgrove: I felt his performance just fuelled the debate that has been going on in recent weeks. He frustrated me on Friday, then he had that one moment of magic to set Joelinton away for the penalty.
That’s what he can do. When he’s running at defences, they’re scared, they can’t handle him.
The frustrating thing for me is that he wasn’t passing the ball at the right time. There was a moment in the second half when he dances past a few defenders and then passes the ball out to Bruno.
Everyone turned and said something along the lines of ‘the one time you don’t want him to pass the ball and instead actually shoot, was that move there!' This debate will rage on as long as he puts in performances like this.
Aaron Stokes: 100%. I said before the game against Wolves that this was the game where he really needed to show up and prove the doubters wrong. We went in at half-time thinking that is such a low-quality game but with Saint-Maximin they were using him quite a lot.
Miggy came on for Fraser quite early on but all Newcastle’s attacks were coming down the left, and Saint-Maximin just didn’t seem to have the beating of the Wolves' defenders. Fans were getting on his back in the first half - not many played well in the first half and I thought he was certainly one of them but in the second half, I thought he was much better and don’t agree with a lot of the stick he’s got in recent days.
He was brilliant for the goal. No faffing about with the ball, just give it and go and set up the move for the penalty.
There was that volley in the box which he should have done better with, and then he squared the ball across the box in which Chris Wood was inches away from getting there. He then had the pass to Bruno who squeezed a shot off.
I thought he was their main outlet in the second half, a much-improved team performance, and he was unlucky he didn’t get a goal. Look, he was infuriating at times but I don’t think he deserves the stick I’ve been seeing him get.
AM : He is Newcastle’s main outlet but that shouldn’t excuse him from criticism if it’s justified. And from most, it’s constructive criticism.
He needs to release the ball earlier or make the right decision. It’s such fine margins because if he does those things, making the right pass, we’ll be talking about him living up to what we know he can do.
AS : This is the debate which we’ve been having for weeks and months now - he does all the right things but for his decision making. And it is such a simple thing - if he just released the ball at the right time, or got his head up a bit earlier, then we would be talking about a really, really good player.
But at the moment, he is frustrating because he tries to beat too many players. He has got the majority of Newcastle’s goals this season but I don’t think he scores enough.
It’s hard when he is the main outlet but he needs to be adding goals to his game. Until he hits that level of consistency, there’s always going to be this debate.
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