A left-back left looking frustrated by the lack of cover at Newcastle United. Doesn't that sound familiar?
Take your mind back to April 1996 and John Beresford's first half substitution when the full-back was taken off after clashing with Kevin Keegan during a slender win over Aston Villa during the title race and the story is well known in these parts. Back then Beresford felt he was left exposed by David Ginola's lack of tracking back.
Beresford is quoted in Chronicle archives addressing the dilemma: "With Ginola, there were games, especially away from home, when we had to carry him. It's well documented he didn't track back too much."
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Fast forward to 2022, and Matt Targett may feel he has a similar issue with Allan Saint-Maximin. He subtly mentioned it after the win against Crystal Palace, the night the former Nice winger casually performed four stepovers in a row out on the right-wing.
Back then he said: "You have to change the way you play when you have somebody like Maxi in front of you. It's all about getting the right balance for the team."
Portugal international Joao Cancelo had something of a field day attacking Newcastle's left with overlapping runs contributing an assist, five shots and 85 touches in all. And that's before you talk about two-goal man of the match Raheem Sterling who had plenty of joy too.
The answer during the 90s was never ever really solved. Ginola's style of play also annoyed the hell out of Alan Shearer who made countless runs to either the front or back post without seeing a delivery.
Ginola was eventually sold to Spurs in 1997 before being replaced by the excellent Nobby Solano a year later. If you want a good example of a winger that can deal with the defensive work and provide crosses, the Peruvian is your man.
Shearer loved playing with Solano and was left bemused when he was old to Aston Villa only to advise former chairman Freddy Shepherd to buy him back a year after he'd been sold in 2004! Solano is arguably the finest crosser of a ball in the club's history books but also loved the defensive work too, and even ended his career as a right-back.
The other way of dealing with the issue is to ask a central midfielder to provide somebody like Targett with more cover. Asking a creative player, blessed with the type of explosiveness like Saint-Maximin, to defend never ends well.
Another example of this is arguably Paul Gascoigne during his time at Lazio. Back then England coach Lawrie McMenemy said on the documentary, the Impossible Job: "They have taken a talent like Gascoigne and asked him to conform. He needs pampering".
Whether pampering is the right word for Saint-Maximin is up for debate. Make no doubt about it, Saint-Maximin is a hard worker and puts in plenty of extra work after training. I don't see him as a luxury player, I see him as a match winner on his day.
Steve Bruce got the best out of him by putting an arm around him and channelling a lot of energy towards the French star. That resulted in two Chronicle fan player of the year awards.
But it isn't just about asking Saint-Maximin to track back and cover. His strength is attacking and in an interview last week, which was said to have been taken out of context, one thing seemed to be clear.
The line about how many assists he would have "10-15" if there was a prolific goalscorer seemed to be illustrated in the first half against Man City when he crossed for Chris Wood but the header bobbled tamely into Ederson's hands. If this is what Saint-Maximin meant in his interview with a French magazine, few Geordies will disagree with him.
When asked to assess Saint-Maximin's performance, Howe said yesterday: "I thought Maxi, you saw second half he had more of the ball, was a really counter threat. "He had moments.
"But I think when you play against Manchester City you only ever get sporadic moments as an attacking player. It is so difficult to get the ball off them.
"He would have been frustrated as you want more of the ball, more of a chance to impact, but it is difficult, as a team, as most do when they come here, to get enough possession to see your attacking players really influence the match."
Saint-Maximin may not have put in a single tackle at Man City but at the other end, he produced four crosses and two key passes including the one on a plate for Chris Wood. If Newcastle can come to another arrangement to cover for their left-back and get Saint-Maximin on the ball more, it can quickly water down conversations like this.
