Here are your Newcastle United evening headlines for Monday, January 18, ahead of tonight's game with Arsenal.
That stat which shows Bruce doesn't know strongest XI
Steve Bruce has changed his formation eight times already this season. He has had to deal with a Covid outbreak and a slew of injuries, but his consistent tinkering has not helped him and his team develop a defined way of playing.
One statistic that illustrates Bruce's lack of a starting XI comes from the CIES Football Observatory. Their study has ranked teams from 72 domestic leagues according to the percentage of minutes played by the 11 most fielded footballers.
Newcastle ranked bottom among Premier League clubs with just 68% of their minutes covered by their 11 most regular players.
In comparison, Aston Villa are top among Premier League clubs at 86.9%. Even more concerning is that no other club is below 70%, a clear illustration of Bruce's consistent tinkering.
You can read the full analysis here.
Saint-Maximin nearing return
Allan Saint-Maximin has returned to light training, and Bruce admitted that the winger could provide his beleaguered team with a much-needed spark.
Saint-Maximin has not featured since November 21 after contracting Covid-19 and struggling to deal with the impact of the virus but returned to training last week. And Bruce is eager to welcome him back into the fold.
"No matter who you are, whether you're Liverpool and you're missing [Virgil] van Dijk, or if you're missing arguably your most creative player at the top end of the pitch, then of course you're going to miss him. It's as simple as that," he told reporters on Zoom.
"He can give you a spark, he can give you a lift. Have we become over-reliant? We've been without him for weeks, so I can't really answer that.
"Have we missed him? One hundred per cent, yes, because he can give us something which gives you that spark in the last third if you like and we're not quite the same playing on the counter-attack when he's not in the team."
Bruce on getting back to basics
In an attempt to turn around their recent poor form, Bruce says that his team must get back to basics, starting against Arsenal tonight.
Newcastle were especially poor in last week's 1-0 defeat to Sheffield United, for which he has faced fierce criticism, and he says that his team must improve as they look for a response.
"Why did we throw in that one at Sheff United? No matter what formation I picked and what personnel I picked we didn't do the basics well enough," he said. "What are they? Turn up, have a bit of pride in your performance, pass the ball to each other, take part in the game.
"Forget about tactics or analysts, you need that too, but you have to do the basics as well. We certainly didn't do it at Sheff United.
"At Arsenal and the games coming up, we have to get ready for a scrap and a fight because that's where we are at the moment."
