People might say Newcastle is our bogey team. I say that is an excuse. We created match winning chances at the weekend and we wasted them. It's time to accept that Christian Benteke is the only finisher in our first XI. This means Lambert must makes changes.
Gabby is no longer a striker. He is a forward with pace and power and he creates chances. But despite not taking them I still think he adds value to our team. Weimann on the other hand couldn't pass the sauce down the table at the moment let alone a football. I like his endeavour but he is a weak link in the attack and it’s time to give someone else a chance. Tonev is that man.
Benteke continues to justify his selection with goals but offers little else. It would be hard to justify dropping someone with four goals in four games even if his replacement might help us score more and it would take a brave man to do it.
The problem is that Benteke nullifies many attacks with poor distribution and poor holding of the ball. It's a Benteke who clearly had a wonder season or wants out and I can't put my finger on which one right now.
I'm beginning to wonder whether it's time to give Guzan and Westwood a break. Guzan is a great keeper but saving into the path of the opposition has been a weak point this season.
There's no harm in giving Steer a chance given that Guzan hasn't kept a clean sheet in months. And let’s face it, if Steer keeps a clean sheet by luck who is to care?
Now onto Westwood. He is the player Bannan could've been, although without the panache (which is non-essential). However, we need some cutting edge alongside Delph. Bacuna seems like that player, but clearly Lambert wanted someone in this position and we missed out.
Now we are ruing that missed opportunity. Who's going to feed the lions other than Delph? Maybe Tonev is an option here and we bring Kozák or Helenius into Weimann's position.
Defence is still a worry but with few options. Okore looks like the real deal but I still think we lack a good partner for him. We can't dwell on this too much as we don't have options.
Attack is where the choices are and where we can make a difference. Right now we need to play "we'll score more than you" and I'm positive we can and will make the chances, but we need to start putting them away. And creating more won't hurt.