Newcastle United winger Allan Saint-Maximin has struggled to hit top form this season and former player Kieron Dyer has now revealed that the Frenchman has not been the same player this season.
The Magpies have been in fine form this season and as a result of that, most teams have chosen to sit deep against them and frustrate their attackers.
It is clear that Eddie Howe needs technically gifted players to unlock the deep defenses and Saint-Maximin is someone who has that ability. The Frenchman has the pace and flair to cause all sorts of problems for defenders.
However, the 25-year-old Frenchman is lacking in form and confidence right now and it will be interesting to see if he can recapture his peak form during the second half of the season.
“These top teams have a special player that can make the difference [vs a low-block]. They can go by two players,” he said.
“He’s [Saint-Maximin] out of favour. You can say he’s nowhere near the player he was from last season, maybe that’s a confidence thing,” he added.
“They need to get him firing to make the difference in that final third against teams like that or, we’re in January and there’s still a few days to go.”
? "Saint-Maximin is nowhere near the player he was last season, they need to get him firing to make the difference."
Kieron Dyer & Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink feel Newcastle United are lacking a natural goalscorer in the team right now pic.twitter.com/z3uWhi4OJp
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) January 21, 2023
Newcastle will be pushing for a place in the Champions League next year and they will need to finish the season strongly.
Having a player like Saint-Maximin back in form would be a huge boost for the Magpies and it remains to be seen how the situation evolves.
So says a ” player” who faked injury, when Bobby Robson told him to play in a different position, every comment he made, he looked to his right, as if to ask is that OK.