As bad as Murphy: Howe must drop Newcastle star who had fewer touches than Pope

Newcastle United were mere moments away from picking up a much-needed Premier League win on their travels to Nottingham Forest on Sunday afternoon.

Indeed, Harvey Barnes had broken the deadlock with only 16 minutes of the game remaining, as Jacob Ramsey found him in space to beat Matz Sels.

Off the back of this goal, Newcastle were momentarily in ninth position in the league standings, about to pick up two wins on the bounce, after a wretched April.

However, Elliot Anderson came back to haunt his old side with an 88th-minute equaliser, meaning the final scoreline read 1-1, as Forest continue to push away from the relegation zone.

Newcastle were made to rue missed chances come the end of the game, with Jacob Murphy offering very little in the attacking areas in Nottinghamshire.

Murphy’s poor performance vs Forest

Murphy did manage to pick up an assist when Newcastle last played at St James’ Park, as Brighton and Hove Albion were swept aside 3-1 on Tyneside, but he was back to his indifferent self at the City Ground on Sunday.

The assist he collected against the Seagulls was the 31-year-old’s first goal contribution for the Magpies since the middle of March, and he never looked like picking up another goal or an assist to add to his season tally on the road at Vitor Pereira’s hosts, with zero accurate crosses amassed, alongside zero successful dribbles.

To make matters worse, away from consistently failing to pick out teammates to try and grab another assist, the Newcastle veteran also registered no shots at Sels’ goal, meaning he had to be taken off for Barnes to show him how it’s done.

With only two Premier League games left now in the Magpies’ up-and-down season, the time is surely right for Howe to drop Murphy, as the 31-year-old further failed to win a single successful duel from his torrid 61 minutes on the City Ground turf.

Amazingly, despite the number 23’s poor performance sticking out like a sore thumb in attack, while the likes of Nick Woltemade looked lively again, there was another underperformer who put in an equally shoddy performance.

Newcastle star was as bad as Murphy

The aforementioned Woltemade, unlike Murphy, found himself in the thick of the action throughout the game at Forest, with two key passes amassed, from only 21 touches of the ball.

While the German popped up with moments of quality, despite minimal touches of the ball, William Osula just kept fluffing his lines whenever the ball found its way to him, as missed chances galore saw him clatter the crossbar with a free-kick.

He ended up accumulating fewer touches than Nick Pope in the Magpies net, with only 25 touches registered, next to the ex-Burnley stopper’s 30.

Only winning four of his 11 duels, too, it’s clear that the Danish striker isn’t a Premier League-ready centre-forward right now, with positive performances, which have seen him bag five goals this season, often then followed up by a display, such as the one against the Tricky Trees, where most of his moments in the contest are rash and inaccurate.

Arguably, he was as bad as Murphy, as his wastefulness cost the Toon an invaluable win, as much as Murphy fading in and out of the game also hurt Newcastle’s chances of a convincing three points.

It could be time for Howe to revert to having Woltemade as his lone striker, as West Ham United come to St James’ Park up next in Premier League action, with Barnes perhaps his chosen man down the left wing, too, in place of the declining 31-year-old.

At the end of the day, the Tyneside giants do still stand a chance of a European position come the end of the topsy-turvy season, and with that in mind, Howe must drop these underperformers in attack, with wins desperately needed.