Newcastle United's Nowhere Man

One of the most startling things about last night's defeat was the lack of impact we made down the left wing. Indeed with the absence of Duff and N'Zogbia we haven't been making much of an impact down the left wing for some time now.

So just where is Albert Luque in all this? Whilst he's mainly been utilised as a striker in his time at Newcastle, he's more than capable of playing wide left and indeed has suggested that this is his favoured position.

With the current injury crisis you`d expect a manager to call on every available resource, but it seems that Roeder prefers two sub-championship wingers, Pattison and O'Brien, over a £9.5 million man who has played for his country 9 times.

It's doubtful that Luque has a long term future at the club and many people will be glad to see him go when he finally leaves. But while he's here, we may as well use him. He's certainly better than Pattison and O`Brien who at times struggle to even control the ball.

Roeder has criticised Luque for his attitude, but what does the manager expect? On the occasions Luque has come in to the team and played well and scored, as in the game against Palermo, he's found himself dropped from the squad completely for the next game. That's certainly not the way to instil confidence in a player.

Say what you like about him, Luque is a good footballer, he's proved that in the past and he'll prove it again in the future. Sadly I very much doubt it will be for Newcastle United.

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