With ESPN reporting French side Rennes are set to win the race to sign Daniele Rugani despite interest from Newcastle United, questions over Steve Bruce’s style of play will remain unanswered. Indeed, the news surrounding the future of the Italian international was further compounded by the Daily Mirror relaying quotes from the Magpies manager, claiming he didn’t expect much more on the transfer front at all while the window remains open.
Following the nervy penalty-shootout win over Newport County, the likes of George Caulkin and Craig Hope pointed out some of the major holes in this Newcastle side. Failing to have a shot on target in open play within the confines of the Premier League is bad enough but struggling to break down League Two opposition is a real worry, with Hope citing Newcastle’s ‘good luck’ more than anything else as a reason for the victory.
All this makes a failed move for Rugani sting. A crisp passer of the ball, the Juventus defender has previously been praised for his ability on that front and, during his last campaign as a genuine first-team option for the Old Lady (2017/18), certainly proved that to be the case. According to WhoScored, he attempted more passes (68.5) and completed them at a much higher success rate (90.9%) than any Newcastle defender did last season.
The Athletic have previously described Newcastle’s options in central defence – aside from Florian Lejeuene and Fabian Schar – as a ‘much of a muchness’ in that they are largely genuine defenders who lack top-level build-up play. Well, with Lejeuene having departed on loan and Schar thought to be available for offers and out of the starting XI, the fact the Magpies may miss out on Rugani is a major blow.
Under Bruce, Newcastle have been a side to have allowed the opposition the ball. While that has been a tactic to have worked at times (Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester United have all been beaten during his reign), keeping the ball better to set-up counter-attacks needs to be the next step in the process. After all, even against Newport, central defenders Federico Fernandez and Emil Krafth lost possession a combined 21 times (according to SofaScore).
If Newcastle are going to start imposing themselves on games, rather than rely on the sort of ‘luck’ Hope talks about, they need someone who can build from the back and feed balls into Jonjo Shelvey. There are willing runners in the likes of Allan Saint-Maximin, Ryan Fraser and Miguel Almiron but all three largely operate out wide, so the service simply has to be there to build meaningful attacks.
With a move for Rugani stalling – much as it did with Rob Holding a few weeks ago – and no deals likely, it’s a blow to a Newcastle side who need to start keeping the ball better.