Sandro Tonali was star man for Italy on Thursday night, as he scored and got an assist in a man of the match performance. A 2-0 win over Northern Ireland that now leaves the Newcastle United star and his international teammates one win from the 2026 World Cup finals.
A lot of Newcastle United fans happy to congratulate their player after this display for his country in Bergamo.
However, other NUFC supporters not quite so ready to send Sandro Tonali their best wishes.
Instead, a lot of these characters want to believe the worst.
They want to believe that Sandro Tonali could have played for Newcastle United against Sunderland on Sunday but that he chose not to.
These Newcastle United fans not just claiming that the midfielder put Italy first, but that he totally pied off the club that paid his wages, refusing to make himself available at all for the derby match.
I know it might sound a bit radical in this age of many Newcastle United fans wanting to continually believe the worst in those who represent us at NUFC, but what happened to giving the benefit of the doubt, especially to those who have delivered so many positives previously?
Sandro Tonali on Wednesday 18 March raced back in the nick of time to touch the ball away from a Barcelona player who was deep in the United penalty area and about to square the ball for his teammates. Summing up just how everything went against Newcastle United that night, Barcelona got a corner and scored from it, despite the home player not touching the ball at all, only kicking Tonali. It looked a nasty one as Sandro Tonali appeared to be in serious pain, after lengthy treatment on the pitch he was replaced and limped around the side of the pitch. A lot of talk that he could be out for the rest of the season.
By Friday 20 March, Eddie Howe said that MRI scans thankfully showed no serious injury but that Sandro Tonali was a major doubt for the Sunderland match. Sunday 22 March came along and pre-match photos showed Tonali arrive but not in his NUFC tracksuit and clearly not going to be involved.
Just watching on TV, the way Sandro Tonali looked when forced off at the Barcelona match, I would have been very surprised if he had played against Sunderland. If Newcastle United had then had their usual midweek match last night (Thursday 26 March), I wouldn’t have been surprised at all if Sandro Tonali had started for NUFC. With these type of knocks, especially with how serious this one looked at first, there can be a huge difference between a match three and a half days later and one eight nights later.
On top of that, I have now been reading a number of journalists reporting that their information is that Sandro Tonali had actually wanted to play against Sunderland, but Newcastle United’s medical specialists saying that he definitely shouldn’t, in case he caused a far more serious injury.
For those who always want to believe the worst in Newcastle United players and the manager, I remember how so many of them were giving Eddie Howe over the top stick, wanting to blame him for the incredible bad luck we had with the 2023/24 season, the worst for injuries in living memory at NUFC. Some fans wanting to blame Eddie Howe for supposedly being reckless and bringing players back too early, playing them when he shouldn’t and so on. Summer 2024 saw James Bunce appointed as Performance Director, one of the key aspects of his role reported to be reducing the number of injuries. I think it was all completely overblown at the time anyway, the wanting to blame Eddie Howe for that worst ever season for injuries, but it is laughable now that if the expert medical advice to Eddie Howe and Sandro Tonali is that he shouldn’t play against Sunderland, if they had then both ignored that advice and Tonali had played against the Mackems. Of course, if Sandro Tonali had turned out last Sunday and aggravated the issue and suffered a serious injury, then that would naturally be Eddie Howe’s fault as well in their eyes.
This happens continually, those Newcastle fans who want to always find fault. At Tottenham, when Bruno Guimaraes picked up his injury in that away win, afterwards I saw the critics saying that “obviously” Bruno should have been taken off as he was clearly knackered and at risk of injury. The reality is that Bruno often looks fatigued in matches but has that incredible engine that allows him usually to just keep on going and work through it, he hates ever coming off the pitch before the final whistle. With the critics, if Eddie Howe had subbed off Bruno earlier in that Spurs match, if then the home side had scored an equaliser, then the very same people would have then blamed Howe for bringing his captain off!
Past history
When this kind of debate rages, surely you should be balanced enough to look at what has happened previously, does this player (or manager…) deserve the benefit of the doubt?
Last season, Sandro Tonali started all six of the Carabao Cup matches as he was a key figure in United lifting the trophy, whilst he also played in 36 of the 38 Premier League matches as Newcastle qualified for the Champions League once again.
This season, nobody has played in more Newcastle United matches than Sandro Tonali. Both he and Malick Thiaw have now played in 47 of the 51 games played so far.
A bit like the team and squad overall, Sandro Tonali has experienced a season of fluctuating form, but he has been the constant holding the midfield together especially with both Joelinton and Bruno missing a fair few games due to injury.
Anthony Gordon
For the Newcastle United fans always looking to find fault, Anthony Gordon is another who is repeatedly not given the benefit of the doubt. As well as assists, Gordon already has 17 goals this season, whilst after Tonali and Thiaw, he has the next highest number of appearances this season. Anthony Gordon has played in 45 of the 51 Newcastle games so far and he was suspended for three of the six he didn’t feature in.
I think he is easily our best attacking player and yet, some Newcastle United fans will only be happy once he’s left the club. This somehow ‘proving’ that he had always been desperate to leave, hadn’t really been committed etc etc.
The stupidity reached an all time high/low, when I read some Newcastle United fans claiming last year when he got sent off against Brighton in the FA Cup, that Anthony Gordon had done this on purpose so that he wouldn’t be able to play against Liverpool, the ridiculous ‘theory’ was that this would then help the scousers win the Carabao Cup in advance of him moving to Anfield in summer 2025. The things some fans want to believe…the same Anthony Gordon who had done at least as much as any other player to get United to that final, including scoring home and away against Arsenal, yet he was supposedly desperate to create a situation where he wouldn’t then be able to play in the final.
With Anthony Gordon, we saw the shameful ignorant comments from Rooney, Keane and worst of all Alan Shearer, slagging Gordon off when he didn’t start at home in the recent Barcelona match, only coming on as a sub. This trio and others, including many Newcastle fans, wanting to believe Anthony Gordon simply chose not to start in this huge match. Eddie Howe later stating that despite having been ill in bed for three days before the game Gordon HAD wanted to start against Barcelona, BUT it was Howe, on the advice of the medical team, who made the decision.
The main man
Of course, when it comes to not giving the benefit of the doubt, the very worst is what I read and hear from some Newcastle United fans on Eddie Howe.
It isn’t that he is above criticism, it isn’t that he doesn’t make mistakes, it isn’t that he should have a job for life regardless.
However, some of the abuse from certain Newcastle United fans is appalling. As though Eddie Howe is some kind of idiot, who hasn’t got a clue what he is doing. Totally disregarding what he has achieved during his four and a half years at Newcastle United, now wanting to make out that Howe has fluked the Champions League qualifying campaigns, the runs to Wembley, the winning a trophy despite the most challenging run of opponents imaginable. All of this whilst battling against the odds, against clubs with far greater resources and power bases developed over many years.
I don’t want to get too much into the Eddie Howe side of things and this current season, as I am in the middle of doing another article on that.
However, suffice to say, I believe that along with the likes of Tonali and Gordon (and others), I think Eddie Howe absolutely deserves the benefit of the doubt, he has earnt the right to have at least one more season managing Newcastle United.
A final word on the endless transfer speculation, so much of it generated by people who would like nothing more to see Newcastle United fail and fall apart.
Why not give our players the benefit of the doubt?
These near five years and nine transfer windows have seen only Alexander Isak willingly leave this Eddie Howe led team, all the others who have left, it has been Howe and Newcastle United’s decision.
In transfer window after transfer window, claimed that numerous players are desperate to leave Newcastle United and that they will definitely be joining other clubs.
Just like all those past years, those past transfer windows, I will keep an open mind.
I will give the benefit of the doubt to those players who repeatedly have delivered for Newcastle United, that have helped deliver these league placings, cup finals, Champions League qualifications and indeed, a trophy.