Newcastle United star believes break has come at bad time | OneFootball

Despite it potentially being something that will end up benefiting him on a personal level, Matt Targett thinks this Qatar World Cup break has been a negative for Newcastle United.

Describing it as ‘just another challenge that we need to rise to’, the NUFC defender thinks the six weeks suspension of competitive matches ‘came at the wrong time’ for Newcastle.

Matt Targett was exceptional last season and as all Newcastle fans know, it was Dan Burn and he (Targett) who were at the heart of the revival and march away from relegation last season, when it came to the influence of new signings.

Before Bruno Guimaraes even started a game for Newcastle United, Matt Targett had came into the side and helped NUFC to 13 points from a possible fifteen, although that did include three points against Villa with Targett watching from the sidelines, as he was on loan from them at the time. In his 16 starts last season, Newcastle picked up 31 points, just a fraction under an average of two points per game.

This time around, Matt Targett started four of the first seven Premier League matches and struggled a bit with illness. His last start, ironically, was before the last international break in September.

Eddie Howe then made some big, possibly massive, decisions. He paired Schar and Botman in the middle, wanted to keep Burn in the team and moved him to left-back, the net result being that Matt Targett has been named on the bench for all eight Premier League games in October and November. With 22 points from a possible 24, no wonder Eddie Howe has been happy to see no reason to change.

As I said at the start, this latest and bigger international break could end up benefiting Matt Targett on a personal level.

Eddie Howe maybe mixing things up and also possibly giving time for the World Cup participants to bed back in, possibly seeing Matt Targett returning to the PL eleven.

What is for sure, is the spirit that oozes out of the NUFC squad, even when out of the team, Matt Targett and others are all still buying into the group mentality, rather than the conduct of certain players at other clubs, that we have especially seen in recent times.

Matt Targett in Riyadh, speaking to the official club site:

“I think the break came at the wrong time for us.

“But it is just another challenge that we need to rise to.

“It will be important that we kick off where we left off.

“In that first part of the season we did unbelievable, so we will take it game at a time – I know it’s a horrible saying, but we go into every match wanting to win, so who knows?

“We haven’t set ourselves any targets, but we’re in a very good position and it’s our job to try and maintain that.

“I’m sure it’ll be a special season.”

Feeling the warmth…

“It’s been very warm…it makes you work a little bit harder.

“So it is nice to be out here and working hard.

“It benefits you, for sure.

“Especially when you get back to to England where it’s a bit – well, a lot – colder!

“It’s a complete reset.

“You go away, you rest for a bit, but you can’t rest too long because you’re back to work and we want to pick up where we left off.

“I felt like we were a very fit team before the break, so it’s very important that we return at those high levels we showed at the start of the season.

“The group here’s fantastic, so trips like this help everyone.

“We’ve got a few young players coming up, so it’s nice to get to know them and see what they can do, and then obviously for the new players like (Alexander) Isak, that helps.

“I think the trip benefitted me a lot when we went to Dubai when I first joined.

“It’s a real chance to get to know everyone that much better.”