Sandro Tonali's Newcastle United situation cannot last as Eddie Howe looks for key Keegan found

Do we honestly know what we will get from Newcastle United come the traditional Saturday 3pm kick off? Does Eddie Howe know? Do the 3,000 who have sold out the away end at Selhurst Park? Do the other 50,000 Geordies left at home clinging to hope and little else?

For goodness sake, do Bruno and Big Joe, Anthony Gordon, Alexander Isak and Fabian Schar know what they are going to give us?

I sincerely doubt it. United are predictably unpredictable. In terms of result as well as performance will we get Arsenal or West Ham? Nottingham Forest or Everton? Manchester City or Brighton? NUFC are a walking question mark.

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Right now Brighton, Forest and Fulham are above us with Brentford lying just a point behind. That is a group attack from unexpected sources. We pray the Mags are stung into retaliation especially given that Crystal Palace are living on Skid Row, second bottom with only a single victory in a dirty dozen Premier League games but dare we expect it.

What we got on Monday night was a Hammer blow leaving a sightseeing visit to the Palace coming on the back of a shock capital loss.

Every single Newcastle player needs to step up on their performance at a disbelieving St James' Park. No amount of reassuring words from Howe will gloss over the truth. United defended badly and couldn't hit a barn door at the other end. They are 10th with an indifferent record of five wins three draws and four defeats which is hardly a launch pad for Europe. A boat bobbing about on high waves needs a strong hand on the tiller and a deliberate sense of direction before it is too late.

Who gets the nod from the start is open to conjecture apart from the fact that Dan Burn will definitely be back following his one-match suspension.

United have some good players, admittedly, without possessing a magician who can unpick locks. The trouble is that too many of them have the same plusses and minuses and so don't dovetail together. Football is all about blend, complimenting one another instead of bringing exactly the same to the party.

Howe has plenty to contemplate and solve. Not least United's recruitment department of which he is a significant part. For example what was the thinking in buying Sandro Tonali at £52m to go with Bruno and Harvey Barnes when you have Anthony Gordon? All four are internationals so are good players but it can be argued they do the same jobs.

Tonali and Bruno are top technicians yet have not been readily put in harness of late because both are better at the same job, pushing on from midfield, while the other two are both outside-lefts. Can Howe get all four in the same side without making it unbalanced? Outstanding bosses manage to do the impossible - Kevin Keegan did it with Alan Shearer and Les Ferdinand when most neutrals suggested they couldn't play together because they were both target men. If Howe cannot solve his problem are United getting full value for the thick end of £200m? Then he has to address outside-right where there is absolutely no one.

It is no good picking quality off the top shelf in the market place without knowing how they will fit in together. Tonali is the stand out star of the Italian national side but a bit player here. That cannot last. Injury checks required on Bruno and Joe Willock might be conveniently used to open the door for Tonali at Palace but what does Howe do long term when all are 100 per cent fit? And who is the No 1 playmaker of vision and precision?

As far as goals are concerned - the most important aspect of football - only Isak and Barnes have decent figures and Barnes is far from a regular starter. Isak has scored four in 10 PL appearances and Barnes four in five starts plus seven subs. Compare that to Gordon (2 in 11), Joelinton (2 in 12) and a shoal of people on no goals at all - Murphy from six starts and four more off the bench, Willock four starts and six sub, Longstaff seven starts and four sub, Tonali four starts and six sub, and Bruno all 12 starts. Can Callum Wilson improve on those stats? Can he remain fit? Can he do 90 minutes?

Palace provide an opportunity of redemption because the team that finished last season and the team that has started this are very different. Then the Londoners were bristling with promise before the vultures started hovering to disrupt harmony. Now they are second bottom trying to buy a win.

Standing directly in our way will be Addji Keaninkin Marc-Israel Guehi who might have been playing for us against them given the amount of time and energy put in to try and sign him during the summer. Guehi may still be a late arrival but right now we need Alexander Isak and his outriders to swarm all over him.

A major problem is that Palace aren't a possession based team even at home and will therefore sit in and attempt to hit United on the counter. When teams do that against us we haven't got the nous to put them to the buck. All of which could make for a difficult afternoon.

Dare we contemplate defeat? No we dare not. Palace provide too much of an opportunity to return to winning ways based on their poor record and a victory is desperately required as a confidence booster before table toppers Liverpool arrive next Wednesday.