Is the criticism of Newcastle’s Mohamed Diame unfair?

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Newcastle United midfielder Mohamed Diame has had a rough ride this season.

The former Senegal international has been a mainstay in the Magpies’ engine room so far this term, partnering Jonjo Shelvey or Ki Sung-yueng if the Englishman was absent.

Diame, admittedly, has not been at his best in 2018/19, but he has received a lot of criticism from his own fans and neutrals after some of his performances.

Newcastle as a collective have struggled for most of the season.

But he club have now won their last two Premier League games and the rut appears to be over.

It seems to be a good time at which to reflect on Diame’s season, and it has to said he doesn’t deserve the negativity he has been getting.

One of the league’s most combative

Diame, according to official Premier League statistics, has made the third-most number of successful tackles (42) in the Premier League so far, behind only Idrissa Gueye (57) and Aaron Wan-Bissaka (45).

The consensus is that Diame is poor in possession and not the greatest dribbler.

But that tackling statistic is impressive and one that not too many people will know about.

Diame does frustrate sometimes but from a defensive standpoint, he actually hasn’t been too bad.

Sometimes fans can scapegoat a player subconsciously, and that appears to have happened with Diame.

With the team having won their last two, there has been some sheepish praise for the ex-West Ham United player, but in truth he hasn’t really played that much better.