Rafa Benitez must pick £3m Swiss star to play to Rondon’s strengths

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Rafael Benitez should seriously consider starting Fabian Schar to get the best out of Salomon Rondon.

Schar arrived at St. James’ Park this summer for the value of his Deportivo La Coruna release clause (£3 million) and has made just two appearances for the club so far against Chelsea and Nottingham Forest.

He has been biding his time waiting for chances, with mainly Jamaal Lascelles, Federico Fernandez and Ciaran Clark alternating for the centre-back positions so far.

Only Benitez will truly know why Schar is currently not worthy of starting more games.

But on the evidence of his performance for Switzerland against England on Tuesday, perhaps the Spaniard should trust his summer recruit.

Schar against England

Schar caught the eye against the Three Lions.

It was an uninspiring collective performance from Gareth Southgate’s side, but the defender did impress.

What was most notable about Schar was his ability to successfully play raking long passes from the back.

Admittedly he looked a little shaky defensively, but his long passing game appeared very strong.

Perhaps once he plays more games he will become more solid in that aspect.

The ideal player for Rondon?

Despite this, Benitez should still consider starting Schar more often.

Newcastle have picked up where they left off in 2017/18.

Although they finished in 10th place in the Premier League, they struggled on the goalscoring front and that appears to be happening again early doors.

Rondon appears to be Benitez’s go-to man now following early trust in Joselu, and Schar’s long passing attributes could really bring out the best in the Venezuelan.

Rondon is an excellent target man, but he is also no slouch meaning Schar can ping one over the top for him to run on to.

At the moment the Magpies are struggling to create chances and score goals, and deploying Schar could give the Toon Army an unexpected weapon.

It may not be pretty, but it would simply be two players playing to their strengths. Newcastle must starting finding ways to score by whatever means necessary, and this could be one way of doing so.