Ayoze Perez (Newcastle United Forward): Two Years Gone And Yet To Fulfil His Early Promise.

Ayoze Perez (Newcastle United Forward) ; Two Years And Yet To Show The Required Level Of Consistency.

By Ewah Chika.

Once the transfer target of Barcelona and Real Madrid, Ayoze Perez has failed to live up to the billing in Newcastle United as he has found himself more on the sidelines this season.

Under Rafa Benitez, the former Tenerife striker has seen the likes of  Yoan Guaffran and Christian Atsu ranked ahead of him in the pecking order. One thing most Geordie fans can testify is the Spaniard's deft touch, vision, dribbling and ability to create something out of nothing, which is something lacking in the present Newcastle team.
Such was the forward's form and early promise that Newcastle forked out €2 million to sign him from Tenerife (scored 14 goals in 76 league games) where he was awarded the Breakthrough Player in the 2013/2014 Segunda Division and the Best Attacking Midfielder in the same season at the LFP Awards Ceremony. This season in the Championship, Perez was so impressive in the 6-0 win over Queens Park Rangers in September, scoring a goal and terrorising the QPR defence all day.

Such was Perez's display in the QPR win that it was shocking he flopped big time in the next game against Wolverhampton Wanderers before his substitution in the second-half. Things will only become worse as he was not even named in the team sheet for the next league game with Rotherham. This isn't the first time the forward is facing this problem as his inconsistencies have been his main problem since his 2014 signing under the likes of Alain Pardew, John Carver, Steve McClaren and then Rafa Benitez. Under Benitez, the player is accused of contributing very little to the team's defence making team less-balanced unlike the less-talented but often preferred Guaffran. This is not just all, as the player appears like a  lightweight in both the Premier League and Championship. To buttress further, one needs to analyse  the season opener against Fulham (Newcastle lost 1-0) , where one glaring incident was his consistent bullying by Fulham the defenders.

Another point to be noted is Perez's inability to to work for the team which is vital for any player willing to succeed under Benitez who values work ethic. With Newcastle 3rd in the table on 22 points and with a goal difference of 12 after 11 games, Benitez and his coaching crew are on course to gain automatic promotion to the Premiership considering their impressive form of late. While Perez must learn to play more for the team at the same time maintaining that level of consistency needed to remain at the top although it must be noted that he is only 23 hence still has a lot of growing up and development to do .