In the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night, David Moyes led Newcastle to a thrilling 3-1 victory over Arsenal. However, one of the Scot’s decisions left former Manchester United and Newcastle star Andrew Cole less than impressed.
Given that the game was between his two former teams, the striker had a stake in how things turned out at Old Trafford, but he was particularly interested in what transpired at the London Stadium.
Danny Ings hasn’t scored a goal this season, according to WhoScored, so it’s likely that his manager decided to keep him off the field in what was perhaps their most crucial game of the year.
Cole wasn’t comfortable with that choice.
He said on Sky Sports (via Hammers News) that “it does surprise me because Danny Ings is there, but he never gets a game, so I look at it like, ‘why did you bring him in’? In my opinion, he’s among the Premier League’s top goal scorers. The fact that he’s playing Bowen up front when he has Ings strikes me as extremely odd. It seems like another odd signing to me because he’s never been given the chance.
There, Cole has somewhat let himself down.
He is obviously not one of the best strikers in the Premier League, at least not right now, as he has neither assisted nor scored any goals in 2023–24. Of course, Moyes has his critics, but given that Ings has one of the worst records in the division thus far this season, it is hard to hold him accountable for not playing the striker. It’s safe to assume that Ings’ condition is not going to get any better, especially with the January transfer window approaching.
