Fabian Schar is arguably playing his best football in a Newcastle United shirt right now.
Under the previous regime, Schar was cast aside and rarely allowed to flourish as he does so often at international level. Despite being heralded as one of the Magpies’ star players under Rafa Benitez, the Swiss centre-back’s form nosedived under Steve Bruce, with the more robust Ciaran Clark and Federico Fernandez preferred to the technically-gifted Schar.
He found himself in and out of the team, switching between a back four or a back five and sometimes in the midfield anchor role. A one-year extension signed last summer is set to expire in June and, if it were not for a swift revival under new management, his days on Tyneside would have been numbered.
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One of Eddie Howe’s first acts as Toon boss was to put a shoulder around Schar and make him the focal point of the defence. The 30-year-old is the club’s most effective ball-playing defender and those qualities ticked a lot of boxes for the former Bournemouth manager - who is renowned for his attacking brand of football.
Since then, Schar has played all but one - Newcastle’s 4-0 defeat to Man City in December - of Howe’s 16 games in charge, a reflection of how well he has performed since returning to the fold. Alan Shearer named the defender as his man of the match following the 2-1 win against Brighton, recognition the Magpies’ icon also gave him after a stellar showing against Leeds in January.
A deeper look at the stats further highlights the improvement Schar has made. He is averaging 2.2 aerial duels won per game in 21/22, more than double (0.9) than he did under Bruce. Clearances are also up drastically, with Schar making 4.5 per game compared to 2.8 last season. Blocks (0.8) and Interceptions (1.6) have slightly increased, whereas tackles (0.7) have stayed the same.
Schar stats breakdown
Schar has been one of the biggest winners of Howe’s relentless work on the training ground and Newcastle supporters are finally seeing the best of a player who showed plenty of promise under Benitez. A fully-fledged international who was a penalty shoot-out away from helping Switzerland reach the Euro 2020 semi-finals, Schar can have a big part to play on Tyneside in the coming years and offering the 30-year-old a new contract should be a key priority this summer.
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