Newcastle United midfielder Sandro Tonali won’t be able to play again until August, but the Italy international is definitely making the most of his time on the training surface.
Sandro Tonali may be suspended, but Eddie Howe says the Newcastle United midfielder’s game has ‘improved’ after he was given a ‘specialised’ training programme.
Tonali is over halfway through his 10-month punishment for betting violations, which he received in October. Tonali will be unable to play for Newcastle until August, but the 24-year-old has been able to train with his teammates.
Tonali was the first to acknowledge that he felt ‘lost’ after moving from AC Milan, but the summer signing has definitely profited from his time on the pitch in recent months.
“We have spent time with him identifying areas of his game that we want to improve,” the coach told reporters. “He has a lot of time to accomplish it, so we’ve spent a lot of time with him on it.
“That automatically occupies your brain in whatever you’re doing. If we hadn’t done that, and he had just received random, non-specialised instruction, he could have drifted mentally.
“I have to mention that he has been really effective at encouraging his teammates and improving the training sessions for everyone. Even though he is not participating, I have noticed considerable improvement in his game.
“It can be tough to enhance your skills without the match stimulus that you require, but he has participated in training games and larger pitch events. It is critical that we do this for him so that he does not suffer athletically.
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