How Newcastle’s 8-0 thrashing of Sheffield United made one Dream Team manager richer

THERE was nothing subtle about the strategy deployed by Dream Team gaffer Nathan Glendenning in Gameweek 6.

Nathan selected TEN Newcastle players to accompany Erling Haaland (£8.3m) and the all-or-nothing tactic paid off handsomely.

His team amassed 200 points, the highest tally for Gameweek 6, an achievement that translates to £100 in real-world cash.

Here’s his XI in full.

Needless to say, the Magpies’ 8-0 thrashing of Sheffield United was the decisive fixture in Gameweek 6.

Nathan activated his Park the Bus Booster to double the points of all his defenders and he must have laughed himself silly when Kieran Trippier (£5.4m) provided assists for Dan Burn (£3.6m) and Sven Botman (£3.9m) in quick succession last Sunday.

The England full-back ended with a hat-trick of assists as part of a mightily impressive 17-point haul when the Toon’s clean sheet was confirmed at Bramall Lane.

Eddie Howe’s side went on to register their fourth clean sheet in a row with a 1-0 win over Manchester City in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.

However, Trippier, Botman and Burn were all rested for that fixture while Fabian Schar (£4m) only came off the bench deep into stoppage time.

Just imagine how many points Nathan would have stacked up had Newcastle fielded their first-choice back four in midweek too!

Still, it’s not like he missed out on the points available at St James’ Park – Nick Pope (£4.1m) started between the sticks and match-winner Alexander Isak (£3.7m) bagged ten points to add to the seven he took off the Blades.

Bruno Guimaraes (£2.8m), Miguel Almiron (£3m) and Anthony Gordon (£2.9m) all cashed in against Paul Heckingbottom’s beleaguered troops with the latter finishing as Gameweek 6’s second-top scorer.

The ex-Everton winger looks to be a smart selection for the coming weeks too while Harvey Barnes (£3.2m) is sidelined with injury, meaning less rotation.

And of course Haaland got his customary goal against Nottingham Forest – standard procedure.

Sandro Tonali (£2.4m) was the only player to let Nathan down and the winning gaffer also missed a trick by not reverting to a formation with five at the back to coincide with his Park the Bus Booster.

But there’s no need to be too critical of somebody who achieved more points than any of rivals.

Looking forward, a Newcastle block defence certainly has legs for a few more Gameweeks yet but the long-term viability of Nathan’s midfield has to be questioned.

Not that he’ll care that much now he’s taken Dream Team for £100 – well played, Nathan!

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk