Rafa Benitez Says He Sees the Potential of Newcastle as Magpies Thump Fulham 4-0

Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez has claimed that his side's 4-0 thrashing of Fulham on Sunday afternoon was not a 'perfect' performance, regardless of what the scoreline may suggest.

The Magpies earned the win on the final day of the 2018/19 Premier League season courtesy of goals from Jonjo Shelvey, Ayoze Perez, Fabian Schar and Salomon Rondon, the former netting a superb strike to open the scoring for the visitors.

Although ​the performance and result would certainly have left ​Newcastle fans in high spirits heading into the summer break, Benitez responded to questions about whether or not this performance would have impressed club owner, Mike Ashley. 

As quoted by ​The Chronicle, he said: "Everyone can see we have a group of players who care. It wasn’t amazing [the match], I think we can do better as they were pushing and doing well. Proud and really pleased yes, but it was not the perfect game."

Although the score may suggest otherwise, the Magpies' victory over Scott Parker's side was no easy feat with the ​Cottagers dominating early possession and looking to provide opportunities for former Newcastle striker ​Aleksandar Mitrovic.

Against the run of play it was only after a rapid-fire pair of goals from Shelvey and Perez that Newcastle were able to put a mark on the game, both strikes coming within two minutes of each other.

In spite of the early goals, it was only after Mitrovic missed a quality chance from Floyd Ayite's corner in the first half that the hosts look as though they might be on a downwards spiral for the rest of the game.

Following the result, and with speculation a rife surrounding Benitez's future as manager of Newcastle, many people connected to the Tyneside club are hoping that the Spaniard will sign a new deal in the summer. 

As questions were fired here and there about both his future as boss and Mike Ashley's presence at Sunday's game, Benitez responded: "He [Ashley] said thank you to the players in the dressing room. We will have a meeting next week.

"I can see the potential of this massive club and hopefully we can do things in the way that would be good for everyone."

As the summer transfer window could certainly bring good or bad news for Newcastle fans, they will be hoping it is remains as positive as their performance against Fulham was.