Joelinton: suspended for Ipswich

[Rafalove]

Wor flags doing a Joelinton display

[Raconteur]

10 minutes ago, Mr Raspberry Jam said:

What position is he? Has he created a role of his own? A sort of defensive number 10?

 

Eddie called him an eight, which is box-to-box for me

[Hanshithispantz]

It's the freedom Howe has given him imo, if you look at his heatmap vs Tottenham (Bruce's last game) he was basically restricted to the far left of the pitch. Next game he started against Brentford he was everywhere.

 

I haven't seen a great deal of him personally due to sheer apathy but if the rest of his time here he's been instructed to rigidly maintain a position where he's essentially waiting for one of our players to pick him out then it explains a lot. His best attribute the past couple of months has been his ability to essentially be a magnet to the ball, he's not man marking a specific player, or waiting about to recieve it from our players, he's mainly hovering about the centre left of the pitch but seems to have a license to pop up anywhere in midfield to battle for it. 

 

Would be over the moon for him if he makes it to Qatar.

[loki679]

2 minutes ago, Hanshithispantz said:

It's the freedom Howe has given him imo, if you look at his heatmap vs Tottenham (Bruce's last game) he was basically restricted to the far left of the pitch. Next game he started against Brentford he was everywhere.

 

I haven't seen a great deal of him personally due to sheer apathy but if the rest of his time here he's been instructed to rigidly maintain a position where he's essentially waiting for one of our players to pick him out then it explains a lot. His best attribute the past couple of months has been his ability to essentially be a magnet to the ball, he's not man marking a specific player, or waiting about to recieve it from our players, he's mainly hovering about the centre left of the pitch but seems to have a license to pop up anywhere in midfield to battle for it. 

 

Would be over the moon for him if he makes it to Qatar.

 

We've been saying for two years 'he's not a striker, please stop sticking him up front by himself and lumping long balls at him'. 

[Hanshithispantz]

12 minutes ago, Mr Raspberry Jam said:

What position is he? Has he created a role of his own? A sort of defensive number 10?

Could probably play anywhere across midfield or behind the striker depending on the system and opponent imo.

 

I would just forget whatever happened under Bruce. If there's an area on the pitch where he's likely to be involved in 50/50s he'll probably shine.

[MrRaspberryJam]

11 minutes ago, Raconteur said:

 

Eddie called him an eight, which is box-to-box for me

 

Whatever it is. I like it. 

[joeyt]

Mad how he's now easily first name on the teamsheet. What a turnaround

[Raconteur]

1 minute ago, joeyt said:

Mad how he's now easily first name on the teamsheet. What a turnaround

 

Somewhere else in the multiverse, another set of Toon fans are wondering what's happened to their superstar Brazilian

[Kanj]

If you just saw him last night and never before you’d say he’s worth more than what we paid for him. He won the ball standing up, on the deck, in the air, held up play, drove forward intelligently and with power and pace, played brilliant one-twos. He was sensational and it almost looked completely effortless too like he’s been doing it his entire career. 

 

[tgarve]

13 hours ago, geordie_b said:

However good he has been I still dont know if I see a place for him in the team if we make even just a handful of signings in the right positions

Weird comment

[Stifler]

1 hour ago, Raconteur said:

 

Somewhere else in the multiverse, another set of Toon fans are wondering what's happened to their superstar Brazilian

Aye, but they are also top of the league, been sold by PIF to Mike Ashley, and are about to sack Howe for Bruce.

[sempuki]

Happy he's proved me wrong. Hope I'm way off about going down too.

[sh74]

Is there a heat map for yesterday’s game?

[NWMag]

1 minute ago, sh74 said:

Is there a heat map for yesterday’s game?

 

[The Butcher]

What about average position?

[sh74]

3 minutes ago, NWMag said:

 

Looks like he was left of a midfield three?

[STM]

Reckon he could put in a shift at left back too tbh. 

 

He's just not a fucking striker.

[Hanshithispantz]

10 minutes ago, NWMag said:

 

Compared to Tottenham 

 

[joeyt]

Highlights package:

 

 

[Hanshithispantz]

1 minute ago, joeyt said:

Highlights package:

 

 

been waiting for one of these

[geordie_b]

54 minutes ago, tgarve said:

Weird comment

The point being that if we bring in a quality left back and defensive midfielder (which we are all hoping for in this window) I’m not sure if there is a place or need for him in the team. He isn’t going to be played as a left winger and he isn’t creative enough to be a central midfielder once the defensive frailties have been addressed.

 

It’s a tricky one but he is currently making a stronger claim for a starting place than Willock. However do Willocks abilities start to show more once he isn’t asked to defend as much?

[Unbelievable]

1 minute ago, geordie_b said:

The point being that if we bring in a quality left back and defensive midfielder (which we are all hoping for in this window) I’m not sure if there is a place or need for him in the team. He isn’t going to be played as a left winger and he isn’t creative enough to be a central midfielder once the defensive frailties have been addressed.

 

It’s a tricky one but he is currently making a stronger claim for a starting place than Willock. However do Willocks abilities start to show more once he isn’t asked to defend as much?

 

I think there is a place for a player who combines the best of what Tiote and Sissoko did for us. Bigger question is if his current form is a flash in the pan or if he's finally found his true position.

[Kanj]

If this is more or less how he will play going forward, then he’s our box to box destroyer and ball carrier we’ve desperately needed. 
 

Put him next to a pure defensive holder (Kamara) and another 8 with more creative abilities and you’ve got a formidable trio. 
 

This likely brings the best out of Willock too who will be glancing into the box with late runs. 

[tgarve]

1 minute ago, Unbelievable said:

 

I think there is a place for a player who combines the best of what Tiote and Sissoko did for us. Bigger question is if his current form is a flash in the pan or if he's finally found his true position.

I feel like because it’s been now 4/5 games he’s done this it isn’t a flash in the pan,

 

Hes playing under a better manager who is utilising his skill package better 

[TRon]

2 hours ago, Kanji said:

If you just saw him last night and never before you’d say he’s worth more than what we paid for him. He won the ball standing up, on the deck, in the air, held up play, drove forward intelligently and with power and pace, played brilliant one-twos. He was sensational and it almost looked completely effortless too like he’s been doing it his entire career. 

 

 

I didn't want to get carried away after half a dozen good performances in midfield, after all central midfield is a specialist position, but tbh, he seems to have every attribute you could want in that position. Strength, good first touch, stamina, pace and positional awareness. I'm starting to think Howe is right, he's only going to get better. I always thought he was technically a decent footballer, but fair play to Eddie for recognising he could be such an asset in the middle. 

 

I thought Longstaff's fulsome praise of his abilities was quite revealing, the players clearly love playing alongside the big man. I really think he can turn into a very good midfielder for us. He looks fucking dominant at the moment.