Joe Willock

[Erikse]

3 hours ago, Rod said:

I keep telling you all, he's our secret weapon.  He is very very very underrated.  Even by our own fans.

I argue constantly with a so called fellow fan about him in our local.  He doesn't rate him at all, whereas I think he is fantastic.  Total clash of opinions.  I know who is right though.  😉

 

 

I think most people on here rated him pretty highly before all the injuries. The question was just about whether he would be able to overcome all that trouble and get back on track.

[Erikse]

2 hours ago, Vaj said:

I always disagreed with people that said we have a lack of a squad. With the injuries last year we were always going to struggle with the quality on the bench. But when we have a normal amount of injuries we have plenty of strength in depth. Look at the benches for Arsenal and Man City at times, as soon as they have a few players out there are a lot of unknown kids on their benches 

 

I agree. I think the lack of depth isn't as bad as many make it out to be, and last season is probably to blame for it. Last summers window was kind of meh, but it did increase depth. It was just a freak season, any team would struggle with the same amount of injuries + a 10 month ban.

 

 

Edited November 3 by Erikse

[Skeletor]

He's a great player, just isn't available to play very often. Hopefully he's turned a corner on all the injuries now.

[TheBrownBottle]

Our midfield plays about ten yards further forward whenever he plays - massively underrated player outside of Tyneside I reckon.  Just stay fit lad.  

[Gazzaschicken]

1 hour ago, TheBrownBottle said:

Our midfield plays about ten yards further forward whenever he plays - massively underrated player outside of Tyneside I reckon.  Just stay fit lad.  

It's him and joelinton combined that hits the spot. It just works. With abit of Bruno mixed in

[TheBrownBottle]

1 hour ago, Gazzaschicken said:

It's him and joelinton combined that hits the spot. It just works. With abit of Bruno mixed in

100%.  Joelinton further forward with Willock at LCM works really well.  They’re better than the sum of their parts

[Ikon]

Great to have him back looking more fit and gaining confidence game by game. 
 

I’ve talked a lot about our CM lacking any sort of playing depth with the distance between midfield and Isak being too vast making him too isolated at times. Same goes for our other midfielders. Having that bit of playing depth for the likes of Bruno, Tonali  and SL helps a lot by having another option closer more centrally which makes us more progressive and unpredictable. 
 

I think Willock is especially great in this more attacking role when there’s space and lots of transitions. Having said that, I don’t think he offers as much against deeper defending compact teams. Not a priority, but one day I’d like to see us getting another more attack minded CM that offers something slightly different from midfield. Someone in the mould of Sudakov for example. Think this would give our midfield even more versatility and balance and options. 
 

Let’s hope JW can stay fit because he really makes us more dynamic just by being more attacking naturally, therefore giving us more playing depth. Never mind what he offers in transitions. 

[TRon]

2 hours ago, Gazzaschicken said:

It's him and joelinton combined that hits the spot. It just works. With abit of Bruno mixed in

 

I think even Longstaff benefits from a certain mix of midfielders. I guess everyone just knows their roles and they compliment each other. Classic example of the sum being greater than the parts.

[KaKa]

11 minutes ago, Ikon said:

Great to have him back looking more fit and gaining confidence game by game. 
 

I’ve talked a lot about our CM lacking any sort of playing depth with the distance between midfield and Isak being too vast making him too isolated at times. Same goes for our other midfielders. Having that bit of playing depth for the likes of Bruno, Tonali  and SL helps a lot by having another option closer more centrally which makes us more progressive and unpredictable. 
 

I think Willock is especially great in this more attacking role when there’s space and lots of transitions. Having said that, I don’t think he offers as much against deeper defending compact teams. Not a priority, but one day I’d like to see us getting another more attack minded CM that offers something slightly different from midfield. Someone in the mould of Sudakov for example. Think this would give our midfield even more versatility and balance and options. 
 

Let’s hope JW can stay fit because he really makes us more dynamic just by being more attacking naturally, therefore giving us more playing depth. Never mind what he offers in transitions. 

 

Yeah, he closes that gap the best, and is the most natural attacking midfielder we have from that 8 position.

 

Regarding a more creative CM to open up teams I think we would see more of that from Bruno if he's played higher up.

 

Hopefully we get a chance to see if that's the case with Tonali playing deeper.

[Smal]

his touch map pretty much has him playing as a lopsided 10 with Bruno and Longstaff as a pivot

 

 

Think this shape works much better than the flat 4-5-1. Isak never felt isolated yesterday until Willock went off really. 

[The College Dropout]

5 minutes ago, Smal said:

his touch map pretty much has him playing as a lopsided 10 with Bruno and Longstaff as a pivot

 

 

Think this shape works much better than the flat 4-5-1. Isak never felt isolated yesterday until Willock went off really. 

I like this 424 attack. Only issue is the front 4 don’t combine a lot. 
 

Our play is heavily Bruno dependent. It all goes through him. I wonder how we would look with Tonali in his position and he in Longstaff. IMO he might have to sit more alongside Tonali. Team is built to hit Bruno all the time. 
 

Willock off the ball and high does so much good for the press and allows Isak to amble around more and save his delicate legs. 
 

Compounds my thought that Martinelli vs Livra was a key battle that Arsenal lost. Arteta said ‘get em Gab!’ And he absolutely did not.  

[KaKa]

19 minutes ago, Smal said:

his touch map pretty much has him playing as a lopsided 10 with Bruno and Longstaff as a pivot

 

 

Think this shape works much better than the flat 4-5-1. Isak never felt isolated yesterday until Willock went off really. 

 

That right side looking so healthy.

[Smal]

6 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

Our play is heavily Bruno dependent. It all goes through him. I wonder how we would look with Tonali in his position and he in Longstaff. IMO he might have to sit more alongside Tonali. Team is built to hit Bruno all the time. 

 

I like this idea. I think we have to rotate the team constantly as well. We have the options to do so when players are fit with the likes of Barnes, Tonali, Almiron/Murphy who can all come in and change us. It's key to making us harder to prepare against - we were looking quite stale and predictable before the last couple of games. 

 

 

Edited November 3 by Smal

[Colos Short and Curlies]

Both keepers wearing 22? Must be a very rare occurrence 

[Stottie]

Poor Longstaff doesn't get an arrow for passing it to Gordon? 

[toon25]

Really pleased he's finally finding form again after all the injuries

[54]

 

[PopeandGlory]

On 03/11/2024 at 11:28, Smal said:

his touch map pretty much has him playing as a lopsided 10 with Bruno and Longstaff as a pivot

 

 

Think this shape works much better than the flat 4-5-1. Isak never felt isolated yesterday until Willock went off really. 

 

As I’m a mere mortal and not an uber statshagger, why are these stats only from 1-68 minutes for us and 1-64 for Arsenal?

 

Feel like just ignoring a quarter of the match is a bit odd.

[Elma]

9 minutes ago, PopeandGlory said:

 

As I’m a mere mortal and not an uber statshagger, why are these stats only from 1-68 minutes for us and 1-64 for Arsenal?

 

Feel like just ignoring a quarter of the match is a bit odd.

My guess would be until first sub i.e. starting eleven. Their first sub was on 61 according to BBC and ours 65, so there is a four minute offset there albeit not matching up with the 64/68 in the graphic. 

[Dr.Spaceman]

Got to make it fit your narrative 

[Kanji]

On 03/11/2024 at 11:14, toon25 said:

Really pleased he's finally finding form again after all the injuries

just really like him when he’s flying like that, such a fun player to watch, incredibly likeable too. 

[timeEd32]

44 minutes ago, PopeandGlory said:

 

As I’m a mere mortal and not an uber statshagger, why are these stats only from 1-68 minutes for us and 1-64 for Arsenal?

 

Feel like just ignoring a quarter of the match is a bit odd.

You can look at these including subs too but it can start to get messy depending on how many there are and the timing. 

[timeEd32]

I've shared some stats in the last month or so about how we've declined over the last two seasons in things like shot/goal creating actions, take ons, progressive carries, etc. Looking at per 90 stats, Willock is:

• First in key passes (more than 1 per 90 more than anyone but Gordon)
• First in shot creating actions (more than 1 per 90 more than anyone)
• First in goal creating actions
• First in blocks and second in blocked passes (him and Longstaff way ahead of everyone)
• Third in successful take-ons (behind Bruno and Gordon)
• First in progressive carries (carrying the ball more than 10 yards towards goal)
  • Third in carries in the final third and second in carries into the penalty area
• Second in fouls committed (I don't think this is a bad thing)

The stats match the eyes - he brings another dimension to our play.

[80]

Great stats. He's been a massive miss. We should be working to make ourselves less reliant upon him, though, either through tactics or personnel.

[Kanji]

2 minutes ago, 80 said:

Great stats. He's been a massive miss. We should be working to make ourselves less reliant upon him, though, either through tactics or personnel.

 

I understand what you're trying to say, but it's not really a reliance though right? He's just a top player who takes us to another dimension. Just insane to think how we'd have done last year if he was even fit for 1/2 of it.