Joe Willock

[Super Duper Branko Strupar]

3 hours ago, Kanji said:

Posted this in the Willock thread, but thought this was interesting and worth in here:

 

 This is the Willock thread

[The Prophet]

This thread has sparked up rare interesting debate on Twitter. I'm amazed to see some calling Willock lazy though.

[Kanji]

12 hours ago, Super Duper Branko Strupar said:

 

 This is the Willock thread

woops. Meant transfer rumors thread! 

[Yorkie]

Joelinton probably gets in everyone's team because he can play three positions equally as effectively*. He's an incredible member of the squad and critically important because that level of competence in multiple positions is an amazing asset to have. 

 

*no 8 in a 4-3-3

*one half of a double-pivot 

*left-sided forward

[TRon]

38 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

This thread has sparked up rare interesting debate on Twitter. I'm amazed to see some calling Willock lazy though.

 

It's because he has that laid back vibe and doesn't shout and bawl like Gordon Ramsay. We've seen posters on here say stuff along these lines, for some people facial expression is more important than actual output.

[The College Dropout]

He's also a slight looking lad. Joelinton is a unit and gets stuck in a bit more. Joelinton is also more useful on his left foot and in the air iirc.

 

Personally I like them about the same but Joelinton is more versatile and is defensively a little stronger both on the ground and in the air.

 

With the ball at their feet they are similar and we need an upgrade. I'm not as sold on Joelinton as others, or as down on Willock as others.

 

I think avoiding injuries/suspensions are key to us finishing in the CL but I think we just need 2 out of Joelinton, Willock & Longsaff fit. No single one of them is as important as Bruno or Isak for example.

 

 

Edited April 13, 2023 by The College Dropout

[Gallowgate Toon]

Willock isn't lazy at all but can look it at times because he can be passive. He's quite a strange player in that, at times, he can absolutely take over and is everywhere but then sometimes fade into the background of a game and not be seen for a chunk.

[The Prophet]

I'd say Willock is more composed in the final third and uses the ball better than Joe. Both are really useful and give us the option to go horses for courses though.

[80]

They're significantly different footballers. I would think replacing one or the other would be more of a tactical decision than a specific call over which is better than the others.

 

Joelinton's a better disrupter and more totemic for morale, Willock's smoother in attack and I think has more goal potential in him. People would tend to think it's our attack that most needs to improve so superficially I can see why the target would be on Willock.

 

That said, if you introduce getting a Rice into the conversation and moving Bruno forwards, that again changes things.

[Lush Vlad]

1 hour ago, Yorkie said:

Joelinton probably gets in everyone's team because he can play three positions equally as effectively*. He's an incredible member of the squad and critically important because that level of competence in multiple positions is an amazing asset to have. 

 

*no 8 in a 4-3-3

*one half of a double-pivot 

*left-sided forward

 

He really isn’t equally as effective wide left, IMO. I really don’t like him there and it makes it easier for the opposition to shut down our right hand side. As he isn’t particularly threatening. 
 

He doesn’t have as much influence on the game, isn’t involved for large spells and just isn’t a winger or a wide forward. I think it is obvious when he gets time and space out there on the ball in most games. 
 

The difference when we have two actual wide men playing on the flanks is massive. Whilst the Joelinton/Willock left side started well and is solid in protecting Burn. I really don’t want to see him played out there in future. Unless it’s needs must due to injuries. The Big Joe/Little Joe dovetail, often had Willock playing wider and beyond Joelinton, anyway and that was more effective. 
 

Possibly recency bias is having an influence on my opinion. As I thought he went from being one of our worst performers against Brentford. To our MOTM when he went centre mid. 

[Tiresias]

Joelinton can bully teams in a way Willock never can, but Joelinton is a little more inaccurate with his passing. Equally Willock's form has fluctuated more, it is possible he has a higher ceiling. I doubt Willock can do as well dropped deep as well, making Joelinton probably the favourite just out of adaptability

[Yorkie]

Perhaps he isn't as effective at LW as he is at CM but he can definitely play in that position and I do think he's dangerous from the left; the vast majority of his goals come from that side even if it isn't his starting position. 

[Shadow Puppets]

I love big Jo and Willock but I do understand people’s frustrations with Willock from time to time. For me he’s so close to being an excellent player, but I find myself, at least 2 or 3 times per game getting wound up because he appears to be needing an extra touch on the ball, or doesn’t react to a situation fast enough. Also needs to seriously work on his finishing to be a true top player.

 

Big Jo is the more enjoyable player to watch IMO. But I do love them both.

[Nine]

Not sure if it’s been mentioned yet but Willock is a very intelligent player and can read the game at a high level, he makes clever runs that relieve pressure when out of possession and pulls midfielders/defenders when we have it. I feel it goes unnoticed a lot, I don’t feel any of our other CMs can do the same.

[TRon]

18 minutes ago, Nine said:

Not sure if it’s been mentioned yet but Willock is a very intelligent player and can read the game at a high level, he makes clever runs that relieve pressure when out of possession and pulls midfielders/defenders when we have it. I feel it goes unnoticed a lot, I don’t feel any of our other CMs can do the same.

 

Yep. Don't really see the point of comparing with Joelinton or ASM, Willock brings totally different qualities, just as they bring theirs.

[Kanji]

47 minutes ago, Nine said:

Not sure if it’s been mentioned yet but Willock is a very intelligent player and can read the game at a high level, he makes clever runs that relieve pressure when out of possession and pulls midfielders/defenders when we have it. I feel it goes unnoticed a lot, I don’t feel any of our other CMs can do the same.

 

I think the highest praise for him should be seen in the graphs from the prior page in terms of style - Joe Willock is a proper box to box midfielder. I would love to see comparison of Joelinton to others in world football. 

[Optimistic Nut]

I'd go with the the Joe/Jo left hand side of the midfield and attack while ASM is out with Gordon off the bench. 

[The College Dropout]

23 minutes ago, Optimistic Nut said:

I'd go with the the Joe/Jo left hand side of the midfield and attack while ASM is out with Gordon off the bench. 

I hate this combo against weaker teams. That's what we were doing in our sticky patch. Barely created anything.

 

[loki679]

They're different players but Joelinton can dominate teams in a way that Willock will never be able to.  There's a whole bunch of players that can do what Willock can but not many that can do what Joelinton can when he's on it.

[The College Dropout]

1 minute ago, loki679 said:

They're different players but Joelinton can dominate teams in a way that Willock will never be able to.  There's a whole bunch of players that can do what Willock can but not many that can do what Joelinton can when he's on it.

This not true at all.

 

Joelinton at CM is great physically but no great shakes on the ball.

[PauloGeordio]

 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Joeninho would better, and means little Joe so works with Joelinton. I'm not Brazilian like, so I'll defer to Bruno. 

[LordJake]

48 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

Joeninho would better, and means little Joe so works with Joelinton. I'm not Brazilian like, so I'll defer to Bruno. 

?when Ronaldo was in the Brazilian 1994 World Cup squad he was known as Ronaldhino due to a more senior squad player known as Ronaldo (who later became known as Ronaldao - older Ronaldo). When Ronaldhino joined the Brazilian squad in 1999 he was originally called Ronaldhino Gaucho 

[Hudson]

On 13/04/2023 at 10:55, Yorkie said:

Joelinton probably gets in everyone's team because he can play three positions equally as effectively*. He's an incredible member of the squad and critically important because that level of competence in multiple positions is an amazing asset to have. 

 

*no 8 in a 4-3-3

*one half of a double-pivot 

*left-sided forward

He’s mint, ain’t he.

[Gallowgate Toon]

Stats suggest he was a non-entity today, what was the story? Bruno and Joelinton seemed more involved with touches, passes, tackles, duels by a long shot.