Joe Willock

[BlueStar]

14 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

Looked like a took a lad from the crowd for a lap of the pitch and then a photo. Class. 

 

Aye, that was great. Lad had Willock 28 on his back. 

[PauloGeordio]

 

[buzza]

He is ace!

[Adam]

Having the big Joe little Joe combo is so useful. Gives one of them a chance to rest out wide and provides so many different rotations and patterns. Glad he is back to his best again, brilliant at carrying us forward at times.

[Newcastle Fan]

So good today, really enjoyed his performance and he helped our midfield have an  advantage on their's first half.

[La Parka]

Big willy style

[dave s]

he’s been our missing link. 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Love how he's continuing with Maggies even though he must now know that nobody has ever called us that

[pedro111]

Welcome home, we've missed you.

[Rod]

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.  😉

 

[Pixelphish]

I'll admit I thought this guy might be washed after his string of injuries shot his confidence to shit. Never been so happy to be wrong and to see him back at his best 

[SiLvOR]

Will repeat myself from the match thread. Absolutely love Willock. Desperately hope he stays fit now, he's really going to be so key for us

[Ginola]

When he's fully fit he's brilliant, his running power is just so strong and the link up with Big Joe is telepathic

[Geordie_once_removed]

His injuries last season were up there with Pope's for why we missed out on qualifying for the UEFA cup and perhaps even the Champions League. He can be such a key player.

[Yorkie]

5 minutes ago, Geordie_once_removed said:

His injuries last season were up there with Pope's for why we missed out on qualifying for the UEFA cup and perhaps even the Champions League. He can be such a key player.

 

All we needed to do was not be limp as fuck at Stamford Bridge and we'd be in Europe; literally just a point there would've sufficed, it was that close. Pope was the biggest miss of all as you say but chuck any one of the others in for a few games and we'd have probably made it. 

 

Nice to be reminded just recently that we do actually have a canny squad. 

[Vaj]

9 minutes ago, Yorkie said:

 

All we needed to do was not be limp as fuck at Stamford Bridge and we'd be in Europe; literally just a point there would've sufficed, it was that close. Pope was the biggest miss of all as you say but chuck any one of the others in for a few games and we'd have probably made it. 

 

Nice to be reminded just recently that we do actually have a canny squad. 

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 

[Lotus]

Very good to see him looking fit and sharp and therefore playing well. We really don’t have anyone who pops up in dangerous areas like he does.

 

Actually, I think Miggy does if he’s allowed a bit of a free reign but that comes with other problems!

[80]

What a difference a little willy makes. Has transformed our team, it's no coincidence we've put two of our best performances of the last 12 months in this past week. We are SO much more fluid in attack with him there.

 

My heart's still in my mouth as I watch him sprint, mind, but it's great to see him regaining confidence again.

[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, 2024 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.