Newcastle United crashed to a 1-0 defeat against Manchester City last time out and manager Eddie Howe wasn’t too pleased with the performance of Joelinton.
The Brazilian forward has transitioned into a midfielder since last season and he has been exceptional for the Magpies. The industrious 27-year-old has impressed with his defensive contribution, technical ability, drive and link-up play.
However, he was not at his best against Manchester City and the Premier League champions managed to drag him out of position time and again. The Newcastle manager was clearly not pleased with this performance.
The defensive side of his game was lacking as well. The 27-year-old struggled to close down the Manchester City players and put his teammates under pressure.
Commentator Sam Matterface said: “And Eddie Howe is going absolutely barmy at Joelinton for not getting out and closing that attempt down.
Trevor Sinclair added: “Yeah, you’ve got to get out to the ball because if that goes in the top corner, there’s no way that the goalkeeper can save it.
“Little bit too passive as the ball gets laid back by Phil Foden, get out to it and try and get something on the ball.
“He doesn’t do that, fortunately for Joelinton the shot from [Manuel] Akanji was in between a shot and a cross where he’d seen a bit of movement from [Erling] Haaland and he was caught in between two and it ended up going harmlessly over the bar.”
Clearly the Brazilian had an off day against Manchester City but he remains a key player for Newcastle and he will be desperate to bounce back strongly. Joelinton will be crucial to Newcastle’s hopes of winning trophies this season.