Joelinton was signed from Hoffenheim for 40 million pounds to fulfill the number 9 role at St. James Park.
The role of 9 didn’t work out for Joelinton and Steve Bruce, which led to receiving a lot of criticism from the Magpies fans.
When Eddie Howe came in November, the very first thing he did was to play him not as a number 9.
Under Howe, Joelinton played as a right-sided forward-moving to number 10 in a 3-4-3 formation.
Joelinton has improved his dribbling and tackling which now has made him a ball-winning midfielder.
Newcastle spent 40 million pounds on Joelinton and has been slated again and again for poor performances.
After the Saudi Takeover and appointment of Eddie Howe, Joelinton has gone from being a striker to not being a striker.
Criticism and Joelinton
Criticism for Joelinton was fair in his first season after being signed for a big fee.
Joining as a striker to fill the shoes of a no.9, expectation of St. James Park was huge.
In his debut season of 2019/20, He scored 2 and delivered 2 assists.
Season following it, he scored 4 with 2 assists.
The above season was under Steve Bruce but in his second season, a little experimentation at different positions was visible.
One of the experiments involved moving to positions out wide but realistically it was more of an adjustment.
This was a horrendous attempt by Steve Bruce who was trying to fit his new signing Callum Wilson into the team.
Joelinton entered the third season with still no clue of where he belongs on the magpies’ team.
Increasing pressure of not being able to impress have made this season a decisive one for Joelinton.
As a striker vs. Not as a striker
Joelinton’s stats as a striker per 90 is very bad
| Statistics | Per 90 | Percentile |
| Non-Penalty Goals | 0.15 | 6 |
| XG (Non-Penalty | 0.2 | 7 |
| Total Shots | 1:75 | 7 |
| Assists | 0.04 | 10 |
| XA | 0.08 | 22 |
| XG-XA | 0.28 | 5 |
The things he is bad at are the things a striker should be good at.
The things that he is good at is what a creative midfielder should be good at.
As a striker one thing that he’s amazing at is winning the ball back and pressing.
Joelinton as a midfielder is super impressive.
| Statistics | Per 90 | Percentile |
| Goals (Non-Penalty) | 0.15 | 86 |
| XG (Non-Penalty) | 0.2 | 97 |
| Aerials Won | 3.79 | 99 |
| XG-XA (Non-Penalty) | 0.28 | 92 |
| Dribbles | 1.45 | 90 |
| Touches | 3.68 | 97 |
| Progressive passes | 4.24 | 93 |
| Pressures | 21.73 | 75 |
| Blocks | 2.34 | 95 |
With something different with Joelinton, Eddie Howe made a tactical switch from 4-2-2-2 to 4-5-1.
He started playing deeper in the midfield with minimal instructions and delivered absolutely brilliant results which saw Newcastle climb to 9th position from battling relegation.
Eddie Howe now has more quality in the midfield and more reliability when out of possesion.
Howe’s decision to drop him into a deeper central midfield role, has given Joelinton a new lease of life.
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