Joe Willock – His true value summed up here

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The Mag

·16 September 2024

Joe Willock – His true value summed up here

Joe Willock is such a big player for Newcastle United.

Something that I don’t think is properly appreciated outside of our NUFC bubble.

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If you asked neutrals to name the best Newcastle United players, I reckon very few would list Joe Willock.

I think he is maybe one of those players where you need to properly watch the matches, not just very brief highlights.

Maybe because Joe Willock doesn’t score all that many goals, which is why he doesn’t stand out for outsiders, as an attacking midfielder of course he could and should score more, but that doesn’t tell you the whole story.

It is ironic, as of course it was all about scoring goals when coming to Newcastle United on loan.

In 14 Premier League appearances in the second half of the 2020/21 season, Joe Willock scored eight goals. If memory serves me right, it was from incredibly few opportunities, I think those eight PL goals came from just 17 shots. Joe Willock was right place, right time, match after match.

In the 75 Premier League appearances that have followed for Joe Willock since signing permanently for Newcastle United, only six more PL goals have followed.

However, when you look back further, you see only one Joe Willock goal in 40 Premier League appearances for Arsenal,, which is clearly more reflective of his usual game, than that incredible goal burst that got Steve Bruce out of jail game after game during the loan spell.

During the fourth place finish of 2022/23, Joe Willock was one of Newcastle United’s very best players, yet again though, if you asked neutrals which NUFC players were key that season, pretty much none of them would instantly think of the former Arsenal player.

Joe Willock only managed three goals in that 2022/23 Premier League season.

Even when it comes to assists, you can’t really say Joe Willock stands out. Until yesterday at Wolves, Willock had only managed six PL assists for NUFC in 88 Premier League appearances.

Where I think he has been so valuable is that when he is playing, very often he is invariably involved in helping to set up the goals, but has tended to be involved earlier in the move, which obviously doesn’t then get registered like an assist does.

Having said that, I think maybe we are now seeing, based on quite limited number of minutes so far, that this season that could all change, providing we can keep Joe Willock on the pitch.

In 81 minutes (in all competitions) on the pitch this season, Joe Willock already has one goal and one assist.

In the 15 minutes he played against Forest in the cup Willock looked excellent. Showing his determination to get in the box when scoring inside 20 seconds, after Isak’s shot was parried. Whilst in those brief cup minutes, Willock was running all over Forest and was also instrumental in the move that set up Sandro Tonali, who should have put United two up very shortly after the opener.

Joe Willock was also very lively at Bournemouth when helping to get United on the front foot when coming off the bench on 69 minutes, as Newcastle suddenly took control of that game again, having opened brightly but then conceding and looking second best in the middle of the match.

Which of course sounds very familiar, after what happened yesterday.

This time Joe Willock one of those coming on after the break and he was one of the game-changers.

As well as the assist for Barnes’ goal, Willock unsettled Wolves with his running when in possession and of course brilliantly set up Harvey Barnes for his second goal, only for the winger to flick the ball over the keeper when one on one, but just wide of the post in those final seconds.

I think we are seeing what could be an all round midfielder developing and the only reason he maybe didn’t get into the England squad back in 2022/23 was because he didn’t score the goals which would have pushed him more into the national spotlight.

The way he is setting off this season though, there could be goals and assists aplenty, as well as his usual all round contribution, if we can keep him free from injury.

This very revealing table from The Other 14 shows just how devastating Joe Willock was in creating chances against Wolves, despite only coming on at half-time, only one Premier League player this weekend created more chances than Joe Willock.

Wolves 1 Newcastle 2 – Sunday 15 September 4.30pm

Goals:

Newcastle United:

Wolves:

Lemina 36

(Half-time stats in brackets)

Possession was Newcastle 51% (63%) Wolves 49% (37%)

Total shots were Newcastle 14 (3) Wolves 12 (5)

Shots on target were Newcastle 6 (1) Wolves 5 (2)

Corners were Newcastle 7 (2) Wolves 4 (2)

Touches in the box Newcastle 22 (7) Wolves 27 (8)

Newcastle United team v Wolves:

Pope, Livramento (Trippier 64), Schar, Burn, Hall, Joelinton (Willock 46), Bruno (Kelly 87), Longstaff (Tonali 46), Jacob Murphy, Isak (Barnes 46), Gordon

Unused subs:

Dubravka, Krafth, Osula, Almiron

(Wolves 1 Newcastle 2 – Match ratings and comments on all Newcastle United players – Read HERE)

(3 Positives and 3 Negatives to take from Wolves 1 Newcastle 2 – Read HERE)

(HERE is the photo which all Newcastle United fans are absolutely loving tonight…)

(Wolves 1 Newcastle 2 – Instant Newcastle United fan / writer reaction – Read HERE)

Newcastle United upcoming match schedule, confirmed to end of November:

Saturday 21 September 2024 – Fulham v Newcastle (3pm)

Tuesday 24 September 2024 – AFC Wimbledon v Newcastle (7.45pm) Sky Sports+

Saturday 28 September 2024 – Newcastle v Man City (12.30 pm) TNT Sports

Saturday 5 October – Everton v Newcastle (5.30pm) Sky Sports

Saturday 19 October – Newcastle v Brighton (3pm)