The Newcastle United Class of 2022/23 – Joelinton | OneFootball

Here at The Mag we have asked 20 of our regular / irregular contributors to pay tribute to the 20 Newcastle United players who started two or more Premier League matches this past 2022/23 season.

To an extent guided by their preference, each writer has been allocated one player each.

This series of articles runs from Thursday 1 June to Tuesday 20 June with one player covered each day, each article appearing at noon.

This will be starting with the player who had the lowest NUFC squad number (Kieran Trippier), right through to the highest (Bruno Guimaraes).

Today’s Newcastle United player from the class of 2022/23 is Joelinton, our thanks to Billy Miller for providing this overview:

Joelinton Cassio Apolinario de Lira. Known to you or I simply as Joelinton or, even more simply, Joey, Big Joe or Joe.Has there ever been a bigger turnaround in a player?

He is the personification of our club’s journey. As we went from second bottom and no wins in our first 14 games to Champions League qualifiers in the space of a year and a half, Joelinton went from waste of money, no hoper to top class, internationally recognised fan favourite. From a nervous number 9 to a superb number 7. From a shaky striker to an unflappable midfield enforcer.

The biggest compliment I can give Joelinton is that in selecting the three things, I can’t think of one stand out game for him. He’s so consistent now that it’s not like I think of a few games where he was particularly brilliant. If anything, there are only a handful of games where he wasn’t quite at it. Last season I think back to the home game against Brentford, where for the first time there were glimpses of a player there. The dominating performance against Man Utd where he was everywhere, winning everything, untouchable on the ball. These games stood out but this season high level performances have been commonplace.

3. The Brumance / Brazil call up

One of the things that I’ve loved watching develop over this season is the bromance between Bruno and Joelinton. They clearly have so much affection for each other that goes beyond being compatriots. Outside of football they regularly spend time with each other and their respective families. On the pitch and behind the scenes you often catch glimpses of how close they are.

This can only be good for their chemistry on the pitch and I think we’ve seen a lot of that this season. The call up to the Brazil squad alongside his pal is well deserved and hopefully he will make his debut and become a regular over the coming years.

2. Goal vs Tottenham

The whole team performance in that manic twenty minutes at home to supposed Champions League rivals Tottenham was astonishing but Joelinton was the man that set it all off.

Firstly, he cut inside from the left, faking shots to edge past several Tottenham players before getting his shot away. Lloris saved it but parried it straight into the path of Murphy who tucked it away with ease to get the goals started. It was Joelinton that got the second.

The reason that I see this goal as such a big one is it shows how much confidence he now has in front of goal. When he was a striker, he would have never made that run in the first place. If he did, more likely than not he would have miscontrolled Schar’s incredible pass or he would have slipped over when trying to take it around the goalie. Everything about it was perfect though. A run so well timed that it initially looked offside and had to be ratified by VAR, a sublime first touch and then the confidence and balance to skip past Lloris and roll it into the back of the net.

He was a massive part in those early two goals and had we not stuck those in, in rapid fashion then the game and Champions League fight may have been entirely different. As it was, those opening few minutes sucked the confidence out of Tottenham for both that match and the rest of their season.

1. Semi Final Winner

There was nothing special about the finish. He’d already skied a similar chance. It didn’t stop him getting himself into a dangerous position though.

He doesn’t hide anymore and when Isak played through a sumptuous pass from the right wing, Big Joe was on hand to guide it into the net and give us a precious away win to set us up for a party at St James’ and almost guarantee our place in the Carabao Cup Final.

What have been this player’s strengths this season?

His obvious strength is… strength.

He’s become a monster in the middle of the park. In his days as a striker there were times that it seemed like he could pushed off the ball by a teddy bear. Nowadays I’d fancy his chances against a real bear.

He’s good on the ball, gets stuck in and is looking more confident in front of goal than he ever has on Tyneside. He’s scored as many goals this season as he did in his first two seasons combined, much of which he spent upfront.

His exuberance and willingness to throw himself about has meant he managed to rack up 12 yellow cards and 65 fouls last season. That led to him missing three games through suspension. I wouldn’t want him to lose the edge to his game but if he be just as effective and reduce his card count, he’d be quite something.

How would you describe his contribution overall this season?

Massive. If intensity is our identity then Joelinton is the personification of that mantra.

On a scale of 1-10, how important will this player be to Newcastle United next (2023/24) season?

9. If he’s fit, he plays and I don’t expect that to change. If he is getting left out of the team next year, then we will have made some mega signings over the summer.

What do your see their role in the team / squad being next season for Newcastle United?

As above, I think he will be a mainstay. The question is whether he will operate in the middle or out on the left as he has been impressive in both roles.

Is there more improvement Eddie Howe can get out of this player?

Reducing the card count without compromising effectiveness would be a big win. I still want him going for every tackle wholeheartedly but he just needs to avoid silly yellows when players are past him and he has no chance of getting the ball.

As I mentioned, he’s getting more and more confident in front of goal and it would be great to see him get into double figures at some point in the next couple of seasons.

What rating out of 10 would you give this Newcastle United team / squad for the 2022/23 season?

9.5. From where we were to where we’ve come it’s been a fantastic journey. If we had won that final, it would be a 10 for me. This season will be one we remember and talk about for many a year.

In comparison, what would be the individual rating you’d give out of 10 for your player’s contribution this past season?

9. We’ve rarely lost a midfield battle this season and Joelinton has been a huge part of that.

How gutted would you be if this player left Newcastle United this summer?

Extremely. I cannot see it happening in a million years. He is a fan favourite and he loves it here now. It’d take a massive fee and an incredible replacement lined up for it to be even considered.

Please predict what Eddie Howe’s first choice eleven will be next season and just put ‘New Signing’ if you think the NUFC Head Coach will bring in a new first choice for that position.

GK PopeRB TrippierCB ScharCB BotmanLB New SigningCM BrunoCM New SigningCM Joelinton / WillockRW New SigningFW IsakLW Willock / Joelinton

There will be a lot more rotation and reshuffling next season, though with better quality coming through and more games to navigate. On that left wing alone we have probably got about six players that can operate there if none of them are sold.