Magpies captain Jamaal Lascelles has heaped praise on misfiring record signing Joelinton following his performance at West Ham on last weekend.
Speaking to The Athletic, he mentions how he not only held up the ball “really well” but allowed us to ‘get up the pitch’ as a result, believing that things are finally ‘starting to click’ for our young attacking trio.
Here’s what the skipper has had to say about the big Brazilian:
“Joe was excellent.
“He held the ball up really well and allowed us to get up the pitch.
“Joe is young and he is learning, but he has quality and he showed that.
“Our front three will give any back four a hard time with their pace and quality.
“It’s finally starting to click for the three of them together and they were unlucky not to score.”
Positive words from the club captain which will give Joelinton a lift ahead of this weekend’s clash with Bournemouth.
With the £40m man managing to unsettle the Hammers backline and grab an assist for Ciaran Clark, he managed to draw comparisons to last season’s star striker Salomon Rondon with a battling display up top.
Lascelles is right in saying our front three looked threatening, but in all honesty, this is the first time all season in which they have carried a constant threat. It is clear that there is still a lack of composure to take a chance in the vital moments and we once again relied on the defenders to get us the goals, but it’s progress.
Without wanting to sound negative, the performance against West Ham is certainly a starting point for our new forward line. Saint-Maximin looks to have settled well into the team and is a menace with his sheer pace and trickery, and I fancy Joelinton to grab his first goal at St James’ Park this weekend. He needs it.
3 points against Bournemouth would be MASSIVE and give us some much-needed breathing space from the bottom 3 after a tricky start to the campaign, with many of the top sides already being out the way.
The offensive qualities shown against West Ham need to be repeated. We simply can’t afford to sit back and play a 5-4-1 as we did against Wolves.
Howay The Lads!
