Joelinton might’ve scored two at Morecambe on Wednesday night, but Steve Bruce believes he needs “to be a bit more selfish”.
In the first half, Jacob Murphy dinked a cross towards the back post and it seemed as though the ball was going to loop over the goalkeeper and be tapped in at the back post by the big Brazilian.
Seeing the trajectory of the ball, Joelinton opted to allow it to trickle in instead of poking it home himself – only for the ball to hit the post and subsequently be cleared off the line by the Morecambe defence!
This instantly led to our record signing once again being slated on social media. Soon after, however, he silenced the haters with a stunning long range effort!
Here’s what Bruce had to say about his unselfish display, THAT missed chance and his moment of magic:
“He thought it was going in and wanted Jacob to get a goal!”
“He might have to be a bit more selfish.
“I was delighted when he put one in the top corner & cut in, it was great to see that ability we know he has.
“We just have to bring it out of him.
“It won’t do him any harm to score two today and contribute the way he did.”
We can really look at that situation both ways. Yes, he should’ve scored, but it also shows that he’s a good teammate – with him playing several good passes in and around the box when others may have shot and ignored good options around them.
That said, THAT moment where he thought not to tap it in validates the argument he’s not an out and out striker – he clearly doesn’t have that innate desperation for goals, with his best moments at Morecambe (aside from his goals) being his link up play in attack and ability to bring others into play.
Despite it being against lower league opposition, his confidence will be sky high after his magnificent performance and we should reflect on his two brillIantly taken goals instead!
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