Newcastle United journalist Mark Douglas has been sharing his criticism for Toon attacker Joelinton and his form for the Tyneside club so far this season.
This comes after Douglas made an appearance on a recent episode of The Chronicle’s Everything Is Black & White Podcast where he spoke about a variety of subjects concerning Steve Bruce’s side.
On the topic of Newcastle’s attacking options in their squad at the moment, Douglas had this to say about Joelinton in particular.
He said: “I know he splits opinion, but the guy is just not good enough for this level. He’s not good enough to play in that system.
“He looked okay when he was playing alongside Callum Wilson in that sort of support role, but the team generally weren’t doing that well, so why he’s in ahead of Andy Carroll and ahead of Dwight Gayle, I don’t know and when you hear Steve Bruce talk about it and just say well it’s worked, it’s just very strange indeed.”
Newcastle signed Joelinton back in the 2019 summer transfer window from German club Hoffenheim for a fee of £39.6 million.
Since arriving at St. James’ Park, the 26-year-old, who is currently valued at £15.3 million, has made 72 appearances for the Tyneside club across all competitions in which he has scored seven goals and provided seven assists in the process (per Transfermarkt).
TIF Thoughts on Mark Douglas’ comments on Joelinton…
Given how Joelinton has only managed to score one goal for Newcastle in the Premier League so far this season, it’s understandable why Douglas has brought the Brazilian’s quality into question.
Do you think Joelinton should be starting ahead of Carroll and Gayle?
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However, with Joelinton having a higher season rating (6.78/10) than either Andy Carroll (6.34/10) or Dwight Gayle (6.21/10) as Douglas mentioned in the podcast, this is probably why the Brazilian has made more league appearances than the English duo this season.
Moving forward, if Joelinton can add some goals to his tally during the remainder of the season, he could well be an important figure in Newcastle’s fight to avoid being relegated this season.
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