Joe Willock was Newcastle United’s match winning hero in their huge 3-2 win over West Ham United, despite only appearing from the bench.
The 21-year old’s powerful header had too much on it for Lukas Fabianski and could prove to be a vital goal for the magpies. Willock had only just been introduced from the bench and his instinct impact drags his side further away from the bottom three.
Willock did similar in the game against Tottenham Hotspur, scoring late on to ensure the points were shared at St. James’ Park and it was the midfielder’s third since arriving in January.
As a central midfielder, Willock offers us something completely different to anyone else in the squad and for those reasons that he must start in the midfield from now on and not be restricted to a substitute role.
Firstly, his willingness and eagerness to make positive runs forward with and without out the ball offer the side something new and having an extra man arriving in the box cans stretch opponent’s defence more and provide a greater threat whilst attacking.
All three of his goals have come from the Arsenal man arriving into the area which is something that we simply do not have in any of our other players. He also seems to have a great knack of being in the right place at the right time which is a great attribute to have for any player.
The attribute that is most key for the youngster is his engine. He is a lot more mobile than any of our other options and as a result can have a bigger impact on games. When United have lined up with the likes of Jonjo Shelvey and Jeff Hendrick in the middle of the mark, far too often have the pairing be completely outran in the middle of the park.
The system which we are currently operating in features a two man midfield and as such you can’t afford for one of the duo to be. a passenger which unfortunately has been the case with Shelvey on far too many a time.
A midfield duo of Willock and the recently much improved Sean Longstaff is the way to go from here till the end of the season but it seems unlikely that the Steve Bruce/ Jonjo Shelvey love affair is finishing anytime soon.