Newcastle United have made an unbeaten start to the Premier League after picking up a 2-1 win against Tottenham Hotspur last week.
It wasn’t a convincing performance from the home side, and on another day, Spurs could have easily won that game.
However, the Magpies can take plenty of positives from that game, as they have managed to grind out three points despite being far from their normal best.
Goals from Harvey Barnes and Alexander Isak sealed all three points for the Magpies. In the build-up to Isak’s goal, Joelinton played a scintillating pass to Jacob Murphy and has earned rich plaudits from pundits.
Speaking on talkSPORT, popular pundits Ally McCoist and Jeff Stelling were left amazed by Joelinton’s pass.
Only a few years back, Joelinton was mocked by his own fans and was seen as one of the poor signings in the club’s history. However, his transformation under Eddie Howe has been remarkable, and needless to say, he is one of the key players for the Magpies.
McCoist said on talkSPORT (3 September): “I am absolutely staggered but also delighted by the transformation of Joelinton in the middle of the park. It’s just magic, does he?
“He just looks happy. Looks in control. He’s loving his football. I thought he played really well yesterday. What a pass!”
This has been a frustrating summer transfer window for the Magpies. They had to offload players to comply with the PSR rules at the start of the window and failed to secure their major targets.
They chased heavily to sign Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace, but couldn’t reach an agreement with the Eagles.
Newcastle do have a strong squad and they have been boosted by the return of Sandro Tonali, who is now free to play after the suspension ban is lifted.
Howe will have to get the best out of the available resources he has and keep faith in the spine of his team. Joelinton has been amazing in the past two seasons for Newcastle and he will be expected to play a major role this season as well.
