Joe Willock is really struggling in a Newcastle United shirt this season.
The midfielder joined the Magpies permanently in the summer after a sensational loan spell. While he was never going to re-hit the heights of last season, a lot more was expected from the £25million signing.
Willock was poor under Steve Bruce, and he hasn’t got any better under Eddie Howe.
He’s started every game since the new manager came in, playing alongside Jonjo Shelvey in the centre of midfield. While Shelvey has improved, Willock is struggling.
The 22-year-old hasn’t impressed since Howe came in, and he was particularly poor on Sunday afternoon versus Leicester.
Offensively, his decision making in the final third has been poor. Defensively, he doesn’t offer much either.
While Howe has stuck with him so far, it’s time for a change on Thursday night.
Newcastle vs Liverpool is the time to drop Joe Willock
While the numbers of goals and assists are far from encouraging, Willock and Shelvey are quite an attacking centre midfield pair.
But we need to be at our defensive best at Anfield, where we face a Liverpool side who have been relentless in front of goal this season.
It could be a recipe for disaster for Howe, especially after Sunday’s 4-0 hammering off Leicester.
Things could get worse against Liverpool, especially if the manager doesn’t make a change to his midfield.
Shelvey should retain his place in the side, as he’s our best midfielder on the ball. But Willock should drop to the bench.
Then it’s a toss up between Isaac Hayden and Sean Longstaff. Neither have started under the new manager, with minutes suddenly hard to come by.
Personally, I’d go with Hayden to replace Willock. He adds bite to the midfield. While he’s not amazing on the ball, we’re highly unlikely to see much of it anyway.
But Willock should be reduced to a substitute role, which is ironically where he thrived last season under Bruce.
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