Paul Merson ‘shocked’ by Eddie Howe decision against West Ham

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Eddie Howe made a couple of changes to his Newcastle United side against West Ham on Wednesday night, much to the shock of pundit Paul Merson.

Howe resisted temptation to name an unchanged lineup for the fourth game in a row, making two changes to his starting XI.

Callum Wilson and Joelinton came in, while Alexander Isak and Joe Willock dropped out.

It was a controversial decision given how well Isak and Willock have been playing, but it is one that paid off massively. Wilson and Joelinton scored two goals each, propelling Newcastle to a mammoth 5-1 victory.

Howe has admitted that he was surprised by how big of an impact Wilson and Joelinton had, and now Merson has admitted that he was ‘shocked’ by the Toon manager’s decision to change strikers.

Paul Merson ‘shocked’ by Eddie Howe’s decision to bench Alexander Isak

In his latest column for Sportskeeda, Merson commented on Howe making a change to his starting lineup against West Ham.

“I was shocked that Alexander Isak didn’t play yesterday, but Callum Wilson did score two goals,” he wrote.

“Isak has been a proper handful in the Premier League and he’s a great signing for Newcastle.”

Inspired decision to start Callum Wilson

Merson was shocked to see Isak on the bench, and so was the majority of the Toon Army. The 23-year-old has been in exceptional form in recent weeks, and has drawn comparisons to Arsenal legend Thierry Henry.

But Howe decided to go with Wilson up front, and it was an inspired decision. The 31-year-old has now hit double figures, netting his ninth and 10th goals of the season.

While it was a shock to see Wilson start, there was method to the madness. Firstly, the Toon number nine has a brilliant record against the Hammers. He has now played against them 13 times in his career, and has scored 12 goals.

Secondly, Isak is still getting fully up to speed after making his return from injury. He is still adapting to Premier League, and it was perhaps too big an ask for him to start once again so soon after the Manchester United win.

Luckily Howe had Wilson in reserve, with the Newcastle manager able to rely on his strength in depth. Now he has a very difficult decision to make regarding who should start on Saturday against Brentford.