Eddie Howe is in complete agreement with Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer.
The Magpies started the new Premier League season with a win over Southampton last Saturday, and it was largely down to one Newcastle United player.
Joelinton was exceptional for Newcastle, with the 28-year-old scoring the only goal of the game to hand the Magpies a 1-0 win.
It was a brilliant finish on the stroke of half-time, but the goal was merely the icing on the cake. It was a complete performance from the Brazilian, and it resulted in Alan Shearer calling Joelinton one of the best midfielders in the Premier League.
It was an all-action display from Joelinton, who covered so much ground as Newcastle battled to win with 10 men. His performance epitomised how big a miss he was in the second half of last season, with Joelinton one of the multiple Toon players to succumb to injury.
Eddie Howe was blown away by ‘physically incredible’ Joelinton
But Joelinton is back now, and Shearer believes he has already proved himself to be one of the best in the top flight of English football.
And that is a sentiment that Eddie Howe agrees with, having been asked about Shearer’s comments during his pre-match press conference ahead of the game against Bournemouth.
“I do agree with him [Shearer],” he said.
“When he [Joelinton] is at his best, I would absolutely hate to play against him. He is physically incredible.
“I think you will have seen that last week. He was at his best, physically. He covered every blade of grass, he was involved in everything – duels, he was coming out with the ball in situations that he had no right to, he was covering and balancing our defending in a brilliant way.
“I think that was Joelinton pumped to do his best. Really aggressive, but also, let’s not underestimate his quality. For the goal, the ball is wrapped into him at real speed. He’s had to take the ball really well on his left foot, which is not his strongest, killed the ball dead and finished it into the corner. I thought it was a very underestimated piece of skill. That shows the other side of his game, and maybe the striker’s instinct in him because that was a top class bit of play.”
Newcastle need Joelinton at his best again on Sunday against Bournemouth
Joelinton produced a special performance against Southampton on Saturday, and Toon fans will be hoping for more of the same this weekend.
Unsurprisingly, he features in the Geordie Boot Boys Newcastle United predicted XI to face Bournemouth, joining Sean Longstaff and Bruno Guimaraes in midfield.
And it will not be long until Eddie Howe can deploy his strongest trio, with Sandro Tonali set to make his comeback from suspension against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday.
Before that, Newcastle’s main focus is on Bournemouth – a fixture that the Magpies struggled in last season. Howe’s side were beaten 2-0 at the Vitality Stadium, and could only draw 2-2 at St James’ Park.
If Newcastle are to compete for a place in the top four, this is a fixture that they need to improve in. Joelinton can help towards that, and he will be keen to ensure that the ‘best in the Premier League’ compliments continue to come his way with another outstanding performance.
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