Joe Willock has admitted that Eddie Howe has been ‘working very closely’ with him after scoring his first Newcastle United goal of the season.
The 23-year-old provided the Magpies’ third on a wet afternoon at St Mary’s, helping his side to win 4-1 against Southampton.
It was a big win for Newcastle, lifting them up to third in the Premier League table. And it was a different kind of performance from Howe’s side, who weren’t at their best on the south coast. But Newcastle were clinical, and scored some excellent goals.
Willock’s was certainly a cracker, bursting through on goal to latch onto Kieran Trippier’s wonderous pass, before stabbing it past the onrushing Gavin Bazunu.
The £25million man showed the confidence in front of goal that we saw during his loan spell, but since then goals have been hard to come by.
That was just his third strike since becoming a permanent Newcastle player, and Willock has admitted that Howe has been trying to make him more prolific from midfield.
Willock gives Howe credit for helping him score first goal of the season
After the game, Willock spoke to NUFC TV. He discussed his first goal of the season, and how the manager has been helping him behind the scenes.
“I have been working very closely with the gaffer,” he said.
“He has been showing me clips of when to arrive in the box and it was a brilliant pass from Tripps and luckily I could toe poke it in.”
Willock laughed after calling it a toe-poke, but it was a clever finish. He perfectly found the bottom corner, stabbing his effort out of Bazunu’s reach.
Latest example of Howe’s attention to detail
So many Newcastle players have got better under Howe. He turned Joelinton from a failing striker into a midfield machine. We’ve seen Miguel Almiron go from being shy in front of goal to an absolute assassin.
Their transformations are largely down to the work put in by Howe, and Willock’s goalscoring exploits could be the next example.
The Toon manager must be delighted with his players this season, but he is still striving for more. Despite only losing one game this season, he clearly still sees room for improvement in his squad.
Goals are the only thing that has been missing from Willock’s game. He has been a key player so far, but had failed to find the net until Sunday’s 4-1 win over Southampton.
Now he has broken his duck for the season, and can hopefully go on a bit of a run. While he might not hit the heights of his streak in 2021, chipping in with a goal here and there will delight Howe as he looks for more than just his forwards to contribute in the final third.
Willock has proven in the past that he has the knack of being in the right place at the right time, and Howe is working with him to get even better at it.
Now with one goal to his name this season, it hopefully won’t be long before it’s two, three and four…or maybe even more.
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