Newcastle’s three most improved players under Eddie Howe

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Eddie Howe is a manager with a reputation for improving players on the training ground and he has already had an impact at Newcastle.

As he finishes celebrating his first Christmas as Magpies boss, we have taken a look at three members of his squad who have already improved under his guidance…

Joelinton

There really was only one place to start on this list.

Joelinton has been arguably Newcastle’s best player under Howe, having been an expensive figure of fun for much of Steve Bruce’s reign.

Many of his previous struggles were not his fault; he was bought for too much money by a manager who didn’t understand how to use him.

But Howe has energised him, and also toyed with his position to make the most of his pressing while easing the reliance on him to score goals.

The Brazilian looks reborn and will hope that 2022 is the year when he consistently shows English football observers what he is all about.

Jamal Lewis

It is a shame that Lewis got injured in the 3-1 defeat at Anfield because he had been in his best form since signing for Newcastle.

Bruce brought him in but seemed to lose faith, preferring to use players like Matt Ritchie out of position ahead of him.

There is a player in there and Howe did great work at Bournemouth in terms of bringing players with a lot of Championship experience to Premier League standard.

The early signs on that score were good with Lewis, and hopefully he makes a speedy recovery.

Jonjo Shelvey

Howe went big and early with his praise of Shelvey, indicating he was somebody he would look to build his Newcastle midfield around.

The affection is clearly mutual as Shelvey recently said Howe has made playing for Newcastle more exciting. It has seemingly impacted his performances.

It was a shame he made a mistake he felt he had to apologise for on the same night as scoring at Anfield, because that long-range goal came after a period of steady improvement under Howe.

There is still more work to be done by the one-time England international but he is Howe’s type of player and has given him new confidence which he will hope bears fruit in 2022.

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