Emile Heskey fears that Joelinton will never find his feet at Newcastle United unless he gets more reliable service from the wide areas, while speaking exclusively to HITC.
Over a year on from his now-infamous £40 million move from Hoffenheim, Joelinton’s tally of Premier League goals stands at a miserable two in 45 games.
But the club-record signing cannot and should not carry all the blame on his own shoulders.
Joelinton was more of an inverted forward than a classic number nine in his Bundesliga days.
While Steve Bruce has tried in vain to turn him into a traditional target-man, do Newcastle even have the wingers to make such a transformation possible?
After all, neither Miguel Almiron nor Allan Saint-Maximin are the sort of players likely to take a touch and whip a ball into the near post like, say, Leicester City wideman Marc Albrighton.
Heskey feels a degree of sympathy for Joelinton, suggesting that his aerial ability could be put to good use if deliveries from the flanks improve.
“I think Joelinton needs a goal that goes in off his backside, just to get him to relax and get him to breathe with a bit more confidence. We’ve seen throughout his career that he’s able to score goals,” the former England international said.
“The thing is, with Almiron and Saint-Maximin, I don’t think they’re particularly the wingers that Joelinton would like.
“Joelinton would thrive with someone like Marc Albrighton, who only wants to have a touch and cross it whereas Almiron just wants to dribble and take someone on.
“He’s got to be comfortable enough to make those runs and knowing he’s not going to be offside, knowing the players are going to cross the ball. One thing you struggle with as a forward is when you’ve got a winger who is jinking, jinking, jinking – when do you make your run?”
Heskey has a point.
With top scorer Callum Wilson expected to miss the next few weeks after suffering an injury in Friday’s 2-0 defeat to Southampton, Newcastle are once again in a situation where they are relying on Joelinton for goals.
There was a rare moment of positivity at St Mary’s however.
Jamal Lowe, a superb crosser of the ball, produced a wonderful delivery in the second-half which Joelinton met full-on, only to be denied by a flying Alex McCarthy.
Is Newcastle’s new left-back the key to getting the best out of their £40 million striker? Maybe. But Joelinton must also ensure he is getting in the positions to score in the first place.
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