Former Arsenal midfielder Joe Willock continues to go from strength to strength at Newcastle United with Premier League legend Martin Keown hailing his ‘amazing’ assist during Sunday’s 6-1 thrashing of Tottenham Hotspur.
Forget those Saudi Arabian billionaires, the Newcastle side who hit Tottenham for six at St James’ Park still contained many of the players who spent much of the Steve Bruce era lumbering around down the bottom of the table.
This was a victory which belonged not to Amanda Staveley, but to Eddie Howe.
The revitalised Jacob Murphy and Joelinton scored three times between them as the Magpies shattered Cristian Stellini’s glass jaw into a million tiny pieces. Fabian Schar, Dan Burn, Sean Longstaff and the aforementioned Willock – all remnants of the miserable Bruce era – started during Sunday’s masterclass too, players who’s careers apepared to be drifting towards mediocity pre-Eddie Howe now just weeks away from securing a seat at Europe’s very top table.
Newcastle are now third in the table; a six-point gap between themselves and their beleaguered visitors in fifth.
Former Arsenal man Joe Willock firing Newcastle into Champions League
“I don’t think it matters (whether Newcastle are ready for the Champions League). I think it will happen anyway,” says Keown, a three-time Premier League champion with Arsenal.
For Keown, Willock’s remarkable, Luka Modric-inspired assist to set up Alexander Isak – as Newcastle raced into a 5-0 lead inside 21 stunning minutes – was the highlight of a supreme display.
“I mean, you look at Willock. The ball he puts in for Isak… amazing,” Keown tells talkSPORT (24 April, 10am).
“That’s confidence. That is inspiration. I think the crowd bring that on. There definitely is a special atmosphere.”
Newcastle paid £25 million to turn Willock’s loan deal into a permanent transfer in the summer of 2021, the 23-year-old having almost single-handedly saved Bruce’s side from relegation the previous season.
A tally of three goals and five assists this term hardly puts Willock up amongst the Kevin de Bruynes and the Bruno Fernandes’. But, what he lacks in quantity, he more than makes up for in good timing.
One of Willock’s league goals was a stunning long-range winner against Chelsea. Another opened the scoring against Manchester United.
‘Willockinho’
Brazil international Bruno Guimaraes, meanwhile, debuted Willock’s new nickname following that Tottenham trashing.
“Willockinho,” Guimaraes quips. “With his new hair today, he looked like Ronaldinho and played like him, too.
“An amazing through ball for (Isak’s) goal. What a pass. Only Modric can play a pass like that. It was amazing.”
“I almost don’t want to see it again,” Howe adds. “Because I don’t want to disturb my vision of what it was live. It was an incredible ball. The right angle. The right flight to get the whip on it he needed with the outside of his right boot.
“It was a great pass.”
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