Joelinton seems to be hindering himself when playing for Newcastle United.
During his last couple of Premier League outings, Joelinton’s positioning seems to be the reason he’s failing to score for Newcastle United.
The Brazilian striker showed against Arsenal that he’s playing too deep, the majority of his touches were on or around the halfway line (Whoscored).
Only very light patches of his touches were coming anywhere near the box, which is very different to someone like the now injured Harry Kane.
Kane is a conventional striker and in one of his previous matches against Norwich, you could definitely see that the Englishman has a much better balance in his positioning.
The England international only had 38 touches, which is less than what Joelinton had against Arsenal – but it’s where the touches were that’s important.
In or close to the penalty area was Kane’s main focus for his touches against Norwich, with some small patches of possession in the general midfield areas – which can occur when tracking back or counter-attacking (Whoscored).
Joelinton’s positioning was slightly better against the Canaries, but instead of being mainly focused on the halfway line, he was instead trying to do too much and had touches all over the field (Whoscored).
Which is why it might seem like the Brazilian is missing when crossing opportunities occur, and with the centre-forward being over six feet tall, that’s exactly the type of chance you want him in the box for.
This shouldn’t be too big of an issue for Steve Bruce to fix, all he needs is for Joelinton to actually be a little bit lazier and just stick in his position – in some sort of a goal-poacher role.
If he does that, the Brazilian should be in and around the box ready to get his head to crosses from the wingers – which should result in more goals for the currently struggling striker.
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