Newcastle United player slapped with well-deserved rating of 4/10 for poor performance against Bournemouth by national media outlet
Let's be clear right off the bat, today's abysmal Newcastle United performance falls on the shoulders of everybody, not just one man.
That being said, in a team of players seemingly bereft of ideas on how to attack the opposition and force an opportunity, one Magpie was far worse than the rest.
We picked him out before kick-off, and all of our fears proved to be well-founded.
I'm talking, of course, about Joe Willock. The lad who, at one point, looked to be the future of Newcastle United after scoring in seven games in a row while on loan from Arsenal.
Newcastle United have no luck when bringing back quality loanees
Then, in what seems to be a trend with Newcastle, when a loan player returns to the club, be it on a permanent basis or another loan, they seem like an entirely different and much worse player. See also Matt Targett and Kenedy.
Eddie Howe seems to love Willock; he clearly sees something in training that we don't get to see because, for at least the last year, every time he has taken to the pitch, he has been acrid garbage. Yes, he's had bad injury issues, but even so, that shouldn't make him this bad a player.
Today, he was so poor playing on the left flank of the front three that The Express saw fit to award him a pitiful score of 4/10, branding him as off the pace.
"He was easily outplayed in midfield and failed to make any significant impact. He only managed 15 passes and didn't attempt a shot at goal. Significantly off the pace."
Shape up or ship out!
Willock is now, by far, the worst player in our first-team squad. As far as low bars go for a squad, it's not too bad, as there is a player there, but his level is definitely mid-table Premier League or lower.
There was a lot of talk of Willock being moved on in the summer, but it always seemed to be a case of him or Sean Longstaff, and it was the latter who moved on. Granted, we could have tried for another centre-mid and offloaded both, but given how hard it was to sign anybody, we're not surprised things turned out this way.
Joe Willock needs to get a grip and start putting in the effort to get back to the player we know he can be, or we need to get rid in January. For now, can we just keep him well away from the pitch? Thanks.
