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Touch wood, the long injury crisis is hopefully behind us. At the weekend, we saw Eddie Howe make a triple change at half time and it helped us go on to win the game. The bench has played a big role in our early success this season and it underlines the disadvantage we had in the 2023/24 campaign, as Howe didn’t have those options available to him.
There has been plenty of discussion about Sandro Tonali and Harvey Barnes in the last few days. A clamour is building for both to start against Fulham on Saturday. However, it is the third substitute that I will focus on for the rest of this piece. It was a surprise to see Joe Willock named on the bench at Wolves, but it was a very pleasing sight.
No other player in the squad has his ability to drive with the ball at pace in central areas. It is a thrust that we have lacked over the last 12 months. Willock was never able to get fully fit after missing pre-season in 2023 and that impacted his ability to get back from injury. This summer, he was given a pre-season and despite a small knock picked up against Nottingham Forest, he remains on track to play a bigger role this season.
Plenty of notable stats came out of the second half, but the most eye-catching was Willock’s chance creation. The midfielder made five chances in the second half. Only Amad Diallo (6) made more during the fourth match-week of the Premier League and he started the game for Manchester United.
Willock provided impetus and creativity to our midfield on Sunday. That was one of the key reasons why we managed to push on to win the game. He helped us gain control and become the more threatening team. Although game state played a part, it highlighted a midfield profile that we have lacked during his absence from the squad.
There were signs that Willock was developing into a very good player under Eddie Howe during the 2022/23 season. He was on the fringes of the England squad when he got injured towards the end of that campaign and if he stays…
Source link : https://www.nufcblog.co.uk/2024/09/20/the-40m-dilemma-facing-eddie-howe-if-joe-willock-can-stay-fit/
Author : Jake Jackman
Publish date : 2024-09-20 16:00:31
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