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After covering Eddie Howe’s right-back and full-back dilemmas in the first two parts of this series, we move to the welcome selection headache down our left-hand side now Joe Willock and Harvey Barnes are fit again.
Anthony Gordon vs Harvey Barnes
The much-touted resolution to this dilemma is to switch Gordon to the righthand side – something I have (and seemingly Eddie Howe too) been reluctant to champion as it seems to be a round peg in a square hole solution.
Gordon is now England’s starting left winger, he will want to play in his natural position to keep his place. He is still to hit the heights of last season but his run, beating two Wolves defenders before hitting the post last Sunday showed his qualities, and he grabbed us a point against Bournemouth with his goal. He has also proved he is a big game player scoring against all the ‘Top Six’ sides last season.
Barnes has proved himself from the bench on multiple occasions for United, including against Wolves at the weekend. He has a knack for scoring belters too. But Leicester fans often accused him of going missing during games, and he has shown a similar trait in his short time at Newcastle. Statistically, he has seven goals and four assists in just 25 appearances (eight starts) but Gordon has 23 goals + assists in 55 appearances.
If Newcastle had signed a starting right winger in the summer, this isn’t even a selection dilemma – Gordon starts every single time. But in the context of the current squad, the front three of Gordon – Isak – Barnes deserves a chance, but it is far from ideal and risks unsettling either player.
Joelinton vs Joe Willock
Our reborn Brazilian was excellent in adversity during the opening day win against Southampton, dragging the team to three points with has combative pressing, harrying and tackling, ultimately resulting in him scoring the winner. But he has struggled for form since; he was responsible for Bouremouth’s goal by losing possession on the edge…
Source link : https://www.nufcblog.co.uk/2024/09/21/barnes-gordon-willock-and-big-joe-plenty-to-ponder-for-eddie-howe/
Author : Jonathan Young
Publish date : 2024-09-21 10:19:40
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