There’s been some criticism of Joselu this season from Newcastle fans, and it’s obvious the Spanish striker is not a natural goalscorer.
And he’s had quite a few starts of late mainly because Salomon Rondon has not been match-fit and the Venezuelan has recently picked up a thigh injury.
That’s the main reason we have seen Joselu lead the line this season but new signing Yoshinori Muto is also adjusting to the physical play in the Premier League.
Another way of explaining why Joselu has played so much is he’s all we’ve got.
Newcastle sold Aleksandar Mitrovic to Fulham in the summer for what should be around £27M with the add-ons and loaned out Dwight Gayle to West Brom as part of the Rondon loan deal.
Joselu in action at Leicester City
Dwight has done very well and has scored six goals, and West Brom were top of the Championship before last night’s games and a win tonight at Sheffield Wednesday will see them top of the league again.
Gayle’s six goals have come in just nine games.
Here’s what Rafa has said about his Spanish compatriot in the Chronicle today:
“You can see the work rate of Joselu in every single game is good. And he has scored some goals, too.”
“He is doing what he has to do in a team like us who, normally, will not have too much possession.”
“We have to defend, we have to try to be sure we are in the right position without the ball.”
“Then, after, you expect: ‘Well he has to be in the box.’ Yeah, but we need to defend, because if not we cannot regain the ball.”
“So I think he’s one of the players who works harder than anyone.”
“You can say: ‘Oh, the strikers they have to score goals.’ Yeah, fine, but you have to take everything in context.”
“I believe he’s a good player for us, he is giving everything, and that’s it.”
Rafa is under some pressure at the moment with Newcastle having lost six of our first eight games this season, and we are 3rd bottom of the league with just 2 points from seven league games.
We are 3 points behind 4th bottom Fulham.
Hopefully, we can start to do better very soon, but we face a daunting task at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon.
Comments welcome.
9 comments so far
c-dog
Oct 3, 2018 at 9:04 AM
Comment #1Radio silence on rafas part when it comes to Joselu would be more appropriate. Comments like these will inspire a loyal fan base against him
catchy in norway
Oct 3, 2018 at 9:06 AM
Comment #2well he has to, he him to replace mitro
If Mitro has 5 goals at Fulham, what could he score at city
Lindisfarne
Oct 3, 2018 at 9:09 AM
Comment #3Do not knock our leading (only PL) goal scorer.
Ashton
Oct 3, 2018 at 9:16 AM
Comment #4Fulham are conceding goals at a staggering rate. I wonder how long it would take before their manager starts to be more conservative. I would like to see how Mitro would do then.
RobLeenio
Oct 3, 2018 at 9:16 AM
Comment #5I saw some comments on the last post re the Fans’ Forum minutes. Apparently the club as of yesterday had not yet released the minutes to the Forum members for checking and editing, so they are nowhere close to release.
I think it was in The Mag.
Another example of the club’s ‘misunderstanding’ of the purpose of the Forum which should be all about communication but has become far more of a political animal.
beermonkey
Oct 3, 2018 at 9:22 AM
Comment #6rob
i have been away when was the fans forum and was there a list of questions released before the meeting
do we know who attended from the club
RobLeenio
Oct 3, 2018 at 9:29 AM
Comment #7beer, I couldn’t say mate about the questions being published ahead of the event. I think it was due to be held last Monday.
Here’s the article about the minutes being delayed
https://www.themag.co.uk/2018/10/latest-newcastle-united-fans-forum-nonsense-shames-mike-ashley-regime-further/
And here’s a link to an interview with a fan’s forum member which I thought was quite interesting.
https://www.themag.co.uk/2018/09/a-view-from-inside-the-newcastle-united-fans-forum-ahead-of-mondays-meeting-intriguing/
Apologies to Ed for directing people away from his esteemed blog, but I think both articles are of interest.
Jib
Oct 3, 2018 at 9:39 AM
Comment #8Ashley is taking Rafa ,Charnley and the team for
toasties at the Labour club tonight
Jib
Oct 3, 2018 at 9:40 AM
Comment #9RobLeenio
Gone down in my estimation
Bad form that like