Danny Mills shared that Newcastle United attacker Joelinton has all the physical attributes needed to excel and stated that all he needed to do was keep getting into the right positions.
The Sky Sports pundit shared that the Magpies forward wouldn’t get the same amount of chances as the likes of Manchester City attacker Sergio Aguero or Liverpool hotshot Mohamed Salah, so needed to have a cool head when opportunities to score come his way.
“Physically, he’s got all the attributes in terms of physicality and all those type of things,” Mills told Football Insider.
“He’s just got to make sure he’s getting into the right positions and has a cool head under pressure to take those chances.
“He’s not going to be afforded as many chances as Sergio Aguero, as Raheem Sterling, as Mo Salah, Sadio Mane, as Harry Kane. Sometimes it’s even harder for those centre forwards because the chances are fewer and further between.
“He needs to get that balance of being relaxed and when he gets that opportunity, put the ball in the back of the net.”
Joelinton joined the Magpies from German club Hoffenheim in the summer and has managed to score one goal in his five outings for Newcastle.
OPINION
Mills is right with his advice for Joelinton and hopefully, he is able to stay calm in front of goal and become a clinical force for Steve Bruce’s side. The 23-year-old showed he was capable of keeping a calm head in the win over Tottenham, but it’s all about doing it on a consistent basis. In the 1-0 win over Spurs, Joelinton only touched the ball 40 times against Tottenham, some Spurs players had more than 100 touches to put that in perspective (Source: WhoScored), and yet he was able to stay alert enough to beautifully fire the ball home when a rare chance fell his way. The only thing Mills has overlooked is that Joelinton has to rely on his teammates carving out chances for him. While the Brazilian will get fewer opportunities to score than some of the high-profile forward in the Premier League, the likes of Miguel Almiron and Christian Atsu do need to ensure they’re making the most of the ball when it’s at their feet by playing their teammate into goalscoring positions.
