Newcastle United’s beleaguered striker Joelinton ‘politely declined’ to conduct a post match interview on Sunday, according to The Chronicle.
The newspaper claims that the 23-year-old arrived at St James’ Park on his own, and proceeded to trudge down the tunnel unaccompanied after the Magpies’ 1-1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers.
When The Chronicle asked the Brazilian whether he would like to have an interview with the paper, he said thanks but no thanks, and appeared to be deep in thought.
OPINION
All this does is add to the sense that Joelinton is becoming increasingly isolated on Tyneside, and not just on the pitch. You do wonder whether he is rather regretting having made his big money move to Newcastle last summer, because of how the team play – practically no creativity or support for him as the lone striker – and perhaps because he hasn’t quite settled in the area. Perhaps that’s clutching at straws based on the fact that he arrived at the game on Sunday on his own, but there’s little arguing with the fact that he is incredibly isolated on the field of play. As per WhoScored.com, the South American made 30 passes against Wolves, but only 66.7% of them found their man. Yes, that’s down to his poor use of the ball, which obviously must improve. However, perhaps that statistic can also be explained by the fact that there aren’t many of his teammates near him when he gets the ball. That’s certainly how it looked on Sunday, that’s for sure.
