‘Different role’ - Eddie Howe gives Joelinton another fresh position change at Newcastle United

Despite arriving as a £40million striker five years ago, the Brazilian has evolved - largely down to Eddie Howe - into a formidable team player. No longer motivated solely by scoring goals, Joelinton is predominantly used as a midfield battering ram.

But the 28-year-old was called upon to cover every blade of grass in the 1-1 draw with City. Howe cunningly had Joelinton slotting into the backline out of possession and leading the counter-attack when Newcastle were in control.

Speaking to Monday Night Football, former Liverpool defender Carragher was blown away by Joelinton’s all-action performance. While showing viewers highlights of Newcastle vs Man City on a screen, he said: “He (Joelinton) had three different roles defensively and that’s a lot of tactical instruction to take on for a player. He’s man-to-man marking. 

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“He’s high up the pitch, Newcastle United are man-to-man all over the pitch. That was Dan Burn pushing in. Now he (Joelinton) is actually looking after Rico Lewis, filling that space as a third centre-back. It’s almost like a back five. He’s dropping in that position, then he’s out to press Lewis then drops back into that hole to look after Gundogan.

“He’s left-sided centre-back in a back three. He’s now looking after Erling Haaland, being aggressive against him to stop him. He makes it difficult and that’s a vital role against Manchester City. I think a lot of teams should play three at the back against Manchester City for that reason.

“Now he’s (in the footage shown) actually swapped with Lewis Hall. He’s left wing-back. Different detail, different understanding of who you’re up against. They win the ball high and he gets back to his midfield position in a 4-3-3 because he’s got to get forward. He then gets on the overlap. I just thought it was fantastic.”