Newcastle’s “explosive” star once looked like shearer, now he needs to go

Newcastle United’s start in the 2025/26 Premier League season is one of those promises mixed with frustration.

Eddie Howe’s team opened in a 0-0 draw with Aston Villa. Aston Villa is a match where they dominated a great period but lacked cutting edge.

Their second fixture produced the drama at St. James Park.

Newcastle, who fell 2-0 against Liverpool, appeared to be set to complete a comeback before Ling Moha’s 100-minute strike denounced them into a 3-2 defeat.

This pattern continued in Leeds. Leeds was another 0-0 stalemate, with few chances.

It wasn’t until the fourth game that Newcastle ultimately scored three points and scored a 1-0 home victory over the wolves.

Following this, we met at another goal. This time we’re away in Bournemouth. This is a match that highlights both Hau’s tactical experiments and the team’s continued offensive mal lazyness.

In two goalless games with Leeds and Bournemouth, Howe tried out different variations of the back three.

However, the results suggest that the system still needs adjustments and Newcastle struggles due to rhythm and flow ency in the final third.

Newcastle took a breath into the system against Bournemouth.

Against Bournemouth, Howe’s team took the field 3-4-2-1, aiming to disable the host’s high-pressure 4-2-3-1.

Record-time signature Nick Urtemaid led the line.

The German forward showed a decent touch and even waving a penalty appeal, but he still seemed to adapt to the physical demands of British football.

In the middle, Howe spins in a lot. Lewis Miley and Joe Wilk replaced Bruno Guimares and Jorington, but neither of them were able to engrave their litigation authority.

Newcastle’s lack of thrust was reflected in the numbers. It’s a predicted target (XG) of just 0.14 compared to Bournemouth’s 0.46.

There were some defensive, nervous moments.

Tino Libramento was caught at the back post, allowing David Brooks to score what appeared to be the opening goal before being ruled out for offside.

Malick Tear also ran his luck by avoiding what could have been a red card in the second half.

In raw statistics, I painted a dark picture of Newcastle: a 498 four-shot of Bournemouth completing 11 and 390 passes.

One positivity came in the form of Lewis Hall. Lewis Hall appeared to have been composed when he returned to Starting XI after a long injury layoff.

The former Chelsea man balances his left flank and shows a glimpse of Newcastle’s lack of technical security in recent weeks. I can’t say the same about one of his teammates…

Bournemouth draws the latest example of Willuck’s decline

In the Newcastle struggle, the spotlight inevitably fell to Joe Wilk.

The midfielder was handed over the first league start of his season at Bournemouth, but his calm display reminded me of how much his career has floated from the explosive start he made at St. James Park.

Wilk arrived first loaned out from Arsenal in February 2021 and was tasked with helping Steve Bruce in the side-escaping relegation.

He wasted time and ran amazing goals in seven consecutive matches after earning his debut in a 3-2 victory at Southampton. It rivals Alancierar’s long-standing record in 1996.

By the end of that season, Willuck scored eight goals in 14 games, second only to Callum Wilson despite having arrived mid-season.

Bruce urged the board to make the move permanent, and Newcastle mandated a £25 million deal over the summer.

Wilk contributed significantly in Howe’s first full campaign, helping Newcastle secure a fourth-place finish and a return to the Champions League.

However, since then, injuries have derailed his progress.

He missed 38 games and seven more games last season in 2023/24, with X’s content creator saying one content creator said that “explosive bursts of pace” had all the center of his game gone.

The Bournemouth match showed the scale of his struggle.

62 minutes before being replaced by Harvey Barnes, Willlock registered shots, 32 touches and just 12 passes from 15 attempts (80%), according to SofaScore.

Defensively, he was combative, winning six of nine ground duels, but he lost both of his airborne contests and offered little drive in the future.

His match rating at 6.8 reflects a non-hard work but poor opinionated performance.

For a player who was once welcomed as a response to Newcastle’s Shearer in terms of clutch scoring, his trajectory represents the team’s own offensive issues.

While Howe hopes that the minutes of the upcoming League Cup clash with Bradford will help Will Rock rediscover the rhythm, he is now far from the dynamic midfielder who safely carried Newcastle just four years ago.