Joelinton’s search for confidence at Newcastle United

Joelinton continues to struggle for Newcastle United and it’s a rough cycle that he needs to break.

In their New Year’s Day defeat to Leicester City, Newcastle United were again left disappointed by their record-signing striker in front of goal. Joelinton had a 1-v-1 opportunity when the match was still scoreless and somehow managed not to convert, then he didn’t strike the ball well when given another chance in the second half. The commentators re-iterated something that we already know: Joelinton is lacking confidence right now. But, gaining that confidence is a tricky situation for the Brazilian forward.

The heavyset gentleman (we’re excluding his name to keep this appropriate for the younger crowd) in the Austin Powers series has a line about his weight. He said he eats because he’s unhappy, but he’s unhappy because he eats and that it’s a vicious cycle. That ties into what Joelinton is dealing with right now. To score goals, he needs to be more confident. But, to gain that much-needed confidence, he needs to score goals. It’s tough. Thankfully, there may be a decent opportunity coming this weekend.

We will talk about how Newcastle United shouldn’t play a lot of starters in the FA Cup match in a different article, but that doesn’t apply to Joelinton. There is actually decent depth up top and an injury to him wouldn’t be the end of the world. But, most importantly, he would get the chance to do some damage in front of goal against a League One side. Would that success translate directly to matches in the Premier League vs. top sides? Of course not. But, he could gain some swagger just by seeing the ball go into the net. Remember, he only has ONE GOAL since arriving from Hoffenheim last summer.

Hopefully, he can score against Rochdale and gain some steam down the stretch this season because confidence isn’t easy to come by and goals have been even more elusive for Joelinton in the black and white.