Harvey Barnes often splits the opinion of Newcastle United fans. Many believe he doesn't offer enough throughout a 90 minute game and many opposingly believe that, if played week in week out, he scores well into double figures across a Premier League season.
Tonight, he very much provided sustenance to those who see him in the latter of those categories, with a brace off the bench to ultimately win the game against West Brom and send Newcastle into the third round of the Carabao Cup.
But, no matter which way you view Barnes, there is one specific attribute which I believe he may genuinely be the best in world football at. Ironically enough, he showed exactly what I'm talking about in both of his goals this evening.
Harvey Barnes' world class atrribute
It's going to sound a little bit silly when I say it in this plain and simple manner, but Harvey Barnes is literally second to none when it comes to being in the right place at the right time.
Especially for a winger, but I'd probably even put him in the elite category of centre forwards to be quite honest. He is simply never not in the right place when the ball comes into the box.
Whether it be a scramble which he anticipates perfectly, a timed run to arrive at the same time as the ball, or simply a little body feint to lose a centre half before firing home - I genuinely don't remember the last time I saw him get it wrong.
He might frustrate in other areas, for example his ability to take on his man in 1vs1 situations does leave a bit to be desired, but that is made up for tenfold by his ability to sublimely execute every chance he receives.
His West Brom exploits
As most of you reading this will have seen, he put that attribute to perfect use this evening.
His first goal consisted of a darting run into a ruckus of bodies in the box, which he anticipated perfectly and met the ball as it popped out from a scrappy passage to rifle home.
The second of which consisted of a slick bit of movement in the box to free himself of a defender and stroke home a pinpoint Amar Dedic ball across to make it 3-2 and ultimately win us the game.
They were both stellar examples of Barnes just having that instinct to know exactly where he should be to get a golden opportunity to strike - on this occasion (as he does most of the time to be fair) he took them beautifully.
Why Barnes will be crucial to Jaissle's squad
It is, perhaps unsurprisingly, exactly what I just mentioned that will make him invaluable to Jaissle and the Newcastle squad this season.
Barnes finished the last campaign as our second top goalscorer, behind only Anthony Gordon who went on that ridiculous Champions League run.
So now, with Gordon gone and some question marks surrounding just where the majority of the Magpies goals will come from this season, especially given the rather problematic shortcomings of the striker options at points last season, Barnes' output will be crucial.
There are ongoing questions as to whether he is better as an impact substitution, perhaps that is correct, but with Bazoumana Toure there to share the load, Barnes will likely have the opportunity to both start and come off the bench plenty this season.
I really think we could see some serious numbers put up by the winger in the Premier League, especially with just one game a week, he simply just has that ability to score goals.
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