Newcastle United, after an impressive 1-0 win at home versus Arsenal at St James' Park, crashed back down to reality on the road versus AFC Bournemouth last time out with the Cherries running out 2-0 victors at the expense of Eddie Howe's hapless side.
In truth, the Magpies never really got into their groove against Andoni Iraola's battlers – Newcastle only registering five shots on target all night on the South Coast, with the buoyed-on hosts managing double that amount as Dominic Solanke eventually helped himself to a late brace.
The game majorly exposed Howe's threadbare squad, an ever-extending injury list at the club resulting in the likes of 17-year-old Lewis Miley being drafted into the eleven whilst Lewis Hall retained his spot despite a subpar showing versus Borussia Dortmund prior for the former Chelsea youngster.
However, it was a regular first-team star who put in a notable below-par performance in this clash that could see him sacrificed from the first team after the International break.
Joelinton, playing further forward in this clash after changing his style of play to now be more suited as a central midfielder, was ineffective throughout the game at the Cherries in a 90-minute display he'll want to quickly forget about.
Joelinton's performance in numbers vs Bournemouth
The Brazilian is often lauded as a fan favourite in Newcastle quarters, turning around his Magpies career with many supporters at St James' Park growing restless with the ex-Hoffenheim man when he first joined.
Newcastle's number seven will just hope his display at the Vitality Stadium was a one-off blip, the often impactful figure anonymous at Bournemouth this weekend.
Praised for his daringness on the ball, on top of his ability to intercept and hound opposition players centrally, those key Joelinton attributes were missing against Iraola's men – Joelinton averaging 1.56 progressive take-ons per 90 minutes over the last year according to FBRef, alongside an impressive 1.67 interceptions.
In his contest, he would only manage one interception all afternoon whilst his willingness to charge at opposition players to push his team up the pitch went missing too – successful in only one of his dribbles forward as per Sofascore, whilst only winning a pitiful three of his 12 ground duels in the contest.
Touches
58
Accurate Passes
33/43 (77%)
Key Passes
1
Crosses
0
Dribble Success
1/2
Shots at goal
0
Duels Won
3/15
Possession Lost
17x
Tackles & Interceptions
1
Stats via Sofascore.
It's his lackadaisical nature on the ball that would have wound up Magpies fans making that colossal journey down to the South Coast even more, losing possession 17 times with Cherries midfielders Lewis Cook and Ryan Christie having a field day in contrast to Joelinton.
It led to football journalist Dominic Scurr brandishing his night as 'poor' – a fair assessment for a player who usually operates as a bright spark.
As a consequence, the 27-year-old could be dropped by Howe when Premier League action returns in two weeks with the Magpies manager hoping and praying he has more of his squad ready for selection after this break.
Potential replacements for Joelinton
Anthony Gordon could well be moved to a position back down the wings to replace Joelinton, the ex-Everton man playing as an unorthodox lone striker in the 2-0 defeat.
This could, in tow, see Joelinton moved back to a more familiar central midfield role to help out inexperienced faces such as Miley if he was to play versus Chelsea after the break.
Howe could also look to freshen up the team altogether and cut the Brazilian from his first team picture, although his previous performances in the top-flight this campaign have been encouraging – assisting Gordon versus Mikel Arteta's Gunners at the start of the month.
Regardless of whether or not Joelinton is in or out of the first-team plans coming up, Howe will need to change things up in some aspect after a poor collective performance at Bournemouth.
