Newcastle finished in the top four of the Premier League after the 2022/23 Premier League season to qualify for the Champions League, but, since then, Eddie Howe’s side has fallen far below that standard instead of making progress.
Since their initial transfer investment from Saudi Arabia in 2022, Newcastle have grown complacent, with the main issue being Howe’s unwillingness to sell several players who are no longer good enough for a team that aims to sustainably qualify for the Champions League every season – and push for more.
Far from emerging as darkhorse title contenders in the Premier League, Newcastle now look like a team that is struggling to qualify for European football at all year over year.
On Saturday, the Magpies suffered their latest disappointing result of the 2024/25 league season, drawing Crystal Palace 1-1. Normally, that wouldn’t be so bad, but Palace have been in a low period this season, too, and were coming into the game in the relegation battle.
Before that, Newcastle lost to West Ham, which was an awful way to follow up an amazing winning streak over Chelsea, Nottingham Forest, and Arsenal – all Champions League contenders this season.
So after more dropped points, let’s take a look at three Newcastle players who need to step up if the Magpies are to get out of mid-table and qualify for European football again.
ST Alexander Isak
The list 100 percent has to start with Alexander Isak, who already came to the Premier League with a penchant for being wildly inconsistent in LaLiga, which is a fact that I am sure a handful of diehard LaLiga fans pointed out to Newcastle supporters at the time of his transfer.
That inconsistency was present last season, but Isak scored more than enough goals to paper over some of the lukewarm periods. The Swedish international scored 21 goals to set a career high and even averaged 1.4 dribbles completed per game to help fight the narrative that he is a one-dimensional striker who can’t help the team if he isn’t scoring goals.
Isak earned Real Sociedad a record 63 million pounds on his transfer fee because of the reputation he built in Spain as a great goal-scorer, but his career-high of 17 goals is a bit modest – and he actually scored just 15 goals in his other two seasons with La Real…combined.
Now this season, Isak has gone from a darkhorse Premier League Player of the Season candidate alongside Anthony Gordon to a subpar starting striker in the English top flight who is arguably making Gordon’s life more difficult.
Isak is having too many games where he isn’t making any sort of an impact, as his four goals, while tied for the team high, actually match backup Harvey Barnes. Plus, Newcastle is set up to feed Isak more than the others, so he should be scoring much more than 4 goals in 11 games.
Plus, his tendency to play selfish becomes grating when the goals aren’t coming, so when he decides to keep the ball himself instead of making the obvious pass to an open player in the six-yard box, the mistake becomes that much more frustrating.
LB/CB Dan Burn
Although Dan Burn comes with fewer expectations than Isak, he’s been less effective than the Swedish striker, struggling at the center back position, which is actually his main spot.
Burn was the starting left back in the 2022/23 season, supporting the elite central defensive partnership of Sven Botman and Fabian Schar as something of a third center back.
That role proved crucial in the Newcastle offense, too, because it allowed right back Kieran Trippier to bomb up the pitch and aggressively create chances for the Champions League side.
Burn is back in the middle, but, at 32 years old, it’s becoming clear that his best days are behind him, and he’s only holding down his starting spot because Botman is still recovering from an ACL tear and Lloyd Kelly has been a massive mistake of a signing.
Kelly could have easily made this list, but he’s been so poor that there’s no sense in asking him to step up. But if Burn can get back to his 2022/23 level, that could be a significant boost to the Newcastle defense and the help that the young fullbacks need – and Schar, too, since the Swiss gem can’t do it all himself.
With just one tackle per game and 0.5 successful dribbles allowed per contest, Burn could stand to be more active at winning possession and even being more adventurous and progressive with his passing to help Newcastle set a stronger attacking tone as a team.
CM/LW Joelinton
Since signing a new four-year contract in April, former Hoffenheim man Joelinton’s form has demonstrably fallen, and given how unique and vital his skillset is to Newcastle’s success, that has been a huge blow to the Magpies as they toil away in the middle of the Premier League table.
Joelinton is an aggressive, ball-winning forward who has made more starts this season in center midfield than on the left wing, but no matter where he plays for the Magpies, he hasn’t provided that same oomph and has been very disappointing in terms of his attacking output.
The 28-year-old left-sided midfielder has done precious little to support star man Anthony Gordon, who has felt much more isolated this season, hence why he’s had to do more of the “dirty work” that Joelinton should be doing with fewer goals and assists to his name.
Joelinton has no assists this season and isn’t even averaging a key pass per game. Worse yet, he’s averaging just 0.5 dribbles completed per contest, providing no real progressive outlet and a whole lot of sloppiness on the ball, playing directly into the hands of opponents.
His defensive work rate and intensity remain strong, but his lack of influence on the game offensively matches with a sudden drop in technical performance that is untenable at the Premier League level.
If Joelinton’s displays do not improve, Newcastle may have no choice but to drop him, because, as against Crystal Palace, his uneven and often anonymous offensive displays are playing a role in costing the Magpies points.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.