**Newcastle United were woeful for a large chunk of the first half down at the Amex Stadium on Saturday as they were beaten 2-1 by Brighton and Hove Albion.**
After a promising start, Newcastle faded into obscurity for around 30 minutes during the first period at the Amex, with some players being absolutely invisible.
It wasn't until late in the second half that I remembered that Joelinton had actually started the game before being replaced by Lewis Miley at half time.
Off the back of a disappointing outing for Brazil, Joelinton didn't do much to restore his reputation on Saturday. In fact, he didn't do much of anything at all.
That ball could be going anywhere
Eddie Howe admits Anthony Elanga needs extra support
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Equally disappointing was Anthony Elanga, who also failed to come out after the break, thanks to Eddie Howe changing things up and putting Jacob Murphy out there in his place.
It's been a tough start to life at Newcastle for Elanga, who remains without a goal or an assist in the Premier League, his only contribution coming in the form of an assist in the Champions League. However, Howe told the media (via [The Chronicle](https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/newcastle-boss-eddie-howe-defends-32704618)) that he has full faith in Elanga and expects him to be a bit player going forward, and refused to pin the blame solely on the Swede.
> "We need more from everybody. It is never about one player. Anthony is going to be a great player for this football club, I have no doubt about that."Some players need a little bit more time and extra support, something to happen positively to kick off. But he has all the attributes to do really well here. So I have no issues or worries about him."It is always about the team and the collective, and too many of our attacking players are not delivering enough.
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> "We are looking right through the team, the centre-halves and their distributions or the full-backs and their contributions, it is never about one player."
Jacob Murphy has to start from now on
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It was abundantly clear today that Jacob Murphy must start ahead of Elanga until the new signing gets acclimatised to his new surroundings.
Obviously, we know that Elanga can't prove himself if he's not playing, but we need to revert to starting with Murphy and introducing Elanga late on when the team are more comfortable.
Murphy just seems a lot more aware of what's ahead of him and genuinely tries to get the ball into the box, where Elanga just doesn't quite seem to know what to do as yet.