Why Wilson is one of United’s top three strikers this century
Wilson ‘up there with top Magpie strikers’
YOU can always trust your friends and colleagues to drop you in it.
I had thought an idle WhatsApp chat with The Chronicle’s Mark Douglas on Saturday afternoon following Newcastle’s win over West Brom was nothing more than that.
Until I checked Twitter later than night.
For Mark, with nothing but the best of intentions of course, had shared my view on social media that Magpies’ front man Callum Wilson was one of the top three United strikers of the 21st century.
A bold claim, I will grant you, and one which received its fair share of incredulity - but it is one I stand by.
It led to a whole series of ‘what about X, Y, Z’ and several lists of strikers who are all – apparently – definitively better than Wilson. Most had a point. However, the reason why I think Wilson is in the top three forwards to have played for Newcastle since the turn of the century is not based on what he has achieved in a blackand-white shirt.
He has only played 10 Premier League games for the Magpies after all, so how can anyone compare him to those who have gone before?
What we can do is judge his talents on what we have seen so far.
First things first, for me Alan Shearer and Demba Ba are ahead of
Wilson when it comes to all-round talent.
However, if you take his attributes as a whole, I don’t think anyone else comes too close.
Wilson has it all – to borrow’s Mark phrase he has ‘something about him’.
All good strikers have that something extra which marks them out as special - and Wilson is in this bracket.
He is willing to put the hard yards in, do the ‘dirty’ work and, while he takes his fair share of rough treatment from defenders, he is not afraid to dish it out either.
Witness his late foul to stop a West Brom breakaway on Saturday and how he kept the ball in the corner, winning free-kicks and throw-ins to run down the clock.
All well and good but of course United need something more from the striker – and he provides in spades.
What do you want from a front man? Finishing, aerial prowess, pace, intelligence, awareness, creativity, workrate? Fair enough.
You could argue others have been better at each and every one of these categories than United’s No 13.
Yet equally, he is also among the best in every single factor.
Let’s take finishing. Loic Remy was lethal in front of goal while Papiss Cisse’s goal record elevates him among the best finishers for United.
We did not see the best of Michael Owen on Tyneside but enough water has passed under the Tyne Bridge since his departure to admit that on his day he was superb.
Is Wilson better? Debatable but he
is up there. The fact he has scored seven times in a Newcastle side which creates precious little tells you all you need to know.
Few could match Andy Carroll in his prime when it came to heading and Salomon Rondon used every inch of his frame to dominate defenders but, again, Wilson would have to be next in line.
No one could touch Craig Bellamy for pace – Remy, Cisse, Dwight Gayle are no slouches – but while it is not his strongest suit Wilson has bursts of electric pace, particularly on the
break to create space in the box. Intelligence and awareness are harder to categorise but some names stand out.
Rondon was in similar situation in that he played in a side which did not create as many chances as the likes of Remy and Cisse would have enjoyed but used all of his nous to lead the line superbly under Rafa Benitez.
Wilson faces the same challenges and has shown he can create as well as score. His role in United’s early opener against West Brom is the most recent example, rolling Branislav Ivanovic before releasing Joelinton to set up Miguel Almiron’s goal.
His bursting run and pass for Allan SaintMaximin in an otherwise dreary first half against Everton should have resulted in a goal for the Frenchman, while he has given
United something they have lacked for too long – a far-post poacher who can turn home the simplest of chances but only because he has had the intelligence to get himself in the right place for the tap-in.
Of course Wilson has a long way to go to match the achievements of Cisse, Bellamy, Carroll, Owen – Shola Ameobi has not been mentioned yet – but for me he has shown he has the all-round attributes to be among the very best. There is not one other player who Newcastle would miss more.
They have won the last two without Allan Saint-Maximin and Jamaal Lascelles, coped without Martin Dubravka all season and had spells with Jonjo Shelvey and Miguel Almiron out of the side. Without Wilson? It does not bear thinking about. Point made.