The Mag
·12 November 2024
The Mag
·12 November 2024
Harvey Barnes came off the bench on 80 minutes.
Three minutes later the ball was in the Nottingham Forest net and 3-1 to Newcastle United.
Game over.
It was a magnificent goal as well, as an exquisite flick from Harvey Barnes deep in his own half was key to United breaking up the pitch and leaving the Forest players trailing, fellow sub Sandro Tonali sprinting up alongside him, before he was the one that put Barnes in to score. Still plenty to do but a superb finish at the near post through the defender’s legs, left Sels with no chance of saving it.
Now Harvey Barnes hopes his cameo goalscoring performance against Nottingham Forest will help put him “in the shop window to start games” going forward for Eddie Howe’s side.
Harvey Barnes speaking to BBC Newcastle following the 3-1 victory at Nottingham Forest:
“I want to play every game from the beginning.
“When I’m not playing, I am always going to be disappointed and frustrated.
“But, I feel like I’m someone who will always use that in a good way and when I do come on the pitch, I will help the team and show why I should be on the pitch.
“I’m a player who wants to be starting and I feel like I have a lot to give the team.
“You can praise the manager for bringing you on but helping the team get those vital three points you hope puts you in the shop window to start games.
“We’re on a good run of form, you just want that next game to come.
“You can see in the performances that we’re winning games but we’ve still got things to work on so this little break gives us a opportunity to look at them, correct things, hit the ground running when we come back.”
Harvey Barnes could and should actually have scored a second in the brief time he was on the pitch but shot wide.
His trademark move of cutting in from the left and shooting/scoring.
The opposition kind of know what he is going to do, but stopping Harvey Barnes, well, that is a bit more difficult.
Despite the Leicester City relegation at the end of the 2022/23 season, Harvey Barnes still scored 13 Premier League goals from his wing position and was top scorer for the club, 13 goals from 32 PL starts mighty impressive when you consider how poor Leicester were overall.
This is the real truth about Harvey Barnes laid out below.
His Premier League record these last five and a bit years.
From the start of the 2019/20 Premier League season onwards.
My only surprise is how surprised so many Newcastle United fans are, at just how good and productive Harvey Barnes is!
2019/20 Premier League (Leicester City)
14 Direct Goal involvements (6 goals and 8 assists) – 2,094 PL minutes played
A Harvey Barnes direct goal involvement once every 149 minutes
2020/21 Premier League (Leicester City)
13 Direct Goal involvements (9 goals and 4 assists) – 1,950 PL minutes played
A Harvey Barnes direct goal involvement once every 150 minutes
2021/22 Premier League (Leicester City)
16 Direct Goal involvements (6 goals and 10 assists) – 2,107 PL minutes played
A Harvey Barnes direct goal involvement once every 131 minutes
2022/23 Premier League (Leicester City)
14 Direct Goal involvements (13 goals and 1 assist) – 2,720 PL minutes played
A Harvey Barnes direct goal involvement once every 194 minutes
(In the four seasons at Leicester, before signing for Newcastle United, Harvey Barnes has had 57 direct goal involvements in the Premier League, scoring 34 and getting 23 assists.To give that some kind of context, in the same four seasons, Allan Saint-Maximin had 28 direct PL goal involvements – scoring 12 and assisting another 16. Basically, Barnes with more than twice as many direct goal involvements than ASM across those four seasons)
2023/24 Premier League (Newcastle United)
8 Direct Goal involvements (5 goals and 3 assists) – 795 PL minutes played
A Harvey Barnes direct goal involvement once every 99 minutes
2024/25 Premier League (Newcastle United)
5 Direct Goal involvements (4 goals and 1 assist) – 495 PL minutes played
A Harvey Barnes direct goal involvement once every 99 minutes
Total Harvey Barnes Direct Goal involvements these past five and a bit seasons (for Leicester and Newcastle):
70 Direct Goal involvements 43 goals and 27 assists) – 10,161PL minutes played
A Harvey Barnes direct goal involvement once every 145 Premier League minutes, from the start of the 2019/20 PL season onwards.
What we are talking about is very close to in that time, averaging two direct goal involvements every three Premier League matches.
Newcastle United are heading into the busiest time of the season and starting from West Ham at home on Monday 25 November, up to Saturday 4 January, Eddie Howe’s side have ten games in less than six weeks, so plenty of minutes and opportunities for Harvey Barnes and the rest of Newcastle’s squad to impress, whether starting or off the bench.