'It's refreshing': Alan Shearer sums up exactly why Newcastle United star will love Jacob Murphy

Written on Monday, 24 November 2025
James Rutherford

Alan Shearer loved Jacob Murphy’s performance in Newcastle United’s Premier League win over Manchester City on Saturday.

The 30-year-old played at right-wing and left-back as Newcastle United beat Manchester City, with Eddie Howe picking up his first ever Premier League win over Pep Guardiola.

It was a deserved victory, as Newcastle United bounced back in incredible fashion.

There were wonderful performances all over the pitch, one of which came from Jacob Murphy. That was the view of Alan Shearer, who believes the £12million man is a centre-forward’s dream.

Who was your Newcastle United MOTM against Manchester City?

What are talking points?

Alan Shearer loves Jacob Murphy’s ‘early’ crossing for Newcastle United

The Newcastle United legend and Micah Richards were full of praise for Murphy on the latest episode of the Rest Is Football podcast.

Richards was impressed with the winger’s attitude, complimenting him on his running power and work rate.

I like Jacob Murphy,” he said.

“I really do. Just because he runs and yes, he’s not going to be the star of the show, even though he got a load of assists last season. But just his energy and it keeps you high all of the time.”

In response to Richards’ praise, Shearer picked out his own reason why Murphy is such an impressive player.

Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images

“You know what else he does really well, what is refreshing for a centre forward, he actually puts the ball in the box early,” he said.

“He’s not bothered about going past someone. If someone’s going to stand off him, he’ll whip the ball in. For a forward, it’s heaven.

“You can time your run, you can do everything else early and everything that you want to do as a forward because he puts the ball in early and it’s refreshing to see.”

What Eddie Howe and the pundits said about Newcastle United’s statement win over Manchester City.

Eddie Howe: “The performance from the team was there, the hunger was there, the motivation was there. That’s the key thing we have to take forward. I think if those qualities are there, with our delivery and the players that we have, we can beat anybody.” 

Alan Shearer: “If Newcastle had their shooting boots on, they should have scored six or seven – they missed four absolute sitters.” 

Jamie Redknapp: “When you have a blue-chip win like today, it shows you can compete. It shows you’ve got the players to compete and go toe-to-toe.” 

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Jacob Murphy’s style is great news for Nick Woltemade

Murphy’s desire to get the ball into the box early was a big reason why Alexander Isak scored so many goals for Newcastle United.

Now it is Nick Woltemade who can benefit from Murphy’s ability from out wide, and it nearly resulted in him scoring his seventh Toon goal on Saturday.

Newcastle’s most expensive signing had three shots saved against Man City, two of which were created by Murphy. They both came from him putting an early ball into the box, forcing excellent saves from Gianluigi Donnarumma.

While Woltemade has been excellent for Newcastle United, there has been a clear need for his teammates to create more chances for him. That happened on Saturday, with Murphy the main provider.

Given his eagerness to put dangerous balls into the box, Woltemade should relish seeing Murphy in the Toon starting XI. They could soon prove to be a deadly duo, just like Murphy and Isak were.

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