The Magpies have taken action to help Nick Woltemade after his form slipped following superb start to Toon career
Lewis Miley and Nick Woltemade of Newcastle United(Image: Getty Images)
Newcastle United have addressed Nick Woltemade’s mid-season slump behind the scenes ahead of the trip to Wolves.
The £69million star has now gone six games without scoring and has also slipped down the pecking order a little after Yoane Wissa returned to fitness after a knee injury. Woltemade had lit up Newcastle’s season with nine goals after his big money move from Stuttgart but the concerns that he was still a developing talent, expressed by Bayern Munich who wouldn’t pay the asking price for the star, have started to seep through.
Woltemade’s season took a dent when he scored an own goal to gift Sunderland a derby win back in December but despite a brace against Chelsea a week later, he has now gone six matches without scoring. Woltemade looked off the pace against Man City in the Carabao Cup semi-finals when timing his runs poorly in the 2-0 defeat.
But Howe admits the onus is on his team-mates to help him get back to full goalscoring form. Howe said ahead of the battle at Molineux: “He’s naturally a confident lad, but behind the scenes, you never quite know what a player is thinking and feeling, you can never put yourself in their brain.
“We talk to the players all the time, whether that’s individually, collectively, to try to understand them, to try to help them in whatever moment they’re in.
“I think Nick is playing okay; there are no issues with his general performances. He’s impressed me in recent weeks – the Bournemouth game, I thought, was 120 minutes of really good physical work from him, I thought he looked really fit and I thought he gave the team a lot.
“Yes, I’d like him to get more chances. I don’t think that’s out of hand to say I’d like more goal creation from the team for him and for him to help the team in that respect. But that’s something we’re always working on and feeding back to him, and even today we’re going to do some work with him in that respect.
“But I’m very, very happy with his attitude, how he’s settled in, how he’s conducted himself. He’s a real team player as well, and I don’t think that should be forgotten.”
The Germany international was fielded as a No 9 after he replaced Alexander Isak following the Sweden star’s move to Liverpool at the start of the season. Howe paired him with Yoane Wissa in the FA Cup against AFC Bournemouth in the pulsating 3-3 draw which ended in a penalty shoot-out but Woltemade clattered his penalty off the crossbar.
When asked what Woltemade’s best position is, Howe said: “He is an attacking player. He can play as a nine, he can play as a ten, he can play anywhere and any of the attacking positions.
“He is quite fluid. He likes to come deeper and lower, we knew that when we signed him. He’s the polar opposite to Yoane, he wants to stay higher up the pitch. In some senses that’s a good contrast for us.
“But he’s played really well as a nine, but he’ll play the nine in his way. And if he plays deeper, he’ll play that in his way.”
Howe wants to perfect Woltemade’s game to make him a threat on the field regardless of where he plays. The Newcastle chief added: “He’s a highly effective footballer. The challenge for him is if he is coming lower on the pitch to still be a goal threat.
“Certainly, you look at some of the big actions he’s had in the last few games, he’s created goals for us, and thinking back to the Bournemouth game, he created a goal for Harvey, created the goal against Leeds with a lovely little touch for Harvey as well. So he’s being productive maybe in a different way.”
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