Neither Yoane Wissa or Nick Woltemade were deemed worthy of leading the line against Barca – what’s going on?
Newcast;e United’s Yoane Wissa
Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe has insisted that Yoane Wissa remains in a good place despite being completely overlooked for the Barcelona game.
Dubbed the biggest match in Newcastle’s history by Howe himself, Wissa did not get off the bench let alone start the encounter at St James’ Park. The £55m is currently on an eight-goal drought and has slipped down the pecking order.
After starting the season with a knee injury that dented his chances of making a flying start the £55m man is facing a fight to get in the starting line-up ahead of William Osula and Anthony Gordon with Nick Woltemade also left on the bench as an unused sub against Barcelona.
Howe said: “Yoane is fit, fitter probably than at any stage in his time with us. He’s done a lot of work behind the scenes.
“He’s making up for lost time in that respect and training with the group whenever we train.”
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When asked if Wissa was fit to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge with no explanation on his lack of game-time against Barca, Howe said: “No injury concerns at all. The challenge for Yoane is when introduced and on the pitch, he’s got to perform.
“And that’ll be the same for every player. in the squad, and then I have to pick who I think is best for the job.”
Howe provided a clipped answer when asked whether it had been a tough decision to leave out Wissa and Woltemade completely from his starting XI vs Barcelona.
Howe said: “It is always a tough decision to not play players that I love. That is part of being a manager. I had to pick the team and do what was best for the group.”
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