Jermain Defoe highlights big problem Newcastle United must fix to get best out of Nick Woltemade
Nick Woltemade has been a breath of fresh air at Newcastle United since his big-money move from the Bundesliga in the summer.
Eddie Howe had to change up his plans for the 6'6" striker on the fly after fellow new signing Yoane Wissa picked up an injury before making his debut for Newcastle.
The plan was to introduce Woltemade to the first team slowly, relying on Wissa to shoulder the burden of leading the line for the most part.
However, Woltemade rose to the challenge, and while there's still a lot of work to be done in order to get the best out of the German international, we couldn't be more pleased with the early signs he's shown.
Jermain Defoe has noticed something about Nick Woltemade
Newcastle fans can see as clear as day that Woltemade's supporting cast clearly haven't worked out what to do for the best yet, and now Jermain Defoe has told Premier League Productions something similar.
“I think the players around him have to help to get the best out of him.
“I saw him Euros in the summer. You know, I think he’s got six goals, got Golden Boot, it’s unbelievable. And for his size, he’s quite dynamic. He can run, good finisher, good with the ball, but I just feel like at times when I watch him play, it feels like he’s just running for the sake of running without the ball.
“And it just seems like the most important bit, he’s not being able to do that. Listen, the Newcastle team are fit. Eddie Howe, he gets his teams fit. But I just feel like at times that when he’s pressing, the distances are too big and he’s just running for the sake of running and then when they get the ball back, his best qualities, he’s not been able to do that.
“I think once he gets that right and then like he’s shown already, you know, he can be a top player.”
Woltemade's running does look aimless, but we're sure it's a temporary issue
Defoe has a point about Woltemade's running; it does look like he doesn't quite know where he's going at times, but that feels more like a team issue than an individual one.
Again, it's all a learning process, and we're sure it will all come good eventually, but the problem Eddie Howe has is that the fixtures are so congested there simply isn't time to properly address this on the training pitch.
The Premier League needs to be thankful that we haven't worked out how to properly utilise Woltemade yet, because when that clicks, he's going to be a force to be reckoned with.
