Nick Woltemade may not have scored for Newcastle United against Fulham on Saturday but pundit Michael Carrick believes he’s helping cause a “big problem”.
Indeed, Woltemade hit the post early on during Newcastle United’s 2-1 win over Fulham and rarely had another sight of goal.
Still, that doesn’t mean he played badly. While it would be nice for Newcastle to have more of a penalty box presence at times, much of the German’s work went relatively unnoticed on Saturday.
Though there was no eye-catching backheel like there was against Benfica on Tuesday night, Carrick talked up the German’s overall performance and believes his talents can help bring the best out of his teammates.
Nick Woltemade playing for Newcastle Untied against Fulham.
Photo by George Wood/Getty Images
Michael Carrick claims Nick Woltemade is causing a “big problem”
Carrick praised Bruno Guimaraes after Newcastle’s win over Fulham and later expanded in his analysis when speaking on Match of the Day.
Addressing Woltemade’s performance, the former Manchester United and England defender talked of the impact he’s having on the rest of the Newcastle United squad.
By dropping deep, he’s creating space for his teammates to run off him. That should, in theory at least, allow Newcastle’s wingers and midfielders more space to run into.
It didn’t always come off on Saturday but Carrick believes it’s a tactic that can cause rival teams a “big problem”.
MORE NEWCASTLE STORIES
“For me, there’s a tweak at the top end of the pitch because they haven’t got the number 9 that runs in behind,” he said.
“But actually, if anything, it enhances everybody else’s strengths because the eights want to run, the wingers want to run and Woltemade – by coming short and linking – leaves a lot of space to do that.
“It’s a big problem to defend. It’s not easy and they got the rewards for it today.”
Nick Woltemade playing the Harry Kane role for Newcastle United
It would be unwise to directly compare Woltemade to Harry Kane in terms of output just yet. The England captain has been one of the best forwards of the modern era, after all, across the biggest club and international stages.
Still, there are similarities. Woltemade’s playing style has been compared to Kane’s and though the Newcastle forward still has work to do that on that front, it’s easy to see why.
Comfortable dropping deep and boasting a more than decent passing range, it’s clear that there is more to his game that just scoring goals.
There’s a new dimension to Newcastle’s game now and, hopefully, the relative success they found with it against Fulham can be built on going forward.