The German striker has bags of ability but does not seem to fit into Eddie Howe's high press style
Newcastle United's Nick Woltemade
Newcastle United striker Nick Woltemade(Image: PA)
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They say nothing's new in football, it's just reinvented. Well that being so the W-formation is back. In this latest rebirth W stands for Woltemade.
Newcastle have inadvertently highlighted the trend that swept soccer in the late 1950s when the W-formation was a tactical ploy that showcased a withdrawn centre-forward playing deep rather than the tradition swashbuckling line leader of Wor Jackie Milburn and his ilk.
The Hungarians first brought it to the global stage with their brilliant innovative team of Ferenc Puskas featuring a deep lying No 9 Nandor Hidegkuti. W stood for withdrawn . . . just like Nick Woltemade tends to make himself.
Defenders were flummoxed as to who to mark and Hungary of 1953 ran riot winning 6-3 at Wembley, the home of the inventors of football, with their celebrated captain and centre-half Billy Wright bamboozled by it all.
Domestically it was sometimes referred to as the Revie Plan because Manchester City copied Hidegkuti and Hungary with Don as their lynchpin. It won them the FA Cup.
Now, admittedly more by chance than design, United have found themselves displaying their own version of the famed W-formation with Nick Woltemade playing like a withdrawn centre-forward sometimes confusing his own team-mates as much as the opposition!
However it is not what it was: an unquestioned success. While it was a thing of beauty 70 years ago now it is one of countless problems for a beleaguered Eddie Howe because frankly Newcastle are far too often rendered sterile with the penalty box deserted like a swimming pool full of sharks! Woltemade is not a creator of problems but rather by accident a problem himself.
He drops deep by instinct and by a desire to take part in the building of play rather than stand up top holding his position and waiting to be involved.
Consequently while United's previous centre-forward gorged himself on 52 goals over the last two seasons, Woltemade has six so far from limited opportunity. A decent return actually in terms of conversion rate because he doesn't find himself in key positions inside the area too often to get off shots, but hardly a top striker's return.
A stark comparison will be thrown up when United next play with Manchester City and their awesome machine Erling Haaland arriving at St James' Park.
Nevertheless, the thought of losing Woltemade to injury during international fortnight with Yoane Wissa and Will Osula unavailable doesn't bear contemplation.
Neither for that matter does being deprived of Lewis Hall who has started only one PL game this season but is at risk with England Under 21s when he will be required against Man City to replace the banned Dan Burn. The international break is a constant worry to clubs - don't we know it after being deprived of Wissa!
When the original W-formation was an idea of genius the plan was for the deep-lying No 9 to lure his marker out of position creating space for other attackers like Puskas and Sandor Kocsis.
The trouble is United don't possess the world class talents and brains of Puskas and Kocsis but that doesn't mean a plan can't be devised on the training ground to utilise the holes where Woltmade ought to be in a conventional sense.
My criticism is not of the player, who is what he is for all to see, but of United's recruitment policy across the board.
Why, when Howe has spent four years refining his team to operate on energy and aggression from the front - his well-trumpeted catchphrase 'intensity is our identity' - did his scouts pick a player (no doubt with his blessing) not equipped for that particular style?
The big German isn't the stereotype United need to operate as a centre striker in their preferred system either in terms of being a natural up front line leader with the pace to get in behind or because he doesn't possess the physical attributes to help carry out an intense high line press as Alan Shearer has suggested.
Indeed despite obvious and considerable assets I am fascinated as to how United saw him fitting into the way they play to such an extent that they were ready to pay a club record fee of £69m. Especially, I might add, as Woltemade is an obvious No 10 - good enough on ability to be a German international - but Eddie insists United don't play and won't play with a No 10. So what was the intent?
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To do justice to the club, its fans, and Nick himself it is up to United's manager to find an answer to a complicated conundrum.
Maybe when Woltemade drops into the middle third either Bruno or Joelinton must be prepared to regularly go beyond him into the space he has just vacated. Or one of the wingers come inside.
Alternatively if Howe wants him exclusively up top could he benefit from one-to-one coaching with Graeme Jones, a centre-forward himself who scored a club record 31 league goals in his first season with Wigan Athletic in 1991. Geordie fan Jones is an excellent coach who has worked at international level with Belgium (Roberto Martinez) and England (Gareth Southgate) and is credited by Eddie Howe with producing a significant improvement in Osula after personal sessions.
Whatever, it is a major problem which must be solved by a manager who to his credit reinvented Joelinton as a midfielder from a failed centre-forward, turned Anthony Gordon into an England winger, polished Alexander Isak until he was worth £130m, and saved the career of a washed-up Fabian Schar.
So what is next for Nick Woltemade? Reinvent him as a true nine or educate players around him to make the most of his undoubted skills? We need an answer quickly. He is not United's only problem of course. Far from it. Virtually every department is functioning beneath top level but centre-forward is a major concern.