Eddie Howe must decide whether to stick or twist with Nick Woltemade's midfield role after experiencing mixed success
Nick Woltemade of Newcastle United
Newcastle United's Nick Woltemade
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Eddie Howe has hinted that he may abandon the Nick Woltemade midfield experiment after the star's ineffective display against Everton.
However, Howe felt that the decision to rejig his formation was largely down to a lack of preparation time on the back of the Champions League play-off second leg against Qarabag.
Howe pondered whether he would repeat the move during his post-game Press conference and with a game fast approaching against Manchester United it will be interesting to see his midfield three and who starts as the central striker on Wednesday.
When asked if he regretted setting up the way he did against the Toffees, Howe said last night: "I always say on these things that it would be foolish of me to say I regret the set-up.
"It was done with reason and with the limited time we had to prepare for the game I thought there was good logic. Then you see the reality and we didn't like it, so we changed it.
"I don't know, I think sometimes too much can be made of those things. It's a really small tweak in terms of positioning. The biggest one would be Anthony Gordon moving out wide to get his speed against one of the defenders.
"That's probably the biggest change. The other two are minimal.
"You can always look back and then reflect and say, would I do that again? That's a different question. That's the perils of being a manager."
Howe was asked to sum up the scene in the dressing room after the game, but indicated he was still convinced his players are giving 100% despite conceding sloppy goals.
He said: "I wouldn't say it if I didn't believe it or see it, the players are trying, they're working hard, they're giving everything.
"We're maybe not playing well enough or smart enough but there's not a lack of effort.
"I know it's easy to disagree with that but that's my feeling."
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