Newcastle were beaten 3-1 by Manchester City at St James' Park and exited the FA Cup at the fifth round stage
Nick Woltemade continued in a midfield role for Newcastle United
Nick Woltemade continued in a midfield role for Newcastle United(Image: 2026 Getty Images)
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When the team sheet dropped ahead of Newcastle United's 3-1 defeat to Manchester City in the FA Cup fifth round, two of Eddie Howe's selections raised eyebrows.
Will Osula was given the nod up front, clearly a reward for his match-winning goal from the bench up front against Manchester United. Once again, however, he flattered to deceive when handed an opportunity from the start.
And then there was Nick Woltemade's recall to the side in midfield, a week on from Eddie Howe being forced to abandon that same plan after just half an hour of their defeat to Everton in the Premier League.
Woltemade missed the 2-1 win over Manchester United in midweek through illness and Newcastle's midfield looked back at its intense, battle-hardened best in a breathless win over the Red Devils.
So the decision to experiment again with a £69million forward in midfield against a team with the quality of Manchester City raised alarm bells, especially when it came at the expense of Joelinton in the starting line-up. Nothing that happened in the game subsequently tempered those concerns.
Woltemade looks so badly out of place in midfield and it is unfair to him. The midfield was overran, just like it was against Everton, and when a triple change was being readied by Howe and Jason Tindall on the hour mark, the expectation was that he would be put out of his misery - either by being put back up front or by being replaced.
But when neither of those things happened, there were puzzled looks all around St James' Park. With Newcastle 2-1 down, Yoane Wissa, Dan Burn and Joelinton came on, with Osula, Anthony Elanga and Kieran Trippier making way.
Lewis Hall was shifted to a makeshift right-back role, Dan Burn played out of position at left-back, while Joe Willock was pushed forward to an unorthodox right-wing role. All while their club record signing was still being pigeon-holed into a midfield role he is just not comfortable with.
Two minutes later, Marmoush put the seal on a 3-1 win with a wonder goal from 25 yards out. Woltemade was taken off 10 minutes after that triple change and replaced by Anthony Gordon. Willock dropped back into midfield and the front three took on a natural look again.
It was a change that came 10 minutes too late. and it was the second week in succession where a number of players have been played out of position to accommodate the club's record signing playing in an unfamiliar midfield role.
Woltemade is a striker. He may not suit the fluid style Howe wants his forward line to play with but that was the role the club invested a lot of money in him to perform and his 10 goals this season shows the shoots of potential he still has to fulfil it.
Given his ability with the ball and the injuries to the midfield across the last couple of the months, the midfield experiment was worth trying.
But when it is coming at the detriment of the team's performance, and with a number of other players being forced out of their natural position, then it is a problem that needs solving.
Woltemade isn't the only issue this season. In fact, the poor form of Yoane Wissa, the other striker bought in the summer who scored 19 goals in the Premier League last term, is arguably even more of a concern.
But Woltemade just isn't good enough as a midfielder and there is enough evidence now to prove that is the case. It has harmed Newcastle in each of his last two appearances.
The season now rests on the Champions League and trying to recover European qualification via the Premier League in their final nine matches.
The margin for error is next to zero. The Woltemade midfield experiment simply has to stop.