Yoane Wissa was fantastic in Newcastle's draw with Liverpool on Sunday
Newcastle United head coach Matthias Jaissle congratulates Yoane Wissa
Newcastle United head coach Matthias Jaissle congratulates Yoane Wissa(Image: Getty Images)
Newcastle United forward Yoane Wissa insists he is ready to continue in the number 10 role for the Magpies after his shining performance in their 2-2 draw with Liverpool on Sunday.
Wissa picked up the player of the match award and registered an assist for United's second goal as he thrived playing behind Will Osula up front before moving into the number nine role once the Denmark international was replaced in the second half.
It was comfortably his best performance in a Newcastle shirt since his £55million move from Brentford last year and the DR Congo international is ready to continue playing in behind Osula this season.
"Yes," Wissa replied when asked if the number 10 role is one he wants to continue in this season. "That’s the role that the manager gave me. He knows that I can play everywhere up front and he gave me the role of being a number 10 and at the end also a striker, so he knows that I can score, even though I missed a good opportunity today.
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"But yes, I can play as a 10 and I enjoy this role. We wanted this moment last season [to play with Osula], but it didn’t come. But now today, unluckily for him he got a bit of a knock in the middle of the game, but we showed that we are ready to play together."
Wissa was one of the elder statesmen in the youngest Newcastle side that has been named for 21 years but he insists the Magpies dressing room are excited by the youngsters who have come through the door this summer.
"We are ready, we are all ready," Wissa added. "We need to trust the club, we need to trust the players who are here. Now you see that everyone is ready – Joe Willock came on and scored, Sean’s first game, he had an amazing game, Miley came back after a three or four-month injury and is ready play – so you need to trust us.
"We need to trust the players, we need to trust the manager. Now we are all ready. Today I’m very proud of the players who stepped up today because there’s has been a lot of talk. Now we are all ready to play this season."
Wissa has also stepped up into a leadership role on the training ground this summer and he feels his performance on Sunday shows it is a role that he has embraced.
"I am one of the leaders.," Wissa continued. "The manager spoke with me, he trusts me and so that’s why I need to lead the team now, so that’s why I embrace this role because it gives me a lot of freedom and something to day now I am one of the leaders.
"We wanted this moment last season, but it didn’t come. But now today, unluckily for him he got a bit of a knock in the middle of the game, but we showed that we are ready to play together.
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"It gives us a lot of confidence and now we have shown that we are ready, ready to fight for anything. The main focus will be hopefully not not lose many games to be ready for this Premier League because it’s going to be a difficult season. But we are all ready for that.
"It’s been a lot of work for him. We had a lot of meetings to understand how he wants us to play and today we showed that we all understand the way he thinks football. It was unlucky that we drew at the end, but I want to do it for him."