The Magpies’ record signing is coming in for criticism.
Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann has faith in Newcastle United forward Nick Woltemade despite his well-documented recent struggles for form.
Woltemade, who joined Newcastle as their club-record signing for a £69million fee in August, made a flying start to life with the Magpies, scoring six goals in his first 11 games for the club.
However, his form has tailed off in recent months. Though he found the net in last month’s FA Cup win over Aston Villa, Woltemade has not scored in the Premier League since a brace in the 2-2 draw with Chelsea on December 20.
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe has struggled to find a way to accommodate Woltemade into his set-up, recently moving him back into a deep role in the midfield, with Anthony Gordon playing up front as a false nine.
Prior to Saturday’s 3-2 defeat to Everton, there was evidence that the switch was having the desired effect, with Newcastle enjoying an upturn in results.
But Woltemade touched the ball just 14 times before being subsituted in a damaging defeat to the Toffees, with Newcastle now 13th in the table as their hopes of playing in Europe again next season look increasingly slim.
Woltemade received pointed criticism from Newcastle’s club record goalscorer Alan Shearer in the aftermath of that game. However, he retains the support of his national team coach.
The former Stuttgart man has established himself as Germany’s first-choice striker, and Nagelsmann stressed that patience is the best approach with Woltemade, who had limited experience of top-flight football with Werder Bremen and Stuttgart before his high-profile switch.
Nagelsmann told Kicker: “At Stuttgart, he wasn’t even in the Champions League squad during the first half of last season, then he played a good second half of the season with seven goals.
“That’s not a criticism of Nick. He’s a young player who needs time to develop, as we can now see at Newcastle.
“That’s why I don’t expect him to score 15 goals at Newcastle [this season]. I told him just last week to stay relaxed. We have faith in him.”
Nagelsmann echoes Newcastle boss on Woltemade
For all the criticism of Woltemade in recent weeks, there have been positives. After scoring the third goal in the 3-1 win at Villa Park, he had a hand in Gordon’s third of four in the 6-1 demolition of Qarabag in the first leg of the Champions League play-off round tie, which came after he won possession with his press from the restart after Gordon made it 3-0.
Woltemade played a lofted pass through to Gordon, who was denied by Gianluigi Donnarumma, in the first half of Newcastle’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester City last month, and was influential in the 3-2 second-leg win over Qarabag.
The 23-year-old played key passes for each of Newcastle’s first two goals in that game and would have had a wondrous assist for Jacob Murphy had the winger not horribly missed after being sent through one-on-one.
It is perhaps no surprise that some of Woltemade’s recent best work has come in the Champions League, where he has had more time and space to operate on the ball. When challenged physically, Woltemade does often look lightweight for a man of his size. Indeed, Newcastle manager Eddie Howe recognises that it is in the physical side of the game where Woltemade needs the most work.
Remarks made ahead of the Everton game echo those of Nagelsmann, with Howe indicating his belief that Woltemade still needs time to adapt to the rigours of the English top flight.
Because of Champions League and domestic cup commitments, with Newcastle having progressed to the semi-finals of the EFL Cup before seeing their trophy defence ended by City, they have rarely had a free week in which to train.
Asked what the focus would be with Woltemade had he enjoyed the luxury of that training time, Howe replied: “I think the focus longer term would be on his development and transitioning into the Premier League because I still feel there’s a physical adaptation that’s taking place.
“If we had free training weeks we’d be really pushing him physically and in the intensity of his actions. The Premier League is the quickest league in the world statistically, by some distance.
“I think everything then in your training has to mirror that. So I still feel there’s a lot of growth in him that we haven’t been able to unlock.
“In terms of his playing style, I don’t think we’d be changing that at all. We love his style.
“The move he did for Jacob Murphy’s chance on Tuesday was outstanding and I think only Nick could deliver that. He’s put through Murph one-on-one, and that sort of typifies his best work [which] comes from in between the lines, between the opponent’s midfield and back four.
“Whether he’s playing as a nine, that would be the same, whether he’s playing as a 10/8 that would be the same. It would be a continuation of that work.”
The problem for Howe and for Newcastle is that, given the outlay they spent on Woltemade in an effort to replace Alexander Isak, they have not had the opportunity to be patient with their club-record signing. As such, there is unlikely to be a let-up in the scrutiny on Woltemade when Newcastle host Manchester United on Wednesday.
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