Eddie Howe has seen Nick Woltemade flourish at Newcastle United, but he is far from the finished article.
The Newcastle United manager has been delighted with his summer signing’s start to life on Tyneside, watching him score six goals for his new club. However, Eddie Howe knows there is more to come from Nick Woltemade.
The 23-year-old is still incredibly early into his Toon career, having only arrived in late August amid the Alexander Isak chaos.
It has been a whirlwind start to life at St James’ Park for Nick Woltemade, so much so that he has not been able to train as much as Eddie Howe would like.
- Who is Nick Woltemade? The ‘two-metre Messi-Musiala’ Newcastle United broke transfer record to sign
Eddie Howe wants to see Nick Woltemade face Newcastle United’s own defenders
Given the Magpies’ gruelling schedule, Howe has not been able to spend as much time as he would like on the training ground.
In turn, that has meant that Woltemade is yet to be tested up against Newcastle United’s own defenders, much to the manager’s disappointment.
During an interview with SuperSport, Howe was asked how Woltemade is coping in training against the likes of Malick Thiaw and Sven Botman.
“Unfortunately we’ve not been training that much,” he said.
“We’ve just had a lot of games. So, Saturday, midweek, Saturday or Sunday, whenever we play.
“So, we haven’t really seen him go up against our centre halves. I’ll be intrigued to see how that battle looks as we go on.
“But what we have seen is Nick go up against the opposing centre halves, and he’s done very well so far. I’ve been really pleased with what he has delivered.
“He’s scored some big goals for us. I know there is more to come from him, and that is a really exciting prospect.”
Nick Woltemade can make Newcastle United’s defenders better too
Premier League and Champions League centre-backs have struggled to contain the big man, so what about Newcastle United’s very own defenders? That is something that Howe is keen to see, but he might not get the opportunity for a while.
After advancing to the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup, the Magpies now have two games a week until late December. That will limit the amount of time that Howe can spend with his players on the training ground.
That is a shame, as Woltemade playing up against Newcastle’s own centre-backs would be a real learning curve. Given how unique he is, it would only make the likes of Thiaw and Botman even better by playing up against him.
The first challenge is his height and physicality. After that, you have to handle his ability with his feet. It is something that Premier League defenders have struggled to cope with, as Woltemade is unlike any forward they have ever faced.
Fortunately for Newcastle’s centre-backs, they do not have to play against Woltemade every week. However, they will only get better if they learn how to deal with a player who has his unique skillset.
Receive a digest of our best Newcastle content each week direct to your mailbox
