Eddie Howe has a rather nice problem to solve at the moment with both Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa competing for a place in his team.
Both of Newcastle United’s big summer signings have made good starts to life on Tyneside and both of them offer something very different.
You can only pick one — who makes it into the starting XI?
If Eddie Howe won't change his formation, he's got big decisions to make when it comes to Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa 🤔
Who gets the nod in the next game?
Nick Woltemade bore the brunt of the responsibility at the start of the season amid an injury to Yoane Wissa, but the latter is back in action now and has immediately found his shooting boots.
Fans are desperate to see the two strikers play together, but it seems Eddie Howe has other ideas. So, what’s the solution, and how do Woltemade and Wissa compare?
Fans have their say on Woltemade and Wissa
Over on the Newcastle United Reddit, supporters have been discussing the attributes of the two players and how they could complement one another.
One wrote: “The team have been set up to play with an Isak or Wissa style player and they haven’t really had any extended time to train and get used to a Woltemade type player. That will come and I’m sure it’ll be good.”
Another suggested: “4-2-3-1 with Woltemade in the middle of the three seems like the obvious solution, but this causes further problems. It doesn’t give us cover for when Woltemade or Wissa are unavailable or need a rest. Some players might be able to swap with them, but there’ll be a big drop-off in quality.”
A third went for the more simple route, saying: “Old school 4-4-2. We can do it!” However, as we know Howe is reluctant to make that change. So, who actually fits the current system better?
On Woltemade, one fan commented: “I think he is an excellent player, but with the way he was quickly brought in right at the end of the window, and with Wissa’s injury, it’s not quite been figured out how to get the best out of him.”
Another said: “I personally think he is a number 9 but our wingers are offering so little right now most teams can you just block everything to Woltemade and not worry.”
One even claimed signing Woltemade was a mistake, saying: “He was a panic buy and doesn’t fit into Howe’s system.”
Meanwhile, another fan appeared to lean towards Wissa being the better player, adding, “He’s at his best a little deeper, Wissa is better than Woltemade at pressing defenders and keepers from what I’ve seen.”
- READ MORE: Nick Woltemade earns shock inclusion in special list alongside Kylian Mbappe as £112m claim made
Never in doubt 😅 How many more goals will Yoane Wissa score this season?!
Comparing Woltemade and Wissa stats so far
Obviously, we have seen a lot more of Woltemade so far this season, but here’s what we can glean from the statistics for the German and for Wissa.
While Woltemade has more goals (nine in all competitions), Wissa has a far better per-90 rate at the moment with 0.80 goals compared to 0.49 per 90 for Woltemade.
Woltemade does have a better shots on target ratio, though neither is particularly impressive. The big man has registered 31.3% on target while Wissa is at 28.6% so far.
As for creating chances, Woltemade is generating just 1.75 shot-creating actions per 90 while Wissa is at 2.34, but the former is leading the way with goal-creating actions (2.0 to Wissa’s 1.0).
Ultimately, Wissa is probably showing the more promising signs but there’s a long way to go before we know who is best suited to the Newcastle system. Regardless, given Howe’s praise of Wissa this week, it seems obvious that the pair would make a fantastic strike partnership.
Now, we just need him to give them a chance.
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