Alan Shearer says Nick Woltemade is already better than Alexander Isak in one key area.
Alan Shearer is forgetting all about Alexander Isak now that Newcastle United have Nick Woltemade.
The Newcastle United legend was critical of Isak for the way he forced through a move to Liverpool, but now the Magpies are moving on.
Nick Woltemade is Newcastle’s most expensive signing, and he is proving to be worth every penny. That is despite Bayern Munich chief Karl-Heinz Rummenigge criticising the fee Newcastle paid.
The 23-year-old has been on fire since arriving at St James’ Park, netting his third goal for the club in Wednesday night’s Champions League win over Union Saint-Gilloise.
He is changing the way that Eddie Howe’s side play, giving them an option that they never really had when Isak was leading the line.
Alan Shearer says Newcastle United are using Nick Woltemade perfectly
That is the view of Shearer, who has spoken glowingly on the Rest Is Football podcast about Woltemade following Newcastle’s victory in Brussels.
Newcastle’s all-time leading scorer believes Woltemade can be brought into play more than Isak could, which is perfect when you have wingers like Anthony Gordon and Anthony Elanga.
“Yeah, I like what I’ve seen at the minute,” he said.
“I think everyone has to adjust, because they’ve been used to playing in a certain way. And I think with this guy, it’s slightly different.
“He is a target man. And you can bring him into play maybe a lot more than you could with Alex and that ball over the top, I think for him might not be on as much. He needs crosses into the box, obviously.
“I think they’ve taken their time to get the balance right. But that I thought last night was the perfect way to play when you’ve got him, when you’ve got two flying machines as wingers and Elanga and Gordon.”
Anthony Gordon loved Nick Woltemade’s hold-up play against USG
As Shearer says, Newcastle United are having to play differently with Woltemade leading the line. He is a completely different striker to Isak.
Isak gave you the option to play balls in behind for him to run onto with his pace, while he had that kind of magic that could allow him to create something on his own.
But Woltemade is different. He plays with his back to goal. He is a focal point who can get the Magpies up the pitch, and he will be incredibly dangerous as long as he has willing runners around him.
That was the case on Wednesday night, with Gordon and Elanga’s speed dovetailing brilliantly with Woltemade’s hold-up play.
Gordon was impressed with Woltemade, praising his teammate for the way he was able to bring other Newcastle United players into the game.
“I thought Nick played really well, especially the way he linked up and was holding the ball up,” he said.
“When your number nine does that, it allows everybody to come into the game.
“Fair play to him, he did really well.”
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