Newcastle United have ‘too many good players’ for Nick Woltemade to play like he did.
As debuts go, a winning goal in a 1-0 win for your new side is pretty much up there as the perfect first performance. That’s what Nick Woltemade was celebrating at the weekend after his terrific header settled the Premier League game against Wolverhampton Wanderers at St James’ Park.
With fellow new recruit Yoane Wissa sidelined for potentially six weeks, all eyes were on Woltemade to see how the 23-year-old German would get on. Wissa’s injury, Alexander Isak’s exit and the £65m transfer fee paid for the former Stuttgart man all served to add to the pressure for a debut.
Any nerves were soon extinguished in what was a good first outing, one which drew the praise of the watching Paul Merson, who was covering the game for Sky Sports.
Merson admits Woltemade couldn’t have asked for anything more from his first game, but the ex-Arsenal man had a clear message for the player and Newcastle boss Eddie Howe about the striker’s habit of coming deep to get involved in the game.
“If I was Eddie Howe I’d be saying, ‘when you lay that ball off, don’t worry about joining in again as I have too many good players for that, you get in the box and score goals.’ But a great start for him,” said Merson.
“He’s tidy. Before he scored if you had asked me about him I’d have said, he doesn’t look to get in the box too often, he’s coming outside the box and trying to join in play.
He’s tidy, he reminds me of Crouchy. I know they are both tall, but he has got the good football brain like Crouchy and good touches, gets involved in the game but just didn’t get in the box enough.
“When he did go in, what a header! He just drifts off his defender, he still has a lot to do but he powers it into the net.”
Wissa’s continued absence and a busy run of games with Champions League, Premier League and Carabao Cup action coming up in the next two weeks means Woltemade will have little time to think about his debut as he’s asked to find his way in a new set-up while leading the line for Howe’s men.
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