Woltemade: An excellent start. Saturday’s 2-1 defeat against Brighton at the Amex came as a disappointment after back-to-back wins against Union Saint-Gilloise in the Champions League and Nottingham Forest in the Premier League. Two goals from Danny Welbeck were enough to give the Seagulls the win, but a superb goal from Newcastle striker Nick Woltemade was a bright spot.
The improvised flick off his heel to finish a chance created by Lewis Miley marked Woltemade’s fourth Premier League goal of the season. It was also his fifth goal in all competitions since making the move to Tyneside from Stuttgart in a deal that is going to be worth more than £65 million once all is said and done. Although still very early in his Newcastle United career, the signs are looking good for the 23 year old Germany international. So is he already proving to be an astute signing and a good replacement for Alexander Isak?
Isak: Definitely a POTS contender. As the Premier League campaign ended, everyone’s eye is on one man: Alexander Isak. With 23 goals, six assists in 34 games, a goal in the EFL Cup final, and a PFA Players’ Player of the Year nomination, his statistics speak for themselves.
But other titles such as Bruno Fernandes, Mohamed Salah, Cole Palmer, Declan Rice, and Alexis Mac Allister have also put their seal of dominance. Let us break down the case for Isak and determine who else needs to be in contention for Player of the Season.
One byproduct of Newcastle United finally excorcising their 56 year trophy voodoo against Liverpool on Sunday is an automatic place in the lowest rung of the European football ladder, the Europa Conference League. But now the Magpies will definitely be in Europe in some form next season, what would be the best competition for them at this stage in their development?
Of course, I know that most fans will be thinking this would obviously be the Champions League, the greatest club football competition in the world, but let’s think about it for a moment and weigh up the pros and cons of each.
Of course, in the world of probabilities, Newcastle would have a much better chance of winning the Conference League than the Champions League, or even the one in the middle, the Europa League. After all, if West Ham can win the Europa Conference, surely Newcastle United can too? Winning that first trophy after so long has been great, but a second win would really build their confidence and put them in good shape to have a go at the two big trophies, the Premier League and the Champions League, rather than just scraping into into the Champions and falling out at the league stage again. (more…)
Jacob Murphy and Miguel Almiron. Whilst Miguel Almiron and Jacob Murphy have been great servants for the club, Almiron with his energy, and Murphy with his big contribution last season in terms of assists (he was joint top with Trippier on 7), there is little doubt that in the front three, the Magpies are stronger on the left with Anthony Gordon and Harvey Barnes than they are on the right, a situation which was not rectified in the last transfer window, nor the one before that.
Whilst Gordon can also play on the right, he is now undoubtedly a very important player for the side and not playing him in his optimum position would be a bad compromise. On the other hand, Barnes is also a fine left winger who is too good to waste away on the side lines. That’s a slightly different discussion though. The question for this article is why, not for the first time, have the club failed to strengthen the right wing, whilst bringing in some players in positions that seem to be more well served? (more…)
Odysseas Vlachodimos. Whilst some of the signings by Newcastle United this season are predictable and understandable, like Lewis Hall’s move from Chelsea after a season on loan, and the signing of Lloyd Kelly, a decent enough utility defender who played for Eddie Howe at Bournemouth, there are some which seem slightly more perplexing though, at least initially. In this piece, I will look at some of these, starting with Newcastle’s current roster of five first team goalkeepers.
There are the two new goalkeepers, Odysseas Vlachodimos and John Ruddy from Nottingham Forest and Birmingham respectively. (more…)
