Newcastle United's Nick Woltemade 'concern' after 2-1 defeat to Arsenal
Nick Woltemade has two goals in two St James’ Park starts for Newcastle United.
Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe admits Nick Woltemade was feeding off scraps in Sunday’s late 2-1 defeat to Arsenal.
Woltemade scored his second goal for Newcastle following his £69million club-record move from Stuttgart after heading home Sandro Tonali’s in-swinging in the 34th minute.
But other chances were few and far between for the Germany international, and not for the first time.
The 23-year-old hit the crossbar early in the second half but play was pulled back with Jacob Murphy offside in the build-up. He was then withdrawn in the 67th minute for Will Osula before Arsenal scored in the 84th and 96th minute to flip the result on its head.
Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe on Nick Woltemade’s performance v Arsenal
“Yes, today would have been another great learning experience for him because the speed of that game, the physicality of the game, that's as tough as you'll get,” Howe said.
“We know Arsenal are a very strong team, set plays, loads of different facets of their game require physicality. Ours is very similar. He'll leave going, ‘it's quick, it's strong, and you have to bring that yourself to be successful’. And I thought his goal was a brilliant example of what he can be.
“I don’t think as a team, we particularly fed him well today, I think it was another huge number of crosses going in the box. What he did feed off, I thought he did well.
Is Eddie Howe concerned about lack of chances created for Nick Woltemade?
When asked if it was a concern that his players were struggling to create chances for Woltemade, Howe replied: “Every game is different. But yeah, of course, today, again, I'm looking at that going, if I'm Nick, I want more. Not necessarily from the team, because he plays an important role in that himself, but I want more goalmouth action. I'm going to thrive and live off that.
“Whatever bits he had today, he converted, so I think that's something for me to reflect on. But I think whenever you play Arsenal, especially in the way that they played today, it's not going to be a game where you're going to get an abundance of chances.
“It's going to be a day where you have to take whatever comes your way and you have to make sure you help the team play better. I thought he did that when I was on the pitch and I've got no complaints with his performance.”
Newcastle United attacking concerns
Newcastle’s defeat to Arsenal further underlined their struggles in front of goal, now ranking as the joint-lowest scorers in the Premier League alongside Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers with four goals.
The Magpies were essentially without an experienced striker for the opening three games of the season whilst Alexander Isak forced his £130m British record move to Liverpool.
Bruno Guimaraes and Will Osula scored during the 3-2 defeat to Liverpool, while Woltemade has found the net against both Wolves and Arsenal. The opening three away matches at Aston Villa, Leeds and AFC Bournemouth have ended goalless.