Sport

Newcastle Facing a Turning Point

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe is under growing pressure at St James’ Park, the like he hasn’t felt since his tenure began five years ago.

With the Magpies sat in 14th in the Premier League table, 10 points adrift of the Champions League chase, with six games of the season remaining, a disappointing campaign is now an inevitability.

Defeat to Crystal Palace last week cut particularly deep, coming three weeks after the true nadir, a home defeat to rivals Sunderland.

Howe and his team have been afforded plenty of mitigation, having reached the last 16 of this season’s Champions League, the Carabao Cup semi-finals and FA Cup fifth round. Their trip to Selhurst Park came off the back of a first meaningful break since August, and Howe’s first opportunity to really work with his players on the training ground.

But that was just it; they had that break against a team who had played in Europe three days earlier. But they still showed the same frustrating signs of deep-rooted problems Howe doesn’t seem able to solve, including taking the total number of points dropped from winning positions to a staggering 25.

An unreasonable expectation perhaps, but had they collected all of those points, they’d be joint top of the table. Winning half would make them well-placed for another season in Europe’s premier club competition.

The departure of Alexander Isak, Newcastle’s top scorer last term, at the end of the transfer window, has scarred the entire campaign. Isak wasn’t just Newcastle’s most reliable source of goals, he was the jewell in Howe’s crown. He set the team up to play to Isak’s strengths, and the Swede had many; pace, power, guile, deadly finishing and an ability to start a press.

Another issue is, one of his replacements, Nick Woltemade, is nothing like an Isak successor. His game is built around close control, link-up play and getting players in and around him.

That transition has been hard to manage. Woltemade’s talent is undeniable; he has scored seven Premier League goals this season and will lead the line for Germany at this summer’s World Cup.

But a combination of a lack of training time and Howe’s reluctance to change the focus of the team mid-season has meant trusting Woltemade has been difficult. He’s tried to accommodate him in midfield, which hasn’t worked, and has opted for more athletic players like Anthony Gordon and Will Osula up front lately. The latter scored the opener at Palace.

The fact he cost a club-record £69m in the summer, and £55m man Yoane Wissa is also struggling for an impact, means Howe is regularly being questioned about team selection.

“I don’t pick the team based on transfer fees,” Howe said post-Palace.

“I have to pick the team based on what I see. I thought Will Osula has trained well. I think he deserved to start today. I thought he played well, Will.

“I thought he was, again, a real positive coming out of the game. I thought he took his goal well. He’s got the physical attributes, the determination to do really well. He’s improving, I think, week in, week out, so I was delighted with his performance.”

There can be little doubt Howe has the right approach generally, but Woltemade’s issue is a little more complex. His skillset, as a 6’7 striker with more propensity to create than play as a target man, is unique. That creates a very black and white situation.

He is not capable of simply adjusting and slotting into Howe’s usually high-octane system. He must be a catalyst for a change of approach, or he should be sold to make way for a player who can provide a similar service to Isak.

The frustration for supporters is that Howe’s team is struggling to play with intensity anyway, be that because of fatigue or the players simply not responding to instructions in the same way. There is an end of cycle feeling to Newcastle’s current predicament, regardless of Howe’s future, with the likes of Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Tino Livramento linked with summer moves. The club are on record saying they may need to sell to reinvest heavily, and failing to qualify for Europe will only see speculation intensify.

Newcastle need a refresh and Woltemade should be central to that. He has undoubtedly struggled this season, but it is hardly surprising given how little support he has had in the adaptation process. Howe has spoken about a need to evolve the team into being more possession-based before, and his big German striker could hold the key.

Whether Howe is at Newcastle next season, Woltemade needs to be backed. If not, their loss could be someone else’s gain.