Newcastle United Alexander Isak hangover highlighted by Eddie Howe as Liverpool watch on
Eddie Howe namechecked Alexander Isak when assessing Newcastle United’s attacking problems this season.
Eddie Howe pointed to the exit of Alexander Isak to Liverpool as a contributing factor to Newcastle United’s attacking issues so far this season.
The Magpies have failed to score in three of their opening five Premier League games this season and are the second-lowest scorers in the division behind Aston Villa.
New record signing Nick Woltemade scored on his Newcastle debut against Wolverhampton Wanderers but didn’t register a single shot during the 0-0 draw at AFC Bournemouth on Sunday.
And Howe believes Newcastle’s attack is still in a transition process after the £130million sale of Isak to Liverpool and injury to new No. 9 Yoane Wissa.
Eddie Howe assesses NUFC’s attacking problems
Assessing Newcastle’s lack of goals so far this season, Howe said: “Yeah, I think just naturally we're going to be a different team attacking-wise this year without Alex.
“That's not why I think we've not scored in the three away games, but naturally I think we'd be attacking with a different emphasis.
“I thought Nick played really well [v Bournemouth]. I thought he was very, very effective with his footwork and his link play, but we just need to know and get used to him and his style more, and get more runners off him, because he's very, very good in that respect.
“I'm hopeful we're evolving to a different team, hopefully a better team, that's of course the plan, but it may take a bit of time.”
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Eddie Howe wants more from NUFC
While Woltemade has a different skillset and style to Isak, he still scored 17 goals in 33 games for VfB Stuttgart last season.
But Newcastle also experienced attacking problems early last season, with Isak scoring just once in the opening eight league matches. The Magpies also went over seven hours without scoring a goal from open play between September and October last year.
“Alex wouldn't have scored a goal for us if we didn't get up the pitch,” Howe said. “You get the ball into dangerous areas, so I think we have to do that better as a team.
“Of course, [Woltemade] is a goal-getter, you look at his record last year, it was very, very strong. I don't think that was a criticism of him today, but more of the team.
“I thought we played well, so it's a difficult one to instantly critique our attacking work. We got in some good areas in the first half, areas we should have done better.”
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Alexander Isak’s start at Liverpool
Isak joined Liverpool on deadline day having not featured for Newcastle since May and not playing a role in the club’s pre-season matches.
As such, his start to life on Merseyside has been disjointed and he’s been limited to just one substitute appearance in the Premier League and one start against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.