DC Magpie

Some of these longer strikes look pretty effortlessly well struck. No idea why he doesn't pull the trigger more from distance. Maybe next year he'll be in more of a comfort zone and a little more selfish.

Trust me I'm no Wissa apologist, but he thrived in primarily at 4-2-3-1 at Brentford. Seems a much friendlier formation for 9s than ours.

Nick started 17 of 38 league games up front I believe. We can argue what "most" means, but playing up there didn't much work for Gordon or anyone else until Osula got hot (though I'd argue we haven't been in the 4-3-3 for much of that hot streak). On that note, we'll see if Osula can be that 9, but his hot streak as the main striker is a bit reminiscent of Nick's hot start, no? I'm afraid defenses have our 4-3-3 figured out and will soon figure Osula out, as they likely did NW in that formation. We need to adapt. i want the same lineup to go vs Fulham. Let's see what we have, make up our minds what the future looks like and if it's the same old 4-3-3, then get what we can for Woltemade and move on. He has no home in that formation.

I'd add to that mix the sheer number of games you're asking those aging players to play that high intensity press. To Mills & Boon's point, the 4-3-3 has worked for us in years past, but maybe most effectively during years we weren't in Europe. It may also be part of the reason we can't qualify for Europe in consecutive years - unless you have incredible depth (narrator's voice: "we don't"), it appears to be better suited to a 38 game season, not to a 58 game season.

The story doesn't rebuke anything. It doesn't actually say anything at all tbh. If we get a good offer, we'll sell. If not, we keep. Groundbreaking insight. But here's an alternate theory to the season re Woltemade: Eddie has all along been doing the Ted Lasso Jedi mind trick thing, turning Jamie Tartt into a team-first total football player. Setting Woltemade aside, Eddie tanked the season stubbornly clinging to a 4-3-3 that seems to suit absolutely nobody on this roster well. It wasn't just Woltemade, nobody thrived in it. Nick was just the most visible poster child of the overall ineptitude. "I can promise that he won't be 80 metres away from goal with us. If we're playing 80 metres from goal, he won't play." I don't think Eddie was deliberate or malicious, just stubborn. Hoping our last game is the same lineup and 4-2-3-1 as last week. Best we've looked as a team in a long time. We should have been doing this since our three week break.

I think repurposing him as a 10 in a 4-2-3-1 is the only way he stays - and the only reason he ought to stay. If Eddie plans to revert to 4-3-3, then there is no position on the field NW is a natural fit for. He needs to be connecting play, playing off a 9, creating chances and getting to the six yard line himself. Eddie mentioned in an interview that he was pleased Nick scored, and that he hopes he can replicate that form this week, so hopefully we run the same lineup back to Fulham and just maybe we can get similar linkage through midfield and attack, convincing Eddie to get out of the 4-3-3 as our main (well, only) formation. I know a lot of people want to give Wissa another year for many of the same reasons I'd like to give NW another chance. But Wissa seems brain dead and tone deaf to me. The Mateta thing is seared into my brain forever (never mind him liking Sunderland posts after the derby).

Our final game in the group stage that year was against Poland. We needed a some sort of combination of things to happen, but getting stomped 3=1 wasn't one of them. Got up at 2:30 AM to watch Poland score in the third and fifth minute. But in the other game, Portugal got two red cards and the host South Koreans beat them 1-0 and we somehow got through on goal differential or something. I would have killed for a miserable goal-less draw. And in 2010 when the US needed a win vs Algeria in the last group stage game, I was in a farking business lunch meeting I couldn't get out of. Watched the first 75 miserable minutes of Algeria parking the bus but then had to leave for the meeting and missed Donovan's miracle goal. Still pissed about that.

The worst here in the States was the WC they held in Japan/Korea. I remember watching US play Mexico in Round of 16 at 2:30AM local time.

I liked your post, but hope to God you're wrong about the 4-3-3.

Absolute worst case scenario. But if Eddie has had a change of heart (or was told to have one) and he is serious about getting away from the 4-3-3 (at least for the most part) and he approaches the summer signings accordingly, I think we'll be more than OK. My biggest fear is letting Eddie recruit and sign a bunch of fast, but maybe not-as-skilled players to suit a 4-3-3, only then to have him leave after ten games. I'm still giddy over how well Bruno, Wolte, Ramsey and Barnes meshed together. Tonali too. Best I recall our midfield looking in a long, long time. "I can promise that he won't be 80 metres away from goal with us." Understand this was West Ham, but then again we lost 3-1 to them in November. Night and day performances.

Agreed. If we stay 4-2-3-1 next week I think he'll get to 9 before season's end.

Just can't help yourself. You're a cartoon. Not just figuratively. Take the win man. Wish for the best.

I’m trying to understand your motivation. You want him to fail? You’re so predictably negative on him. This was the best our midfield has looked in ages. Two games into a new formation that’s not the fucking 4-3-3. That lineup clicked and you just want to shite on it. Why?

schar?

I think the question is who was in charge of the process and who thought it was a good idea to try to go all-in, toe-to-toe with the elite clubs for the top 5 on his/their list without a Plan B? All of them signed with Chelsea, Man U, Liverpool (some as backups). Instead of bringing a younger, less expensive player to bring along and take the pressure off, he/they went out and spent the same money they offered Ekitike on someone who was apparently his/their sixth choice. Whoever was in charge can't make the excuse you're offering. He/they did the same with Wissa and Elanga. By the way, here's how our rumored top five choices (and the cunt) have shook out so far: Joao Pedro = 15 EPL goals (60M fee) - 27% of Chelsea's league goals Ekitike = 11 EPL goals (69M) - 17% of Liverpool's league goals Sesko = 11 EPL goals (67M) - 17% of ManU's league goals Mbueno = 9 EPL goals (65M)- 14% of ManU's league goals Woltemade = 7 EPL goals (65M) - 14% of NUFC's league goals Isak = 3 EPL goals (125M) - 4% of Liverpool's league goals Delap = 1 EPL goal (30M) - less than 2% of Chelsea's league goals So despite him missing training, coming in cold, getting Wissa'd, and playing the last half of the season out of position (if at all), he's really not that far out from all the others - who I would argue are all playing in much more striker-friendly systems. I hope Nick hits the weight room this summer and comes back with his arse on fire to prove the doubters wrong (including Eddie). I also hope he starts eating raw steak and eggs every day, and not that froufrou tartare crap either. There's not enough tofu in the world for him to build the muscle he needs.

He’d fit their style better than ours and Atletico is losing their striker (forget his name). They’re safely in UCL next year too and who knows he might be allowed to play this time. I don’t think they can or will come anywhere close to the fee we paid though so it probably won’t happen. It’s an interesting business model though. Secure a high-value asset, do your level best to alienate it, then sell low. Kinda like Mercedes did with Chrysler.

he looks happy enough to me.

Either vegan or a kissing cousin thereto (sorry for my hillbilly reference there). There was a video the team put out where he tasted and critiqued the vegan meal options at the grounds. He'll need to figure out how to get enough protein in his diet to bulk up a bit. That's a lot of tofu. From the AI machine: "Nick Woltemade follows a primarily plant-based (vegan) diet, which he adopted about two and a half years ago to improve his athletic performance and reduce muscle cramps. While he describes himself as "secretly" vegan, he has mentioned eating mostly plant-based foods, such as tofu, along with some fish."

Fair, but as a great Brit is rumored to have once said, it's a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma, innit? Is it the fact that Nick's game simply isn't suited to the EPL? Is it that Eddie's system is old and predictable? Some combination? Because given what we've seen this year I'm not sure I'd trust any striker outside maybe Haaland to score 15 for us this year the way we're playing. Speaking of Haaland, whatever Nick's future and wherever he may play next year, he has to bust his ass in the weight room this summer to get stronger. That part of his game should be easiest to fix. I wonder if his diet has something to do with that.

Agree with this entirely. Howe seems strangely proud of his 4-3-3 even though it doesn't work any longer. I don't think he's going to change his scheme any time soon. Really would have loved to see Nick thrive here. But if Eddie stays, it's best for all involved to get back what we can for him, sign a Jamaican sprinter to play striker, and let Nick play for a team better suited to his skillset. I like him a lot and will follow his career wherever he may go. Serious question - Is avoiding relegation worth the fee we paid for him even if he doesn't ultimately flourish here? Because without his league goals earlier in the season, we'd be right in the midst of that dreck now. I would think it's worth almost any sum to avoid that.

I love Nick as much as anyone but can we keep the ball away from his head around our own goal as much a possible please?

having never been myself is SJP completely landlocked to the point they couldn’t expand and enlarge/upgrade it? Does it need to be a new location? if we can expand it, we’d probably have to shut it down for at least part of a season though. Maybe we could play our home games at the Mackems’s stadium that year? that was a joke. Please don’t ban me.

I thought it would have been a nice gesture as a teammate for Gordon to let Nick take the second pen against Azerbaijanis to let him try to gain some confidence back. I was Team Tripper in that little spat. May not have made a difference for Nick, but it seemed selfish at the time, and it seems selfish now.

Their 2014 team was about the best I remember seeing. I know they were very highly acclaimed so not necessarily "rising to the occasion" but man were they a good side. I remember not believing my eyes watching them dispatch Brazil 7-1 in the semis.