Since Alexander Isak left Newcastle United, the Magpies have tried but failed on multiple occasions to find a new reliable centre-forward.
Of course, replacing someone as good as Isak was during his time on Tyneside was never going to be easy, but the fact that the club has now spent upwards of £175m in two years on that position and are yet to find anybody who even comes close is a bit of a worry.
Three new signings, four players deployed there, but no-one has established themselves as the go to guy yet, so why is that the case?
The wrong profiles
The Magpies have now dropped £69m on Woltemade, £55m on Wissa and £51m on Fernandez-Pardo in the space of just two summers, each with a slightly different profile, but none having established themselves as the consistent goal threat needed to outdo Isak and Woltemade even having now left the club on loan to Juventus.
In fact, despite all the money spent, it is £15m Will Osula who has looked the most likely to take up the goalscoring mantle, but even he feels as though he would be better suited to playing out wide and there are still question marks over his ability if he was to become the prominent starter.
The thing about Isak was that his profile had a little bit of everything and was adaptable depending on the game. The options the Magpies have tried since are all largely one dimensional in terms of what they offer and haven’t had the right mix of players around them to play to their strengths.
Nick Woltemade was all ball into feet and then involve others, which, when it worked, looked like a recipe for success. The Issue was it didn’t happen anywhere close to often enough and the German often ended up isolated due not really having anybody to run off the shoulder and open up those pockets for him to play in.
In theory, Yoane Wissa’s profile is the one that most closely aligns with Isak’s. He has the ability to drop in and link up play but also likes to stretch the pitch and get in behind defences. Of course, he was injured for a large portion of last season and, although he has looked better so far in this campaign, Matthias Jaissle seems to want to play him in the number 10 rather than as the focal point up front.
Matias Fernandez-Pardo was a marquee signing for the Magpies this summer, but has yet to really find his feet after a lack of pre season has seen him playing catch-up since his move to Tyneside. The Belgian doesn’t really have the ability to link-up play and make it stick up front and, with his pace being one of his main assets, does look more suited to playing off the flanks than through the middle.
Why Isak worked
The issue Newcastle have with that striker position is they are now trying to find someone who replaces the exact attributes that they lost in Isak, which is exceptionally difficult to do in a striker.
Commonly, you’ll have to sacrifice pressing ability, running off the shoulder, dropping deep, peeling into channels, or pure goal scoring ability - finding all of those in one player is very difficult, but that is what Isak offered.
No matter what we might think about the Swede now, he was so effective because the rest of the team didn’t have to worry about covering for certain things he couldn’t do and most of the play revolved around getting him the ball no matter what the situation.
What Newcastle have tried to do with the replacements is sign players with certain attributes Isak had, but without addressing the fact that none of them can do everything he did, if that makes sense.
So ultimately, what we now have is a group of forwards all with different attributes, but each not being used in with the right mix of profiles around them to allow them to thrive, simply because it isn’t a problem the hierarchy have ever really had to solve before.
The recent centre-forward recruitment has all been with a view to replacing Alexander Isak, rather than finding a striker who fits the new direction of the club. That is precisely why Newcastle have ended up with so many players who seem better suited to other roles.
Isak was exceptional because he combined so many different attributes in one player, but finding someone who can replicate that is incredibly difficult. Instead of chasing another Isak, Newcastle need to identify what they actually need from their centre-forward, then build the right combination of profiles around him to recreate that attacking threat collectively.
Where Osula comes in
I mentioned earlier that Osula looks like he could be better suited to playing off the right, but I also believe he is far and away the best option to do what Jaissle needs from his striker.
There has been an air of chaos about most of the Magpies games this season, which is indicative of what Jaissle’s system brings to the table.
Will Osula thrives in chaos and I really think we have missed him during this period of injury.
Jaissle likes fast, vertical football in transition and wants to stretch the opposition where possible. The issue right now seems to be that everybody is trying to do that, which is leaving massive gaps for the opposition to exploit.
Osula could really be the key to stop that from happening because his blistering pace and chaotic nature will occupy the back line enough that there isn’t the same need to have so many players on that forward line and the vertical play can become more dynamic as a result.
Add to that his undying willingness to press from the front and put the opposition on the back foot in build up and the Dane could actually help solve a lot of the concerns we have about the current setup.
Add us as a preferred source on Google