As the revolving door of the Newcastle United treatment room continues to spin, Eddie Howe has yet to see his two star strikers even train together let alone play together.
With Callum Wilson finally returning from injury against Fulham today (hopefully), we have lost Alexander Isak as he picked up an injury while away with the Swedish national team. The overlap means that the £63m summer signing and Newcastle’s number 9 have yet to even train together at Darsley Park.
When Isak was signed Howe hinted that he would be looking to play the two together saying that they both have “unique strengths” but he’s not yet had the chance to assess how that would work. Speaking ahead of the trip to Fulham, Howe reiterated: “They have not trained together, That’s something I’ll leave for another day. At the moment, it’s focusing on finding the best team to beat Fulham. Certainly, as players come back and the group changes, there’s always other solutions and potential things to look at.” – via The Chronicle.
So, does that mean Howe will be looking at changing up his prefered formation in order to accommodate a two-striker system? It’s more likely that he will push Isak out wide, a position he is comfortable with, and have him cutting in from the flanks to a more central role. However, should that be the case, is it a waste of his talents as a striker?
How Would You Deploy Isak & Wilson?
Wilson up top. Isak out wide.
Together - Two strikers
Alternate to keep one fit
I’d personally like to see them playing alongside each other in a two-up-top formation. We’re desperate for goals this season and with them two on the pitch together we’d potentially have one of the deadliest partnerships in the league.
Whether the two of them will ever be fit at the same time long enough to see how this would work is very much “glass coffins” – remains to be seen.
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