Injury specialist, Ben Dinnery, recently suggested Newcastle United’s Callum Wilson could slot back into his central striker role once he returns from injury and Alexander Isak could go on the wing.
The Magpies have struggled with injuries to a number of key stars including Wilson, Allan Saint-Maximin, Bruno Guimaraes, Jonjo Shelvey, and Emil Krafth, which in turn has seen them struggle to pick up wins with just one in their first seven games.
This season is not the first time Wilson has dealt with injuries, he missed 23 games for the Magpies last season due to a hamstring and calf problem, which meant Newcastle had to rely on Chris Wood for goals.
With the international break giving Wilson two more weeks of recovery, questions have arisen over whether Eddie Howe will opt for a new system to accommodate both Wilson and Isak in the striker roles.
Dinnery recently claimed on the Premier FPL Injuries show that instead of moving to a new system fans could see Wilson go back to his natural central attacking position and Isak could go out to the right where he featured recently.
He said: “However, there was a lot better news with regards to Callum Wilson. Callum Wilson’s coming off the back of his own muscular problem and we know he has a chequered injury past and Eddie Howe said he was very close for that Bournemouth game but they decided to err on the side of caution and keep him out the firing line on the understanding that he’d get another solid two weeks of training under his belt.
“Now, how could that change things going forward? Well, he certainly hasn’t ruled out the prospect of playing new signing Isak and Wilson together. Wilson would play more off the shoulder, central, and Isak could potentially go out wide as he did when Chris Wood came on at the weekend.”
TIF Thoughts on Dinnery’s comments…
While Wilson has been a good servant for the club since he joined, picking up 22 goals in his 49 games, his injury record in recent seasons has seen him a lot of games which has hurt the evolution of the team.
For this reason, we think it would make more sense for the club to continue with their system which has flourished under Howe and continue to start their striker of the future in Isak and use Wilson as an impact sub, rather than completely change their philosophy over an injury-prone player in his thirties.
The Magpies are on a new trajectory with the Saudi PIF and they need to back the spending of the owners. Isak has started life well in the Premier League with two goals in his first three games and they cannot ruin this by bringing Wilson back.
Should Howe change tactics for Wilson's return?YesNo |