First up is Mitch, who asked: Do you think Eddie Howe will use Nick Woltemade as a number 10 when Yoane Wissa is fit and swap to a 4-2-3-1? Ciaran answered: Howe likes having a surprise up his sleeve and we have seen the head coach move away from his favoured 4-3-3 formation and use a back five on several occasions already this season. The prospect of Woltemade and Wissa one day playing together has certainly not been ruled out once the latter returns from injury next month.
BBC Sport's Newcastle United reporter Ciaran Kelly will be answering a selection of the questions you have sent in throughout Wednesday.
First up is Mitch, who asked:Do you think Eddie Howe will use Nick Woltemade as a number 10 when Yoane Wissa is fit and swap to a 4-2-3-1?
Ciaran answered: Howe likes having a surprise up his sleeve and we have seen the head coach move away from his favoured 4-3-3 formation and use a back five on several occasions already this season.
The prospect of Woltemade and Wissa one day playing together has certainly not been ruled out once the latter returns from injury next month. But I would be a little surprised if Howe immediately switched systems and started them both because midfielders Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton are so integral to how this side functions.
The initial plan had been for Wissa and Woltemade to rotate and share the load, with the former's Premier League experience easing the burden on his team-mate.
Woltemade has, obviously, had to hit the ground running because of Wissa's lay-off and the German is viewed internally as a number nine who can link play rather than a number 10.
It reminds me a little of the Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson situation when the pair were both firing a few seasons ago. The strikers rarely started together and they instead pushed each other for a place in the first XI.
That intense rivalry brought the best out of Isak and Wilson because they knew they had to deliver during their time on the pitch.
There were still occasions when Howe would use them both if his side were chasing a goal in the second half.
And having Woltemade and Wissa fit would certainly give him the flexibility to do that again.
David asked: Jacob Murphy vs Anthony Elanga - why does Howe keep picking Elanga?
Ciaran answered: An interesting question. Murphy is Newcastle's best crosser of the ball and the winger's deliveries helped Isak enjoy the best campaign of his career last season.
He has already gone on to set up goals for Woltemade and Anthony Gordon against Wolves and Barcelona respectively in 2025-26.
Elanga has not yet had such a moment, but that does not necessarily tell the full story.
The summer signing's rapid pace created openings versus Liverpool and, particularly, Barcelona that were not taken by his team-mates, while he also played the defence-splitting pass that led to Ezri Konsa getting sent off after the panicked Aston Villa defender pulled Gordon back.
It was also rather telling it was Elanga who was named player of the match following Newcastle's 4-0 win at Union Saint-Gilloise last week - the Magpies' biggest in the Champions League - after he had a hand in the visitors' opener and won a penalty for his side's second.
But Elanga did not build on that display against former club Nottingham Forest a few days later.
Just as it even takes some proven Premier League players time to fully adjust to this side's intricate patterns of play and become a consistent force, Newcastle are also adapting to life with a different sort of profile of player out wide, following Elanga's £55m summer move.
Howe even noted at the weekend how Elanga's threat "helps us in ways we maybe don't realise yet".
And it is easy to forget that Elanga, Woltemade and Gordon only started together for the first time last week.
Given the lack of training time, on account of a packed schedule, the trio are essentially having to build up an understanding by playing together.
Come back to this page later on Wednesday for the second instalment in this three-part Q&A, which will focus more on matters off the field...
Category: General Sports
