- Total Football Analysis
- Posts
- The Lost Art Of Two-Striker Partnerships & Nick Woltemade Scout Report
The Lost Art Of Two-Striker Partnerships & Nick Woltemade Scout Report
Today, we have a tactical theory article on the lost art of two-striker partnerships and how to coach them along with a scout report on football's answer to Victor Wembanyama, Nick Woltemade.
The Home Of Tactical Analysis
Professional Level AI-Powered Football Analysis For Teams, Scouts, Agents 📈
Discover Playmaker AI, the AI-powered platform revolutionizing football analytics for clubs, media, and betting providers.
Used by top teams around the world ( to elevate their game:
Advanced scouting and performance insights
Customizable data from hundreds of leagues
Tactical edges and engaging content creation
Today’s TFA Posts ⚽
During the 2019/20 season, Werder Bremen found themselves in deep trouble in the Bundesliga.
After a rough start to the campaign, the team struggled with a lot of injuries and, therefore, with getting results.
They ended up in the relegation battle and did not have a lot of players healthy enough to train.
Then, coach Florian Kohfeldt needed to bring youth players from the academy into training and decided to bring up a German youth international, Nick Woltemade, to fill out his practice squad.
Woltemade, born in Bremen, has been in Werder’s academy since he was eight years old.
He impressed the coach and got his first Bundesliga start in February 2020 against Augsburg, making him the youngest player to play for Werder Bremen at this point in their rich history.
However, the young attacker struggled with injuries and getting playing time at Werder for the coming years, which is why the club decided to loan him to 3. Liga to SV Elversberg.
Woltemade’s ascent began in Elversberg.
With 27 goal contributions in 35 games, Woltemade was one of the main reasons for Elversberg’s promotion at the end of the season.
After returning to his boyhood club, Woltemade was still not happy with the playing time and trust Ole Werner gave him.
At the end of his contract in the summer of 2024, he decided to leave his home and sign for VfB Stuttgart.
The 1.98m tall Woltemade’s start was bad, however.
He was left out of the UEFA Champions League squad and struggled to get playing time again, but since November, he has been a starter for Stuttgart and currently has 11 goals and three assists in 23 games for the Swabians.
In this scouting report and player analysis, we will examine what makes Woltemade so special, where his strengths and weaknesses lie, and where he needs to improve to become a senior international for Germany.
The days of the classic “big and small” striker duo or the “act 1 and act 2” partnerships were once a staple of football, especially in English leagues.
These partnerships combined different strengths, like power, skill, flair, and goal-scoring ability, to great effect.
Think of the iconic pairings that defined eras, such as Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton, Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp, or Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke.
These duos delivered goals but also captured the tactical simplicity of football in that era, where roles were defined and chemistry was king.
However, as football evolved into the modern era, the rise of the lone-striker, fluid attacking trios, and the false nine reshaped the way teams approach attacking play.
The two-man strike partnership largely faded from view.
Today, most teams in the Premier League and Championship prioritise midfield superiority, wide attacking threats, and pressing systems that make the traditional strike partnership seem outdated.
The two-striker partnership is not entirely extinct.
Teams like Atlético Madrid and Inter Milan have shown that a two-striker system can still produce amazing results.
These teams have found ways to adapt the partnership to modern football, combining it with tactical tweaks to make its relevance and application useful in the current tactical landscape.
This piece will explore the history of two-man strike partnerships, focusing specifically on their use in the Premier League (PL) and Championship.
It will also explain how two strikers can function, the roles within a partnership, and why it is unlikely to see a widespread resurgence in today’s game.
Lastly, it will include a session plan designed to help coaches and players utilise the partnership, with a focus on both on-ball interplay and the structural support required to make it work.
TFA Archives 📆
With RB Leipzig hosting Borussia Dortmund today, read about Leipzig’s 2024/25 struggles and strategic fixes.
Cesc Fàbregas Tactics Leading FC Como 1907 In Serie A 2024/2025 – Tactical Analysis
FC Como 1907 travel to AC Milan today — learn about Cesc Fàbregas’ tactics here!
AVS Futebol SAD travel to Porto today — re-read our article analysing how they earned promotion to Portugal’s top-flight for the 2024/25 campaign here!
