Chris Wood's performance on Soccer AM

[woodfordwhites]

He should have been dropped on that performance alone

[lufc1304]

My mate, a QPR fan, was at the game yesterday. Asked me who our number 9 was who, and I quote, 'looks and plays like a fat brickie'. Perfect summation, I thought!!

[LufcTom]

http://www.skysports.com/watch/video/tv ... eds-united

Theres the link. He was woeful. Unmarked aswel! My 8 yo nephew would put them away!

[1964white]

http://www.skysports.com/watch/video/tv ... eds-united

Theres the link. He was woeful. Unmarked aswel! My 8 yo nephew would put them away!

I can't watch it again, it was embarrassing

My granny could have done better

[rab_rant]

I heard that Evans is looking to sign new strikers from the Scottish ladies team.

n4lEK2qTcxU

[gessa]

When we signed Wood I was relatively happy, a friend of mine who is a Brum supporter was disappointed when they didn't sign him after a successful loan there. The last few weeks he has got a lot of stick from a large percentage of forum posters, so after again talking to my mate, I youtube'd some of his goals and a lot were the type of goal he scored against Derby, powerful shots inside and outside the area, he doesn't seem to get many with his head, that seems to be his weak point. It doesn't surprise me then, that his form and confidence has dropped since the introduction of hoofball, he is not an out and out target man, if you have a £3M striker then it may make good sense to play to his strengths, again another sign of poor management for me. Lineker was a great striker but most of his goals were in and around the 6 yard box, managers played a style that suited him which enabled him to get the amount of goals he did, that's what good managers do. Wood suited Roslers style he doesn't suit Evans's.

[paddy parrott]

Fair points mate and probably right too. Wood is an important player and for us he ain't doing it.
Personally I can't say but he does have to have a big presence even if goals aren't. I like him and confidence is another thing but to drop him is a bad move. At Christmas then have another look.

[1964white]

When we signed Wood I was relatively happy, a friend of mine who is a Brum supporter was disappointed when they didn't sign him after a successful loan there. The last few weeks he has got a lot of stick from a large percentage of forum posters, so after again talking to my mate, I youtube'd some of his goals and a lot were the type of goal he scored against Derby, powerful shots inside and outside the area, he doesn't seem to get many with his head, that seems to be his weak point. It doesn't surprise me then, that his form and confidence has dropped since the introduction of hoofball, he is not an out and out target man, if you have a £3M striker then it may make good sense to play to his strengths, again another sign of poor management for me. Lineker was a great striker but most of his goals were in and around the 6 yard box, managers played a style that suited him which enabled him to get the amount of goals he did, that's what good managers do. Wood suited Roslers style he doesn't suit Evans's.

Agree he isn't a target man which is quite unbelievable when you see the size of him

He was no better under Rosler than Evans

Technically he is a poor striker as he misses the target because his body posture is all wrong, also lacks composure hence the reasons he often blasts opportunities over the bar. It's like Andy Robinson all over again, i need to take a netted bag with me to the codheads game, hopefully i can net one of his shots in the kop
I'd drop both Antenucci & Wood this Saturday as they both received a big fat zero from me, that was generous btw as i note fans on other sites gave both minus scores, that's how poor they were !
Both Ant & Wood lost us the games v Rotherham & QPR.....why give them a third opportunity ?

[weasel]

I don't see why people are making such a big thing of the video after all an ex professional scored less than Wood so it isn't exactly a given that a striker should be getting 8/8.

Just because someone is big doesn't automatically make them good in the air. Lots of smaller players are able to leap higher than larger players as they have more spring in their legs and often less weight to propel upwards (i.e not top heavy). As a centreback myself I was expected to win every header just because i was 6ft 2 but I would have said that heading was the weakest part of my game. I was neither particularly good at judging the flight of the ball or leaping. I did however find it easier to win headers when playing against taller players.

[Drs.Dad]

I have to agree with weasel.... it looks to me that Wood scored from the decent crosses he took on. Balls were coming across behind him and he was having to stop o get contact. I'm not saying he is great, but I don't want to over-react to a training ground drill.
If Evans wants to add the lack of a 6-yard box striker to his ever growing list of players we do not have, then how about this for a possible solution. Luciano Becchio is out there begging to play again for a club he clearly loves. He is a free agent, and would, I have no doubt would train with us and sign on a pay-for-play contract. LB always had the knack for being in the right place at the right time, and you don't lose that kind of talent.
AND, BB would smile again!

[weasel]

In a match situation it is totally diferent, you're gonna either be smashing them in or control and smashing them in. In a training exercise such as that was you are almost trying to just roll it in, you don't really want to be leathering the ball at your teammate (the keeper) from 6 yards out (admittedly if a cross did land absolutely perfect for a volley you'd probably look to smash it home but none of those crosses really invited that sort of natural reaction).

The trouble we have is that strikers need goals. To get goals they need chances. Wood is feeding on scraps. If he misses a chance then he probably doesn't get another chance until the next game. For a striker if you miss a chance you are hoping you get another chance soon afterwards.

[1964white]

I don't see why people are making such a big thing of the video after all an ex professional scored less than Wood so it isn't exactly a given that a striker should be getting 8/8.

Just because someone is big doesn't automatically make them good in the air. Lots of smaller players are able to leap higher than larger players as they have more spring in their legs and often less weight to propel upwards (i.e not top heavy). As a centreback myself I was expected to win every header just because i was 6ft 2 but I would have said that heading was the weakest part of my game. I was neither particularly good at judging the flight of the ball or leaping. I did however find it easier to win headers when playing against taller players.

I love the way our fans on here make excuses & support Wood. How many times have i seen our plank of Wood (16 i think) ? He can't jump. his movement is poor, no pace, not great at holding the ball up & needs five attempts to score in a one on one situation. Beginning to think the goal he scored v Derby was a fluke as wonderful it was at the time. Sorry i don't share the same enthusiasm for such an average player

Bellusci wouldn't get the same backing

[1964white]

In a match situation it is totally diferent, you're gonna either be smashing them in or control and smashing them in. In a training exercise such as that was you are almost trying to just roll it in, you don't really want to be leathering the ball at your teammate (the keeper) from 6 yards out (admittedly if a cross did land absolutely perfect for a volley you'd probably look to smash it home but none of those crosses really invited that sort of natural reaction).

The trouble we have is that strikers need goals. To get goals they need chances. Wood is feeding on scraps. If he misses a chance then he probably doesn't get another chance until the next game. For a striker if you miss a chance you are hoping you get another chance soon afterwards.

No excuses for a striker to blast the ball into the stands from ten yards at any level. His body posture is all wrong that is why is accuracy is poor. I wouldn't win the majority of my bowls matches if my stance/delivery was wrong

[Genghers]

I love the way our fans on here make excuses & support Wood. How many times have i seen our plank of Wood (16 i think) ? He can't jump. his movement is poor, no pace, not great at holding the ball up & needs five attempts to score in a one on one situation. Beginning to think the goal he scored v Derby was a fluke as wonderful it was at the time. Sorry i don't share the same enthusiasm for such an average player

Bellusci wouldn't get the same backing

God forbid our fans support our players!

No one is saying he's a world beater and most have agreed that his form isn't what you'd want/expect from a £3m signing. He's not the finished article by a long way, but he's proved that he can do it at this level before, and some of his finishing/play has been good this season. I agree with weasel's assessment - we don't create enough chances and so if Wood doesn't make the most of the ones that fall his way he's going to look worse than he is. Not even top strikers convert all of their chances, but better teams create more and therefore have a better strike-rate.

His movement, pace and hold up play were evident in the build up to the shot he missed in the QPR game. He should have squared it, but he's gone for goal like strikers wanting to add to their tally do. I'm sure if he'd squared it and it hadn't ended up in the back of the net people would be up in arms that he hadn't taken it on himself!

I'm a big Bellusci fan. We only have 2 consistent players this season - Taylor and Berardi - the rest rarely have a flawless game, and there's a mistake or two in everyone of them in any given match.

Once we change to a formation which suits the players at the disposal we will fare better, but until we get rid of this 4-4-2 we'll not see the best of some of our players.

[1964white]

I have to agree with weasel.... it looks to me that Wood scored from the decent crosses he took on. Balls were coming across behind him and he was having to stop o get contact. I'm not saying he is great, but I don't want to over-react to a training ground drill.
If Evans wants to add the lack of a 6-yard box striker to his ever growing list of players we do not have, then how about this for a possible solution. Luciano Becchio is out there begging to play again for a club he clearly loves. He is a free agent, and would, I have no doubt would train with us and sign on a pay-for-play contract. LB always had the knack for being in the right place at the right time, and you don't lose that kind of talent.
AND, BB would smile again!

Now Becchio was a natural instinctive goalscorer, unsure he could repeat his scoring spree now DD

[1964white]

I'm a big Bellusci fan. We only have 2 consistent players this season - Taylor and Berardi - the rest rarely have a flawless game, and there's a mistake or two in everyone of them in any given match

And there lies the problem we only have two consistent players & they happen to be full-backs

I personally dislike 4-4-2 but it seems our players can't perform to their best & win football matches on a consistent basis no matter what formation we play or whatever manager they play under !

[Genghers]

And there lies the problem we only have two consistent players & they happen to be full-backs

I personally dislike 4-4-2 but it seems our players can't perform to their best & win football matches on a consistent basis no matter what formation we play or whatever manager they play under !

But we played better in a 4-5-1 (imo). Definitely limits hoofball.

We just need to find the right balance (on and off the pitch) and hopefully we'll do that soon, or we really will be in a relegation battle!

[The Subhuman]

I'm the only one who didn't think that was too bad then? Some awful crosses, I'm not sure the header was supposed to be a header in that they should all have been played into feet. Plus it was a bit of fun. ...

He hasn't played well of late and bears the brunt of the blame along with the attacking midfield and Ant of not winning football games recently though

[weasel]

I love the way our fans on here make excuses & support Wood. How many times have i seen our plank of Wood (16 i think) ? He can't jump. his movement is poor, no pace, not great at holding the ball up & needs five attempts to score in a one on one situation. Beginning to think the goal he scored v Derby was a fluke as wonderful it was at the time. Sorry i don't share the same enthusiasm for such an average player

Bellusci wouldn't get the same backing

I support all players who wear the shirt and play for the club. The crowd destroyed any chance that Noel Hunt had to turn his form around and I don't want to see it happen to a footballer who hopefully has the ability to get better and be a 20+ goal a season striker.

Andy Cole is an example of a striker who needed a lot of chances to score. However his goalscoring record was good as he played for Newcastle and MU who created a lot of chances for him. If you are getting 5 or 6 chances a match then no matter if you miss a lot you are still going to be scoring regularly so it is easier to forget about the misses.

Likewise Ross McCormack was poor in 1v1 situations, poor in the air, not blessed with great pace etc but he was an instinctive finisher. Not every striker is composed in front of goal but they are still capable of scoring a lot of goals.

Wood's goal v Derby came just a few minutes after he missed a very good, and a lot easier, chance. Because he scored the miss is forgotten. The goal against Derby also showed his importance to the system we were playing in that he was able to score from distance. A striker who has the ability to smash a ball past a keeper from outside the penalty area makes it harder for defenders as they have to get closer to him sooner (not allowing him to turn and shoot) which should create extra space for other Leeds players. Sadly however the team never got up to full speed with the tactics due to Rosler's premature departure.

[Oscar]

I love the way our fans on here make excuses & support Wood. How many times have i seen our plank of Wood (16 i think) ? He can't jump. his movement is poor, no pace, not great at holding the ball up & needs five attempts to score in a one on one situation. Beginning to think the goal he scored v Derby was a fluke as wonderful it was at the time. Sorry i don't share the same enthusiasm for such an average player

Bellusci wouldn't get the same backing

Sorry mate I disagree, I have seen Wood 10 times, he has had some poor games, however, he has had some very good games I agree his finishing is average and other parts of his game are poor. However, I think he is a very classy player some of the passes he can pick out are incredible and his link up play is very good as well. I don't blame Wood for our poor season so far in fact he has created a lot of good chances for others (he created at least 4 against Rotherham) and in my opinion is our best passer and crosser of the ball, I think he has made a reasonable start I know 6 goals in 17 games isn't great but considering how few chances he usually gets, I think he has done ok and has still been our best signing this season. I think: Silvestri, Byram, Dallas, Adeyemi, Murphy and Cook have all been far worse than Chris Wood this season. Chris Wood is very heavily criticised where I sit and watch games. Whilst Stuart Dallas appears to be a fans favourite , he has put in 3 good crosses all season and has in my opinion been lucky that all 3 of them have been converted meaning that he has 3 assists to his name. Overall, I am a fan of Chris Wood and think he is a very good player, however, I admit certain parts of his game could be better and if he could improve his finishing, I think he is easily a premier league quality player.