Saturday saw Chris Wood go yet another game without a goal, but he must be doing something right when you look at our form since he sealed a January move to St James’ Park.
The big Kiwi is yet to find the net, yet his record in a black and white shirt reads seven games played, five wins and two draws.
In truth, he’s rarely looked like scoring and may not always be easy on the eye, however he deserves huge credit for his moment of quality that led to our opening goal.
As you can see in the clip below, he does brilliantly to not only roll Lewis Dunk, but carry the ball forward and put Jacob Murphy clean through on goal with a perfectly weighted pass:
He’s often played with his back to goal since completing a £25m move from Burnley, however this showed another side to the 6ft 3′ striker who put in a solid display against the Seagulls.
The big man wasn’t flashy and sometimes found it tough to win aerial duels against the dominant Dunk and Duffy, but he held the ball up well in the circumstances, brought others into play, worked his socks off and played a pivotal role in our all important opener.
So, Wood may still be waiting for his first goal and clearly needs a confidence boost in that department, but this clip might be worth showing to that friend or member of the family who reckons our January signing isn’t offering enough!
You refer to Woods’ “smart turn”.
Considering where the ball was played, wouldn’t any other player on the pitch have made the same turn? It was pretty basic stuff, unles he was going to turn the other way and run away from the ball.
I also think it’s a bit of a stretch trying to give him credit for any part in our last 7 performances when he’s in the team not so much on credit, as because we’ve got nobody else.
BykerBill(Quote)
So we’re going to totally ignore the through ball which puts Murphy clean through? And his work rate? And all his aerial wins? And the way he occupies men to free up space for the likes of Fraser/Murphy/ASM?
I’m not saying he’s been a world beater, but to try and talk down a good bit of play and suggest he’s played no part in an unbeaten run is a strangely negative take.
Olly Hawkins(Quote)