Chris Wood

[Guest Col city fan]

Your sons assessment spot on mate, midfield for me had no shape, and left the defence exposed, and after knockeart went off offered no service to to forwards, just long balls over the top for vardy to chase.

They did have patches of good passing, but few and far between, just not at the races.

The strikers did have some chances you would have expected them to put away, and at least hit the target.

Nugent is probably better than wood when they are both on form, but I think it's time for woods chance and give nugent a rest and kick up the arse.

Good post buddy. I'd go with dropping Nuge (not because I think Wood is any better) but because I too think he needs a kick up the arris.

However, I'd play Vardy as the lone striker on Saturday. See pre-match thread.

[cc_star]

I must be one of the only posters who believes Chris Wood isn't as good as many make out. I don't think he's a bad player, but maintain that if we are to drop Nugent, we need to play someone who is better than Nugent. I don't think Wood is better than Nugent.

The success we have had so far this season is founded upon a strike partnership developing between Nuge and Vardy.

Last night? I wasn't there. But my son was, who told me that we lost the midfield. Vardy and Nuge had little to feed on (as did Wood when he came on). Some chances yes, but not enough.

Any striker is only as good as the chances they have. Nuge has missed some, sure, but remains our best striker imo.

Agree 100%.

In a 442 I think Nuge+Vardy are the best two. We're a real defend from the front team with Nuge & Vardy doing a boat load of work.

Whenever I've seen Wood play he's been average at best, and a 433 which we revert to from time to time, Wood has looked like Bambi... Caught in the headlights... On rollerskates.

However we are creating a lot of chances, even when we play shit as a team... And I think we could really do with a poacher to offer us something different to the hardworking Nuge, Vardy, GTF (& Waghorn if he was still here).

Even when not among the goals in open play, I still think Nugent offers more through his all round game than any other forward at the club... And the whole team except Knocky having a stinker isn't reason to throw Nuge onto the bench....

However... He's quite a sub to bring on & could motivate.

A team as good as Brighton, away, isn't the place to play psychological games and tinker though

[cjslcfc]

I must be one of the only posters who believes Chris Wood isn't as good as many make out. I don't think he's a bad player, but maintain that if we are to drop Nugent, we need to play someone who is better than Nugent. I don't think Wood is better than Nugent.

The success we have had so far this season is founded upon a strike partnership developing between Nuge and Vardy.

Last night? I wasn't there. But my son was, who told me that we lost the midfield. Vardy and Nuge had little to feed on (as did Wood when he came on). Some chances yes, but not enough.

Any striker is only as good as the chances they have. Nuge has missed some, sure, but remains our best striker imo.

 

From how I saw it we definitely lost the midfield. Granted, Wednesday were slightly lucky in retaining the ball every now and again but they were more energetic, more physical and more dominant on the night in the middle of the park. We couldn't cope with their direct style. Miquel got bullied by their 34 (don't know how to spell his name) and Wickham was a nightmare all night. Only 3 or 4 of our players were at the races, and you know when that happens in this league you can't win the match. The main problem was our defence would win their headers only for it to reach a Wednesday midfielder. I think it was Olofinjana who was constantly collecting their knock downs or the clearance from our defenders.

[Guest Col city fan]

From how I saw it we definitely lost the midfield. Granted, Wednesday were slightly lucky in retaining the ball every now and again but they were more energetic, more physical and more dominant on the night in the middle of the park. We couldn't cope with their direct style. Miquel got bullied by their 34 (don't know how to spell his name) and Wickham was a nightmare all night. Only 3 or 4 of our players were at the races, and you know when that happens in this league you can't win the match. The main problem was our defence would win their headers only for it to reach a Wednesday midfielder. I think it was Olofinjana who was constantly collecting their knock downs or the clearance from our defenders.

Nie on exactly what my son told me this morning.

[foxfanazer]

Time to give him a chance imo. He will be really keen to impress and if he plays with quick players like Dyer and Vardy he should get plenty of chances and I do have faith in his finishing

[Devonfox1884]

With Nugent.

Bench Vardy.

ummm............NO!

[LCCFox96]

Looking at it purely for the Brighton match it's a tough call. Both their first choice CBs are upson and Greer who are both knocking on and slow. I reckon nugent and vardys pace would terrorise them but I have more and more doubts about nugents consistency nowadays and find it even harder to overlook wood. I think wood has earned his chance ( he has scored 5 in all competitions tbf and Carlisle well yeh but you can only score vs what is in front of you.) so I'd thrown him in over nugent now.

[LCCFox96]

Oh and another thing you always have to credit nugent with is putting a good shift in. Can anyone see wood being quite so mobile and willing to run? Tbf it's not exactly has game but our team ethos is hardwork to fight for very point if you'll excuse how cheesy that sounded

[Stadt]

Nugent doesn't even work that hard anymore

[Kitchandro]

Nugent doesn't even work that hard anymore

 

That's how I feel tbh.

 

In his first season you could always count on him to put a shift in. It was a very important part of his game.

 

In the second half of last season his standards slipped; both he and Wood looked lazy and poor. The difference is, when I've seen Wood this season he's looked much better in terms of his body language. Nugent hasn't.

 

I'm still not convinced he's man enough to deal with the pressure. We'll have to see, and hope he responds better to it than last season.

 

If he pulls his finger out of his arse more often he's still one of the best players at the club. But we need to see the old Nugent, the consistent one who always worked hard.

[johnny the fox]

he's no Ivan Marks though..

[sk3since03]

.

[Johnny Cash]

Nugent doesn't even work that hard anymore

[Johnny Cash]

Agree 100%.

In a 442 I think Nuge+Vardy are the best two. We're a real defend from the front team with Nuge & Vardy doing a boat load of work.

Whenever I've seen Wood play he's been average at best, and a 433 which we revert to from time to time, Wood has looked like Bambi... Caught in the headlights... On rollerskates.

However we are creating a lot of chances, even when we play shit as a team... And I think we could really do with a poacher to offer us something different to the hardworking Nuge, Vardy, GTF (& Waghorn if he was still here).

Even when not among the goals in open play, I still think Nugent offers more through his all round game than any other forward at the club... And the whole team except Knocky having a stinker isn't reason to throw Nuge onto the bench....

However... He's quite a sub to bring on & could motivate.

A team as good as Brighton, away, isn't the place to play psychological games and tinker though

 

WOW.

[Dan]

 

Really? I think Wood's the best finisher at the club. It's his major strength. His all-round game is questionable but his finishing isn't.

 

Problem is I don't think we'd create as much with him in the side. If we somehow find a way to do that with him in the team, we're laughing. Wood isn't a 'Pearson' forward for me.

[Happy Fox]

Really? I think Wood's the best finisher at the club. It's his major strength. His all-round game is questionable but his finishing isn't.

 

Problem is I don't think we'd create as much with him in the side. If we somehow find a way to do that with him in the team, we're laughing. Wood isn't a 'Pearson' forward for me.

 

I think we will offload him in January imo, unless he gets himself back into form because truth be told ever since his Injury he hasn't been the same player since.

[davieG]

Really? I think Wood's the best finisher at the club. It's his major strength. His all-round game is questionable but his finishing isn't.

 

Problem is I don't think we'd create as much with him in the side. If we somehow find a way to do that with him in the team, we're laughing. Wood isn't a 'Pearson' forward for me.

Really. You should read what I quoted again.

[Dan]

I think we will offload him in January imo, unless he gets himself back into form because truth be told ever since his Injury he hasn't been the same player since.

 

I don't buy it was down to an injury. I put it down to him being a limited player who flourished under us playing a creative style of football - before scrapping it in order to play a more direct game, using him in a Steve Howard-like role. Unfortunately it became evident he wasn't even close to being as good as Howard at it.

 

The Huddersfield/Bristol City games were no fluke. OK, scoring 5 in 1.5 games isn't a regularity, but I believe he'd get a silly number of goals in a creative side. I think he's quite similar to Yakubu, and I think Yakubu himself would have struggled in a Pearson side too simply because he isn't much of an all-rounder.

[Dan]

Really. You should read what I quoted again.

 

Oh for **** sake

[LCCFox96]

The Huddersfield/Bristol City games were no fluke. OK, scoring 5 in 1.5 games isn't a regularity, but I believe he'd get a silly number of goals in a creative side. I think he's quite similar to Yakubu, and I think Yakubu himself would have struggled in a Pearson side too simply because he isn't much of an all-rounder.

That's just it though isn't it. We are actually creating the chances but poor form from nugent and dodgy finishing from vardy (which is improving from last year tbf) are costing us. Take the millwall game - we created over 25 decent chances and took 3 against an average keeper and shocking defence. Even vs Sheffield Wednesday we created our fair share playing poorly. Surely a player like wood/yakubu would flourish in our side ATM. Wood is a target man so I don't expect him to be too much of an all rounder but I do agree with someone else on the thread saying his work rate has improved recently.

[Dan]

That's just it though isn't it. We are actually creating the chances but poor form from nugent and dodgy finishing from vardy (which is improving from last year tbf) are costing us. Take the millwall game - we created over 25 decent chances and took 3 against an average keeper and shocking defence. Even vs Sheffield Wednesday we created our fair share playing poorly. Surely a player like wood/yakubu would flourish in our side ATM. Wood is a target man so I don't expect him to be too much of an all rounder but I do agree with someone else on the thread saying his work rate has improved recently.

 

But would we continue to create those chances with Wood in the side rather than Nugent? I'm not saying that Nugent's the one necessarily creating the chances, but if you lose his work rate - you may lose space he's helping to create that players like Dyer, Knockaert, Vardy and Drinkwater are all using to create chances.

 

It's a tough one. Because there's no doubting for me who the better finisher is. I'm just not convinced the chances would flow as much with Wood in the side. If we can get him putting in a proper shift and improving his touch & control, then we're laughing. At the minute to me he's a bit of a donkey who just happens to be capable of shooting well from both inside and outside the box (some of his goals at Millwall were superb strikes). He certainly isn't a 'target man' either. He looks like a stereotypical target man but the closest we have to one of those is Taylor-Fletcher. He doesn't have the height of Wood but he's definitely got a better touch/passing.

[LCCFox96]

But would we continue to create those chances with Wood in the side rather than Nugent? I'm not saying that Nugent's the one necessarily creating the chances, but if you lose his work rate - you may lose space he's helping to create that players like Dyer, Knockaert, Vardy and Drinkwater are all using to create chances.

It's a tough one. Because there's no doubting for me who the better finisher is. I'm just not convinced the chances would flow as much with Wood in the side. If we can get him putting in a proper shift and improving his touch & control, then we're laughing. At the minute to me he's a bit of a donkey who just happens to be capable of shooting well from both inside and outside the box (some of his goals at Millwall were superb strikes). He certainly isn't a 'target man' either. He looks like a stereotypical target man but the closest we have to one of those is Taylor-Fletcher. He doesn't have the height of Wood but he's definitely got a better touch/passing.

I don't think the chances would stop at all. What you lose with nugents work rate and pace you gain with a different dimension in wood's touch (which is the most inconsistent part of his game for me but top when on form) and ability to play the ball in behind. We tried this in 4-3-3 vs Birmingham for the first half and it didn't quite run for wood but with dyer and knockaert either side it gives an extra man so this should work in 4-4-2. + this drinkwater is actually playing well so he is really supporting the attack. This would provide chances every match and I have far more confidence in wood to take them. It's a similar principal to palace and Glenn Murray last year. Murray had a field day up top just because of the chances they created for him. All he did was hold it up, slot it to zaha/bolasie, run into the box and slide home the return ball. That system may play into woods hands. It depends how you look at it though and what system you prefer but I'm sure we'd have the balance with the pace and the hold up giving us the option to mix it up.

Agree with you on best finisher. No arguments wood hands down. You say about improving touch etc - it doesn't need improving as much as sharpening up which will only come with match fitness - ie not a 10 minute spell from the bench every week. I think he looked as close as back to his normal self vs Watford. As for Taylor-fletcher I think he will play an important role for us this year but that role is yet to come.

[Lcfc Jordan]

there was no sign of nugents work rate on tuesday he was terrible

[Ric Flair]

Wood will start tomorrow

[Happy Fox]

Wood will start tomorrow

 

Lets hope he delivers I don't hold much hope though.