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25 minutes ago, KaKa said:

 

It's certainly a terrifying prospect, but unfortunately, even though we see it as possibly relying on him too much, by having Wilson, Wood and a younger talented striker, the manager will not be looking at it the same way. He will view Wood as a viable option upfront for now.

No doubt he'll have faith in Wood, I know alot of fans have shit on him and some of it is warranted. I do feel that he hard time adjusting to our style of play though, its not like we were providing a striker of his style with great service although I know he did blow a few of the good chances he did have.. looked like a player feeling the pressure a bit and of low confidence. We might see the best out of him yet.

 

 

Edited by Nine

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8 minutes ago, Nine said:

No doubt he'll have faith in Wood, I know alot of fans have shit on him and some of it is warranted. I do feel that he hard time adjusting to our style of play though, its not like we were providing a striker of his style with great service although I know he did blow a few of the good chances he did have.. looked like a player feeling the pressure a bit and of low confidence. We might see the best out of him yet.

 

 

 

 

Yeah, I think he'll possibly look a bit better with a full  pre-season, and with working more with the rest of the team, and also without the pressure of being the only striker available with the threat of relegation looming over the club.

 

However, I have to say, I just don't think his hold up/link up play is very good at all, and I'm not sure at this point of his career it improves significantly. It really makes so much more sense now why he was always played upfront with Ashley Barnes at Burnley, who was the one that held up the ball, which then allowed Wood to focus on getting in behind and on the end of chances.

 

To see a real improvement in his play this coming season, I think we would have to play someone closer to him who looks to get on the ball in those spaces just behind the striker, and limit Wood's need to drop deep and get on the ball as much. Hopefully that's an adjustment the manager makes whenever he is used.

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11 minutes ago, KaKa said:

 

Yeah, I think he'll possibly look a bit better with a full  pre-season, and with working more with the rest of the team, and also without the pressure of being the only striker available with the threat of relegation looming over the club.

 

However, I have to say, I just don't think his hold up/link up play is very good at all, and I'm not sure at this point of his career it improves significantly. It really makes so much more sense now why he was always played upfront with Ashley Barnes at Burnley, who was the one that held up the ball, which then allowed Wood to focus on getting in behind and on the end of chances.

 

To see a real improvement in his play this coming season, I think we would have to play someone closer to him who looks to get on the ball in those spaces just behind the striker, and limit Wood's need to drop deep and get on the ball as much. Hopefully that's an adjustment the manager makes whenever he is used.

I agree with you. I was pretty surprised with how poor he is at holding up the ball and linking up, coming from a Burnley team and for a player of his size/build those attributes should be his bread and butter really. I've got faith that Howe will utilise him better with some more time with the team and especially with more quality around him, like you say one of the front 2 of the midfield pushing up to him when he has possession would probably make the difference.. he was heavily isolated at times which didnt help his case. 

 

 

Edited by Nine

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52 minutes ago, TRon said:

 

We aren't planning on relying on him though, that's why we were chasing Ekiteke. I'm sure there will be alternatives as well if that one is dead. I just don't think it's going to be a Darwin Nunez calibre striker, partly because those aren't available to us yet.

I’d be more than happy with that, ideally someone young but still a little more proven than Etikite 

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If its five subs next year, Wood could come on and do his pressing in the last 10 mins if we are holding on in a game. I know that's not going to set the pulse racing, but every contribution helps.

 

Whether we do that or not, five subs will definitely change things up a bit. 

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We'll clearly sign a striker like, and if we don't I think it's incredibly fair to say we've messed up. We play a winger up top before we use our third choice so there's no excuse for leaving it as it is. For me we absolutely need someone with pace as Wilson's movement in behind made all the difference. The pace is more important in the backup striker signing than an insane goal record for me personally. 

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1 minute ago, xLiaaamx said:

We'll clearly sign a striker like, and if we don't I think it's incredibly fair to say we've messed up. We play a winger up top before we use our third choice so there's no excuse for leaving it as it is. For me we absolutely need someone with pace as Wilson's movement in behind made all the difference. The pace is more important in the backup striker signing than an insane goal record for me personally. 

 

No RW and striker and we've failed massively. Also I want a DM and an AM on top of that.

 

All of those and it would probably rival our best ever window.

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1 hour ago, KaKa said:

 

I love the way everyone acts as if Wood doesn't exist because none of us rate him. It's wishful thinking really.

 

Whether any of us like it or not, the manager is going to use him, and not just throw him away. He just paid £25 million for him a few months ago, and will use him as part of the squad, which is why they are looking at bringing in a younger striker. 

 

Best case scenario, which we all need to be praying for, is that Wilson stays relatively healthy, and that whichever young striker we bring in also makes such an impact, that he then clearly moves ahead of Wood in the pecking order.

No reason Wood can't get 8-10 goals as back-up to Wilson.

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3 minutes ago, Manxst said:

So why didn’t he get more last season? 

Too much expectation, too much desire to contribute. Give him a full pre-season, without a relegation battle running alongside, and he'll be a good contributor.

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20 minutes ago, Happinesstan said:

No reason Wood can't get 8-10 goals as back-up to Wilson.

 

I certainly think he could be better than he was last season. I do think we'll need to use him a bit differently though, I don't think his hold up and link up play is good enough for him to play as a lone striker in that 4-3-3 system we used most of last season.

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Expect things to be quiet for the next little bit as suggested in the press. Sure we will get our rumour of the day, every day, but I think Ekitike is still on the table if his agents sort themselves out. Think we are seeing how the market it is with the RW and strikers. Clearly we like Diaby and Raphinha but they might have to come later in the window.

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      Wood didn't set the world on fire for a number of reasons.  Still the club stabilized it's form and impressively pushed forward without him bagging goals.  I think, given the same run in a similar situation this year, that he could score 4 to 6 goals.   Hopefully it doesn't come to that.  I think the plan is to sign a young forward and play him and Wood in cup games and sub for Wilson to reduce his risk of injury.  We had no one after Wilson last year, no one.  Still a long way to go in this window.                

 

 

 

 

Edited by Consortium of one

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I think we’ll get a striker, a RW and a CM and that’ll be us done for incomings after Botman. Got two months to bring in three players.

 

Main focus now has to be outgoings. Need to shift Gayle, Ritchie, Clark, Fernandez, Hendrick, Manquillo, Darlow etc.

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32 minutes ago, Happinesstan said:

15-30 mins per game with a few 90s here and there, I don't see why not.

 

 

 

Players who scored 10 goals last season:

 

Antonio (36 matches)

Dennis (33 matches)

Fernandes (36 matches)

Richarlison (30 matches)

JWP (36 matches)

Smith Rowe (33 matches)

 

Not a chance Wood gets 10 goals, even as a first choice striker.

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