Checking In On How Chris Wood Is Settling At Newcastle United
Chris Wood will have had plenty of reasons why a switch to Newcastle United felt right for him. One of those reasons, which probably shouldn’t be understated, is that perhaps he fancies the prospect of playing a bit of football. Maybe, just maybe, four and a half years of rudimentary (yet effective) Burnleyball was enough for him and he’s ready to try something different. At this point The Woodsman himself is kinda synonymous with Burnleyball, to the extent that some people would probably laugh at the idea of him wanting to get away from it. But target men have ambition too, you know.
That’s not to say that his role is going to drastically change now that he’s a Magpie and not a Claret. Far from it if these first couple games are anything to go by. The whole reason they signing Chris Wood in the first place was that they knew what they were getting from him. But it’s a very different thing being a target man striker besides Allan Saint-Maximin versus being a target man striker besides Ashley Barnes. Chris Wood knows what he can do in that Burnley system. He knows that he can do it consistently too. But can he translate that into team like Newcastle? That’s the challenge, that’s the intention, that’s the thrill.
Eddie Howe’s version of Newcastle is different to Steve Bruce’s version of Newcastle despite basically having the same squad to work with (prior to January, at least)... but not by as much as you’d think. Bruce was actually pretty decent with the Toon, much better than he got credit for from his own fans. That was the whole problem though: he never won over the fans. Bruce was in charge at a time when there was a lot of frustration with the cynical lack of investment from owner Mike Ashley and from that perspective the conservative footy of ol’ mate Brucey was seen as an extension of the lack of ambition in the entire club. No sooner did Newcastle’s Saudi takeover happen than Steve Bruce was given a safety-first clearance into the stands which he’d have been proud of if it’d happened during one of his games.
Eddie Howe has them trying to play a bit more possession stuff. His Bournemouth teams were always enjoyably positive to watch even despite their limited financial weight. They were progressive with the ball and when it got away from them they pressed hard to win it back. Capable of hitting you on the counter attack too. Perhaps above all was the fearless approach he instilled in his underdog Cherries team.
From day one he’s talked about encouraging his Newcastle side to play “attacking” and “entertaining” football. However it’s had to be evolution not revolution the progress so the progress has been slow in showing. Results did not suddenly take a steep turn upwards when Howe arrived, Newcastle have mostly continued to struggle as Howe has tried to lay his groundwork.
They had the second lowest possession average last season: 38.2%. Only relegated West Brom were worse (Burnley were at 41.7%). This season they’re dead last at 38.5% and that average has remained steady since Howe took over. Funnily enough they’re attempting fewer short passes and more long passes under Howe than they were under Bruce (although the types of long passes may be different). They also appear to be a less aggressive team defensively with only a slight ramping up of attacking-third pressing to speak of.
Yet they are beginning to work more touches in the attacking third. There’s more patience in those areas, signs of patterns emerging in those areas. The three games this season with the most touches in opponents’ penalty areas have all come since Howe took over... and number one was the win over Leeds on the weekend.
To be fair to Eddie Howe, he’s trying to change things midseason when the pressure of results is heavy. He’s also having to do so with the squad of players that he inherited and therefore it’s maybe only now that he’s been able to make a couple signings that we can get more of an idea of this team. A deadline day flurry took them to five new signings across the January window, making them the biggest spenders across the entire continent. Nudging out Juventus by five million euros even after the Dusan Vlahovic deal.
But we’re here to talk specifically about Chris Wood. Chris Wood who was signed at a time when Newcastle’s usual lead striker, Callum Wilson, is out injured for at least another month and anyway they wanted an anchor up top (whom they could later pair with Wilson). Someone who could hold the ball up to bring their embattled midfield into the contest and allow their fullbacks to get forward. Someone also who could be a threat on the end of crosses from those wide areas. Not an instant fix by any means, none of this has been, but if it’s just enough to help them survive then that’s all that matters and the rest can come later.
Wood’s first game was a bit of a mixed bag, the 1-1 draw with Watford. There was a good energy about things after the change of scenery – Wood enjoying the fresh scenario while Newcastle fans were happy to see their team get some investment – but he often seemed to be on a different page to his new teammates. Especially in the second half as Newcastle’s mental frailties came through yet again after taking the lead and they went on to concede a late equaliser. They’ve had leads in 11 games this season and won only two. No team has dropped more points from winning positions than NUFC in the Prem this season: 21 of them. The Magpies have been outscored 22-7 in the final half hour of games.
But of course Woodsy was gonna be singing off a different hymn sheet considering he only just joined the team a few days earlier. That game was the introduction. He’d only had maybe a day or two of training. Game two was when a few patterns began to become clearer as each Wood and his teammates adjusted to each other with that initial experience in the bag. And what we saw in the 1-0 win over Leeds was pretty enticing.
Beginning with this idea...
Newcastle are used to playing with Callum Wilson in the number nine position, a smaller and very mobile striker who operates in the pocket or running behind the lines. Both are great poachers but Wood and Wilson get to those same goal-scoring in different ways (which is why there’s plenty of hope they’ll form a slick combination when Wilson returns from injury). Meaning that Wood’s height and physicality are a new toy for this team to play with. No surprises that’s been the first area of integration.
Not only the aerial stuff but also the lay-offs and flick-ons and switches that he’s able to provide from that strong hold-up base of his. His 47 touches here were the most he’s had in any game this season (and he attempted more passes here than he did in any Burnley match recently too, albeit a few of them were a wee bit wayward). He was dropping in to be a target for throw-ins up the line in his own half. The keeper was looking for him specifically with those long balls (and guys like Saint-Maximin were deliberately running off him) – not kidding at all there, of the 33 passes that Martin Dubravka attempted, 18 of them were targetted at Chris Wood. Feast upon a couple examples...
The Woodsman was involved in 26 aerial duels... no other player in the front-line had more than two for the Magpies. In fact there were 56 passes targeted his way in total which was 25 more than any of his teammates (these stats are coming from Total Football Analysis if you wanna peek around). Worth mentioning that the passes that he then subsequently dished out came with a negative expected threat (xT – it’s like xG but even more speculative) which is probably because so many of them were made with his back to goal. Gotta go backwards to go forwards sometimes, the passes afterwards were probably a whole lot more incisive. Point is that they were trying to get him the ball. There was a blatant strategy to make Chris Wood the focal point of their attacks.
Those attacks weren’t the best. This team is a work in progress and they’re integrating a new striker (with more fresh players to follow). Under Eddie Howe they’ve preferred a 4-3-3 formation so The Woodsman is flanked by a pair of wingers, plus there are two central midfielders with licence to push forward (Jonjo Shelvey tends to hold back in cover) as well as progressive fullbacks... more so Kieran Trippier on the right to be fair. However the wingers don’t tend to hold their position. Especially Allan Saint-Maximin whose dribbling excellence has earned him the right to drift towards the ball and try get involved. His average position was almost identical to Chris Wood’s against Leeds...
Looking at that, you can see why they brought in Matt Targett on loan on deadline day. Paul Dummett’s a very dependable player who can feature on the left or in the middle but he’s a defence-first kinda guy. The last two games have been his only two appearances all season (and he went off injured vs Leeds). Prior to him it was Jamal Lewis or Matt Ritchie doing that job. Ritchie is a converted winger whom Howe trusts from their Bournemouth days. Lewis is a specialist... but maybe not quite a good enough one.
Targett isn’t a superstar or anything but he’s an improvement. Ideally he’ll be able to take up more of that wide space that Saint-Maximin creates by dragging his marker infield... leading to crosses which Woodsy can hurl his head towards. Because Chris Wood’s role in the build-up play (both as a focal point but also as an escape rope; i.e. when in doubt pump it long to Wood) is nice and promising but where are his goals gonna come from?
This is banging on a familiar drum here but Chris Wood thrives on good service and his finishing, like everyone, is better the closer he is to the goal. With Burnley this season he wasn’t getting that service and his finishing was struggling. Only three touches in the opposition box per game while he was a Claret this season. In the 1-0 loss to Newcastle he didn’t have any at all. Compare that to his nine-game hot streak late in 2020-21 – when he scored 8 goals with 3 assists – and during that stretch he averaged 6.7 touches in the penalty area, with six of his nine best match tallies coming during that run. Through two games with Newcastle he’s averaged 5.5 so even without a goal to show for it yet the signs are much better.
An example, here’s The Woodsman peeling off and straight-up begging for the ball in the area as Joe Willock made an early dash into the box against Leeds...
It didn’t come his way. Nor did a few other passes where he was finger-pointing and trying to direct things in his direction. The crosses weren’t really floating right for him either, plus he was visibly frustrated a couple of times in the first half when he was called up for fouls in the area trying to hustle for scraps. The final ball is the hardest one and even with a battle-hardened connection between teammates it’ll still fail more often than not. There aren’t that many goals scored in footy game, right? But he’s hunting. That’s what matters.
It’ll be curious to see if he gets to take penalties. Wood literally never missed one for Burnley, he’s a fantastic spot kick taker. Scored one for the All Whites on international duty the other day. The last time he missed one in a competitive match, for club or country, was early on in his time with Leeds. 17 in a row since then (23 in a row if you include shootouts). The only penalty Newcastle have won this season (no team has fewer) was taken and scored by the currently-injured Callum Wilson. Last season they won seven and scored six of them. Wilson scored all four of his.
Seems like Wood probably will be given those honours, at least while Wilson is out. Afterwards it gets a little frisky, in fairness. Callum Wilson is 10/11 from the spot across his Premier League career and is the incumbent taker so once he gets back he should have priority again. Or maybe they’ll duel it out on the training paddock for priority rights. Wood actually scored in a penalty shootout win for Burnley over Newcastle in the EFL Cup earlier this season (Miguel Almiron and Allan Saint-Maximin were the ones who missed for Newcastle - Freddie Woodman was in goal for Newcastle that day).
Eddie Howe has made a point of praising Chris Wood’s contributions after each of his games, doing his bit to ensure that his new striker lands on his feet. Howe is the fella telling him what to do after all. He’s not watching the game from the neutral perspective of pundits – he’s looking for how his blokes are following the game plan. So when he says things like: “Chris Wood also gave us a platform as well from the central position. His workrate was tireless”... that’s a decent indication. A platform from the central areas and an indefatigable workrate. Two things that also stood out through all his Burnley endeavours.
To be honest, Leeds were easily the better team in the first half. Much more possession and they looked the more incisive team as well, especially when Raphinha was involved. But they weren’t able to force the saves they probably should have. For Newcastle it was a matter of staying focused and trying to get out on the counter attack but in the second half they were able to do more and more of that. It was a countering run up the left from Javier Manquillo that earned the free kick that led to the goal.
Regardless of their performance, they still bagged three points. Three massive points in the context of their relegation battle. They may be the richest club on the planet but they cannot afford to look beyond their current situation coz that relegation shadow does not discriminate. They found a way to win against Leeds. Just finding a way will be the theme of the rest of their season... in fact it’s pretty much what led them to Chris Wood’s signing.
All of Newcastle’s January transfer work followed a very pragmatic trend under Eddie Howe. No miracle signings - although Bruno Guimarães is a desperately needed (and expensive) midfield maestro – merely fellas who fit a specific need for the team here and now. Kieran Tripper and Matt Targett as fullbacks with attacking punch. Dan Burn at CB. Bruno Guimarães in the middle. And Chris Wood up top, there to be the focal point, there to be a target, there to hold the ball up and shift it around, there to bump in a few goals too if all goes to plan.
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