Former Newcastle United forward turned pundit Malcolm MacDonald has given his thoughts on Chris Wood and the start to his career at St. James’ Park.
Having been one of the buys in the January transfer window in order to try and keep Newcastle United in the Premier League, it could be argued that Wood has been one of the more disappointing ones so far.
Despite coming to the club with an impressive record when it came to the top flight, with double-digit returns in each of the last four seasons, he has failed to hit the ground running as he has failed to score since his arrival at the club.
Speaking on the latest edition of NUFC Matters, MacDonald slammed the New Zealander for the way he has played so far in a black and white shirt, stating that the fact he hasn’t been able to find the back of the net, especially given some of the opportunities he’s been given, is rather worrying:
“There is now, and it’s starting to become quite glaring for me, one particular weakness and really Wood just isn’t doing it at all upfront and I think it’s becoming quite worrying. He had an absolute glorious opportunity when it was still 0-0, and he just completely wasted it. He was in the six-yard box for heaven’s sake.
“If you didn’t know that he had come from another Premiership club… you would think that he had come from a lower league up. He just doesn’t look as if he’s got anything Premiership about him at all.”
TIF Thoughts on Malcolm MacDonald’s comments about Chris Wood at Newcastle United…
Will Chris Wood's goals keep Newcastle up?
Yes
No
Whilst MacDonald might be right with his assessment of Wood when it comes to putting the ball in the net, it isn’t as if he hasn’t brought something to the team. He’s showing his ability to win the ball in the air by winning an average of 9 per game, and can bring people into play as he’s averaging 1.2 key passes, which is 5th in the team (via WhoScored).
Obviously goals would be a bonus, but whilst the rest of the team are making up for it, and doing quite well without his contributions as they are one of the in-form teams in the division.
If the team begins to falter a little bit, they start losing and Wood still isn’t finding the net, then it may be a cause for concern. But whilst the team as a whole is benefitting from the other things he brings to the side, then it shouldn’t really be as big a concern as MacDonald is making it out to be.
In other news: ‘Looking at what Amanda said’ – Journalist hints at exciting NUFC interest in ‘one of the best’