Niche Cache
For now, we’ve just had a week without a Chris Wood goal but there were two key instances where he could have scored and both of them happened to emphasise something that
The Athletic also highlighted in a recent piece where they spoke to a few different folks about the enigma of The Woodsman. One of those was his coach who had this to say...
Nuno Espirito Santo: “So many things [make him effective]. His movement. Chris predicts five seconds before what the next two or three things to happen will be. It is something you only acquire through time. Realising the tempo of the game, knowing what your team-mate is going to do. He anticipates where the space will be. It is not something you can coach. It is in him already. Thank God.”
And then that was echoed by former Forest forward Robbie Earnshaw..
Earnshaw: “Do you know what scores you goals? Movement. There are the little moments, the two or three seconds before, where you have to put yourself in the right place at the right time. Then it is down to your finishing. But the movement is what gets you the chances. He creates space. He is not an old-school target man. He is much more. He has decent speed, he gets in behind and gets himself one-on-ones. Then there was the goal against Leicester when he turned brilliantly and found the bottom corner. He scores from all sorts of situations.”
Think of how he made those anticipatory movements prior to the disallowed goal and the winner that never made it to him. He’s reacting to things that haven’t even happened yet. That’s one of his crucial secrets. Small and subtle but super effective positioning.