Woods

[RKB]

I don't think the change in formation has affected our ability to attack in numbers, and what has changed immeasurably is our solidity at the back.
Gone is the wide open space one ball over the top was giving the opposition. Gone are the regular palpitations that was giving me.
I will be very disappointed if Lowe changes back to a 3 anytime soon.
As for CB's, it will be very interesting to see how Opoku and Watts perform in this formation, as Aimson has looked excellent in the last 3 matches. However, if Woods is fit for Monday, I wouldn't change personnel yet.

 

[cpfcfan123]

Sam's out of contract in the summer. He'll be almost 23 by the start of next season so I doubt we will offer him a new deal.

Can't see any reason why you couldn't get him free this summer.

 

[Balham Green]

Woods is nowhere near the Palace first team and (despite a good game today) he hasn’t yet proven that he’s League One standard, let alone Championship.

At 22 years old he needs to be playing regular football and, realistically, he is only likely to be getting that opportunity at a League One club.

Palace can’t expect a big transfer fee and Woods can only expect to earn League One wages. So I see no reason why a club like Argyle couldn’t sign him permanently.

Where's your evidence he can't play in the Championship?

 

[JannerinCardiff]

Too early to judge for me. Up until the previous two games, I was concerned. He'd made 1 start, in which he'd played dreadfully and been sent off, and 4 sub appearances totalling 51 minutes where we'd conceded 4 (which could just be a coincidence, but he didn't look good in any of them either).

He was good against Blackpool and decent yesterday (don't forget that Blackpool's attack is actually good, Wimbledon's isn't), which is encouraging.

What also has to be taken into account is the change of formation. We've gone from playing a back 3 with only one holding midfielder, to a back 4 where the wing backs sit slightly deeper plus there are two holding midfielders now. The centre-backs are being given more protection - of course they're going to look better.

That's not to say that I'll never rate a centre-back highly now - Aimson was excellent yesterday. But let's just calm the expectations on Woods. Like i said, it's too early to make a definitive judgement, but based on what I've seen so far, he's not as good as Opoku or Watts. Let's hope he continues to improve.

Apart from the sending off in that start against Northampton- I can’t recall anything Sam Woods did wrong in that game personally. He was dominant in the air and strong in the tackle I thought.

 

[Dan Ellard]

We'll have to agree to disagree JiC, from memory I thought he didn't win enough headers or tackles and his marking was poor.