Tea Light in the Dark Universe: Bobby Wood at Hamburg

Wood in action!

Spielersatztraining beim #HSV: Vier (#Jatta, #Jairo, #David, #Narey) gg Vier (#Amaechi, #Kinsombi, #Wood, #Letschert) auf verkürztem Feld. Parallel absolvieren #Moritz und #Papadopoulos eine individuelle Einheit. pic.twitter.com/Aq1NaNbNjG

— Rautenperle - NUR DER HSV (@rautenperle) September 29, 2019

In other news, Wood inaction - Does not get off the bench again this weekend.

There has been a bit of chatter in the twitter-sphere about Wood, Pollersbeck and Papadop "the expensive legacy of the B1" - prepping for attempts at Winter break off-loading?

 

Wood reportedly in the 20 for some (potential) Yank on Yank violence tomorrow. Will Green stay on long enough for Wood to get on the field?

I think an HSV win puts them on top of B2 by GD.

📌 HSV - GREUTHER FÜRTH

Estos son los 20 jugadores convocados para el partido de este sábado:

Fernandes
Mickel

Vagnoman
van Drongelen
Papadopoulos
David
Letschert
Leibold

Fein
Kinsombi
Dudziak
Kittel
Hunt
Jairo

Narey
Wood
Hinterseer
Amaechi
Jatta
Harnik#HSVvsSGF pic.twitter.com/02SVgrFh4Y

— Fran Herrera (@FranHerreraGa) October 4, 2019

 

Won 2-0. Wood DNP. HSV back to top of B2. Bobby may just ride the pine back to being a "B1 striker..."

 

Bobby Wood picking out splinters in his Hamburg.

 

I feel bad for the guy - he was showing some serious promise. Whether it's the knees, the head or a combo, it's too bad - but at least he got the payday before he lost momentum. It's early days, and it's the B2, but HSV are looking like they'll be in the promotion race all year. Hope he gets a chance to contribute at some point.

 

One would hope that with a high position, they might give him time to show his value. Whether he stays or not, he won't be worth much to anyone without PT (which of course is becoming a refrain these days).

 

They are tied for points, only in 1st by GD. The best case scenario for Wood at this point is a few blowouts v. the bottom teams get him some show-what-you-can-do minutes at the end of games and he takes advantage of that. The concern is he's had some chances like that already and has yet to make good use of them. He'll probably get a few more, and he's going to need to put up some points.

 

I really don’t want this to delve into an awful comparison conversation but he does seem like a great candidate to join a team in MLS and would probably perform quite well. If ibra moves on I’d be a fan of him joining the galaxy and getting service from pavon and co.

Otherwise he’s probably just looking at B2 teams going forward and no shame in that.

 

Yeah, the "move to MLS" trope is used too much, but it's hard to argue that a change of scenery would be bad for Wood. If he can't get his mojo back on a dominant B2 team, it's probably time to try something a little different.

 

Totally agree on the trope bit. But in terms of confidence gaining plus potential good payday vs changing leagues on continent. He seemed like a decent fit there.

 

I think he's at the high water mark in terms of salary. No MLS team is paying him anything close to TAM let alone DP level wages. He's a not so marketable reclamation project at this point.

 

I think with Wood's 2021 contract, Summer 2020 could be it for him and HSV. What's the chances he renews? Or would they allow him to go free in 2021? Besides HSV have some interesting CFs on loan, in II, U19, U17 and lower levels. Integrate some youngster or continue to rely on Wood? Even without youngsters they could easily buy some cheap CF or loan in someone.

 

He needs to ask his agent to look into China.

 

why would an MLS team pay big bucks for a mid career guy who can’t get time in the B2? Only if he’s returning from injury IMO.

that being said, I wish he’d get a runout with the USMNT to get a look at how he’s doing in case it’s a pissing contest with club management that’s keeping him out.

 

I think he's gotten a real chance from this coach. Certainly they've made all the right noise. Much as I wish it were not so, it just looks like Wood is off his game. I don't see any big change coming until this summer. If HSV pops back up, they may have more leeway/incentive to cut their losses. They will need to concentrate on staying up and might be willing to just clear off the books and let Wood go with a bit of "help."

Then an MLS or Champs or Scandi or?? move might be possible. But that's a ways down the road. Much shorter version is: get into a few of the HSV blowouts, Do good stuff. Get legit interest based on current ability, not on bargain discount relative to past stats.

 

I could see how an MLS team could could be interested but not for big bucks - he’s far from a high probability player at this point.

I wish he had listened to Chandler and thought long-term about his body/career

 

Yeah, any of those moves are only possible at a discount.

Only way he keeps his salary up is go on an 18 month tear.

 

it would be ironic if he salary went up to 3m if hsv gets promoted....

 

If I recall, he signed for 1.5 million in salary and it was doubled before 2017-18. And he either got his wages slashed as of now or he's resisting it. But I wanna say he's on 2-2.5 million dollars

Pretty unusual for an American to be the highest paid at a foreign club.

 

I think it’s in euros and it was 3m and now 2m

 

That's the crux of it. He's not worth much to anyone if he can't play well. Despite his talent, he's not performing at a level where the manager has to play him, and I don't think anyone believes he's riding the pine despite his performance. He's got to get it done. Klinsmann was a big, early believer back when he was B2 winger and thought he could become a top flight #9. But, along the way he lost all that momentum. He just seems stuck in reverse right now.

FWIW, I like his game. He's a bulldog with speed, and some good technique. That is useful within the NT set up, especially when looking to make quick counters and play down the wings. So dig those splinters out, Bobby Shou, and score some goals.

 

Just saw this - don't have time to google-translate right now.

Headline is "Banks, Pops and Wood: Why HSV won't let go..."

1181888555188133888 is not a valid tweet id

 

"Bankdrücker" translates to "bench presser"... someone glued to the bench.

 

Well, at least they haven't called him Flop Sturmer for some time.

 

Give them time. Give them time.