I t was written regularly a few years ago that academies were no longer producing No9s which in turn heralded an age of the false nine and goalscoring wingers. Yet here we are, ten games into the 2024-25 Premier League season, with Erling Haaland chasing his third-consecutive Golden Boot, followed closely by Chris Wood in the goalscoring charts. “We want to try to bring it [the classic No9 role] back or I’ll be out of a job,” Wood said after scoring against Crystal Palace last month.
Wood has scored three more times since to take his tally in the league to eight. “For a period of time, the small centre forward, or the No 10 mixed role with the No 9, kind of came into fashion,”.
