[UncleBob]

Prior to the last month or so it wasn’t. But he’s pushed on since Everton and shown more to his game. Beyond his crazy academy scoring record he was highly thought of because of everything else he had to his game. He’s now showing the confidence to get far more involved in the game. Next game just pay attention to every involvement he makes.

Lets be honest, he really hasn't. He's about as up and down as he's been for the majority of the season. I thought he was easily better than Rashford yesterday, and that it was a mistake to sub him off, but overall his performance was far from being anywhere near "quite good". There's a reason he's averaging less than 1/3rd of the key passes as the rest of our attacking players.

Mind you, it's not simply down to him, it doesn't really do him much good that Rashford is, at the moment, shit, and that our attacking football is generally dire.

 

[bsCallout]

Alarming drop in standards if Greenwoods overall game this season is being described as quite good.

Greenwoods overall game has been good this season. He's not getting himself into the danger areas enough but his work off the ball, running with the ball and playing the ball around has been very good. His all round game has improved, he just needs to get that eye for goal and start putting a few away.

 

[UncleBob]

Greenwoods overall game has been good this season. He's not getting himself into the danger areas enough but his work off the ball, running with the ball and playing the ball around has been very good. His all round game has improved, he just needs to get that eye for goal and start putting a few away.

I disagree.

I think he's been less bad than Rashford over the past two months, and that i'd prefer a change in tactics and using him further up along with Cavani, but i wouldn't confuse that with his game being good overall this season.

 

[Hoof the ball]

Opta based.

19/20 - Conversion rate - 31.25% (2.2 shots per game) Shot accuracy - 62.5%
20/21 - Conversion rate - 4.76% (1.8 shots per game) Shot accuracy - 42.86%

If you run the stats through the comparison matrix between this season and last, most of Greenwood's stats are better in the previous season, not just shooting ones, but duels, defensive and offensive, chance creation, key passes, attempted through balls, dribbles, etc. It's not alarmingly worse than last season except for his shooting stats, which are way down from the previous season.......which could indicate that the issue is psychological in nature.

Saka, incidentally has made 175 forward passes to Greenwood's 54. He's created 26 chances to Greenwood's 8. Saka also has 81 ball recoveries to Greenwood's 48.

 

[bosnian_red]

Saka, incidentally has made 175 forward passes to Greenwood's 54. He's created 26 chances to Greenwood's 8.

Probably because Saka is a natural winger and creative player while Greenwood is a striker being played on the wing! All his best moments last season were goal related. He has some decent overall play, but he doesn't produce consistent creativity or a threat as a goalscoring winger as he doesn't do the role naturally. On the weekend he played up front but he just needs to be persisted with there. He has the natural ability to progress and develop there into a world class player, but its a hard position to get the hang of at the top level, especially in big games. He'll get there, just requires patience. Though if we insist on making him a right winger, then plain and simple he just won't get there at all.

 

[kundalini]

One good cross in the first half, a shot deflected from near the edge of their area and another shot just over from a similar position. Had trouble controlling the ball for a spell in the first half.

1 goal + 1 assist in 1194 PL mins

 

[Devil may care]

The best of the front 4, couple of decent shots and put a couple of decent crosses.

 

[Schmeichel's Cartwheel]

He’s having a fecking horrible season

 

[Rozay]

He’s been rubbish for most of this season. Nobody seemingly has wanted to say it. I appreciate there is mitigation for it - he’s young and developing etc - but I stand by my philosophy that any player who regularly starts games for us must have accountability for performance. We cannot afford to give any player a free ride in the XI in the name of ‘they are just young’. If you are too young to affect the game - then you aren’t ready to be a regular. He should be coming from the bench more often than not when he plays like this.

 

[spiriticon]

Did he forget where the goal is?

He's nowhere near it, either in position or in shot attempts

Please, for crying out loud, do not be Rashford and Martial Mk III

 

[acnumber9]

He’d a weird game. Decent enough start, terrible middle, and decent enough end. I’d still like to see him in the middle more because at least he’s passing the ball to teammates. Needs to start scoring very soon though.

 

[Based Adnan]

He’s been rubbish for most of this season. Nobody seemingly has wanted to say it. I appreciate there is mitigation for it - he’s young and developing etc - but I stand by my philosophy that any player who regularly starts games for us must have accountability for performance. We cannot afford to give any player a free ride in the XI in the name of ‘they are just young’. If you are too young to affect the game - then you aren’t ready to be a regular. He should be coming from the bench more often than not when he plays like this.

Problem is who else is there? Dan James is limited, especially vs packed defences. Martial can play but he's also been terrible and it would mean moving Rashford to the right. Mata can play I guess but he's not exactly stellar these days either and then you've got Diallo who's only just joined and is unproven.

Having to play Greenwood there this much despite him having a poor season is the byproduct of almost 10 years of ignoring that position.

 

[TrustInJanuzaj]

Poor game, easily the best of the front 4 though. Cavani = invisible, Rashford = awful, Fernandes = wasteful, Greenwood = Quiet. At least in his bright moments ho looked like scoring.

 

[Born2Lose]

Young kid struggling in his second season, he's not Rashford, at least he puts in a shift.

 

[TrustInJanuzaj]

He’s been rubbish for most of this season. Nobody seemingly has wanted to say it. I appreciate there is mitigation for it - he’s young and developing etc - but I stand by my philosophy that any player who regularly starts games for us must have accountability for performance. We cannot afford to give any player a free ride in the XI in the name of ‘they are just young’. If you are too young to affect the game - then you aren’t ready to be a regular. He should be coming from the bench more often than not when he plays like this.

This does make sense but frankly he’s been better than Martial and Rashford.

 

[Jeppers7]

Why are we playing him so wide?

 

[Idxomer]

All the forwards are regressing, these performances are just the symptoms.

Blaming or criticizing him is pointless at this point.

 

[Welbeckham]

No matter how underwhelming he is by the standards he set himself last season, he’s still our best attacking player 80% of the time. And that is extremely worrying.

 

[Rozay]

This does make sense but frankly he’s been better than Martial and Rashford.

He hasn’t been better than Rashford by a long stretch. Greenwood has barely affected any games all season. Only a few, most games have just passed him by. We have only 3 forwards - we can’t afford to carry any.

Martial has been poor, but he’s not really been playing instead of Martial this season. He’s been playing as well as him. So I don’t really see them as related. Ultimately, we need some more quality in the squad, I agree.

 

[redom]

I'm not sure our "wide" players actually know what they're supposed to do when they receive the ball, we work it out to them so methodically and repetitively but rarely ever seem to come alive as an attack when they get it, instead it's a lot of standing around waiting to see what they decide to do with it this time. He's a fantastic talent but needs more guidance about his role and responsibilities, and he's not the only one.

 

[A-man]

Not his best match but I still like what I saw. He is very direct. When he gets the ball and is pressed he doesn’t pass back to Matic or Maguire, instead he wants to create something.

But there is a huge difference from last season when every shot was a goal and now every shot is “almost a goal”. I think he will become one of the PL’s best forwards within a few years.

 

[Dinghy]

What has he really got to offer when he's not scoring goals? His overall play is decent, but he lacks pace and the ability to go past players, unless it's on our own half. He's far from being as good as people want him to be.

 

[Borys]

I'm not sure our "wide" players actually know what they're supposed to do when they receive the ball, we work it out to them so methodically and repetitively but rarely ever seem to come alive as an attack when they get it, instead it's a lot of standing around waiting to see what they decide to do with it this time. He's a fantastic talent but needs more guidance about his role and responsibilities, and he's not the only one.

Yeah it seems very random.

To be honest I believe that this chopping and changing (Rashford left right middle, Greenwood left right middle, James left right, Bruno everywhere) is more confusing to us than to our opponents.

Greenwood is having terrible season, which is a shame because he looks the best footballer out of front 4. It's just not clicking for him. Some bad luck too, because he rarely puts in completely off target. Usually it's rather very close and decent shots.

He's the spark that we need to get something from this season.

 

[tjb]

What has he really got to offer when he's not scoring goals? His overall play is decent, but he lacks pace and the ability to go past players, unless it's on our own half. He's far from being as good as people want him to be.

This is why he's a striker. All the good things he does on the flanks...the ability to get out of trouble, being able to switch and keep things simple, shooting ability, good touches....these are all attributes of a striker. The only reason he's playing on the flanks at the moment is because Ole is too scared of playing him centrally due to the league's physicality. He can't get the right movements and confidence in playing centrally if he doesn't play there often.

 

[Adam-Utd]

What has he really got to offer when he's not scoring goals? His overall play is decent, but he lacks pace and the ability to go past players, unless it's on our own half. He's far from being as good as people want him to be.

He doesn’t lack pace at all, he just doesn’t feel confident attacking players it seems.

tonight he could barely control the ball for some reason, but even then he was the closest to scoring out of all our forwards.

 

[bosnian_red]

He's not a winger at all. All his best moments ever come centrally or in and around the box. On the wing the only things he does is:

• Receive the ball while running back, for a touch and a safe square pass to someone open nearby
• Cut in and hopeful looping cross
• Run into a cul de sac or shoot from a bad position in a crowded area

He has massive potential, and as a player you can tell he is a good player. He'll never be anything as a winger though. He literally shows nothing of use in that position. As a striker, centrally is where his potential is but it's important to remember he is 19. Being a lone #9 takes time to learn in the premier league, particularly in a team like ours where we need the striker to hold up the ball a lot. Basically we need RvP level hold up to function. So with him it's a matter of time, experience and patience to be our striker. On the wing he'll always be irrelevant imo. Give me James or even a washed up Mata from the right, or Amad with 0 experience instead of Greenwood. Just keep him central as part of a 1 or a 2 up top.

If anything I feel like he'll do better on the left than the right. We can have all 4 of our front 4 being shooters as a priority, always cutting in and shooting. You need a balance of some of them looking to create or holding width.

 

[UncleBob]

He was fecking atrocious, and he keeps insisting on taking on 3-4 opponents instead of simply passing the ball.
By all means, he was less shit than Rashford, doesn't make it a good performance or that he's played well this season

 

[Murder on Zidane's Floor]

He doesn’t lack pace at all, he just doesn’t feel confident attacking players it seems.

tonight he could barely control the ball for some reason, but even then he was the closest to scoring out of all our forwards.

He is average speed for a forward.

He looks a one trick pony, touch and early shot. Good to be a great finisher but lacking several other tools will mean his career will stagnate.

 

[MadDogg]

Basically all he did all game was get the ball, then turn back inside and pass it to a midfielder.

Our wide forwards have to be able to either take players on 1v1 (which Greenwood seems scared to do) or have off-the-ball movement to get away from the defender before receiving the ball. Greenwood really isn't showing either this season.

 

[GlasgowCeltic]

A talented shooter for sure but who knows if that’s RVP talent, Jermaine Defoe talent or a level below that. Either way a second season struggle was pretty predictable and going with him as the right wing first choice without any credible competition an obvious mistake even at the time, can understand why so many argued for it though, was undoubtably an excellent first season from him.

 

[Adam-Utd]

He is average speed for a forward.

He looks a one trick pony, touch and early shot. Good to be a great finisher but lacking several other tools will mean his career will stagnate.

He’s more than fast enough, just look at the first half when blitzes the LB and put in a dangerous cross.

the issue is he couldn’t really get the ball under control and then had no space to actually run into.

anyway, should be playing as a striker not as a wide man. Today he should have played up top with Cavani, or benched Cavani and brought him on as an impact sub.

 

[Leftback99]

It's not his fault but we really shouldn't be relying on a 19 year old kid in a key attacking position but that's where our squad is at unfortunately, and why we're not that good.

Truth is we wouldn't fear him if he was playing for Palace tonight instead.

 

[Bobcat]

It's not his fault but we really shouldn't be relying on a 19 year old kid in a key attacking position but that's where our squad is at unfortunately, and why we're not that good.

Truth is we wouldn't fear him if he was playing for Palace tonight instead.

This, he was never going to replicate his insane statistics from last season, but i am confident he will come good with time

 

[Sylar]

Hes not hitting the target with his shots which is worrying. He was the one player I would assume would at least work the keeper 99% of the time. Is he trying to be too accurate with his finishes due to the lack of goals?

 

[AltiUn]

Hes not hitting the target with his shots which is worrying. He was the one player I would assume would at least work the keeper 99% of the time. Is he trying to be too accurate with his finishes due to the lack of goals?

I figure he might be lacking in confidence and have second season syndrome. Thing is, none of our attackers can hit the target, I'm beginning to wonder if what we're doing in training isn't working.

 

[TrustInJanuzaj]

He doesn't get enough opportunities to shoot that's the biggest issue to be honest.

 

[parkthebuslads]

I'd like to see him more prepared to go down the line and look to get crosses etc in, instead of either inside or backwards. It would give him another way to contribute besides scoring himself, make him less predictable and open up space for others.

 

[bosnian_red]

He doesn't get enough opportunities to shoot that's the biggest issue to be honest.

He gets into shooting positions pretty regularly when he plays as a striker IMO, even though that playing time is infrequent. Hes just not a winger in any capacity for me. Up top it takes time to learn and really handle the lone striker role, but on the wing he's just not a threat to anything. Doesn't create for others or himself like a winger should, and doesn't have a wide players movement. He has a strikers movement, you can't put him on the wing and expect it to just translate.

Hes not hitting the target with his shots which is worrying. He was the one player I would assume would at least work the keeper 99% of the time. Is he trying to be too accurate with his finishes due to the lack of goals?

It's a case of nobody hits the target 99% of the time and he's regressing to a normal level overall with that. Last season he hit the target with like 53% of his shots which is stupid high, average over the past year is I think 30%? It's not like he's far off. It's always pretty close. It's literally just a "shit happens" sort of thing and the luck will come back his way.

 

[darko]

Why are we playing him so wide?
[/QUOTE
Because they continue to use three up front.

 

[Sylar]

He gets into shooting positions pretty regularly when he plays as a striker IMO, even though that playing time is infrequent. Hes just not a winger in any capacity for me. Up top it takes time to learn and really handle the lone striker role, but on the wing he's just not a threat to anything. Doesn't create for others or himself like a winger should, and doesn't have a wide players movement. He has a strikers movement, you can't put him on the wing and expect it to just translate.


It's a case of nobody hits the target 99% of the time and he's regressing to a normal level overall with that. Last season he hit the target with like 53% of his shots which is stupid high, average over the past year is I think 30%? It's not like he's far off. It's always pretty close. It's literally just a "shit happens" sort of thing and the luck will come back his way.

I mean obviously I used hyperbole, but you get what I mean.
I think you get what i mean