Can we get Sancho up to 15 league goals in a season?…

[Rozay]

Please don’t answer emotionally and short-sightedly, we can all see he isn’t currently where we want. That said, I think this is where we will need him to be. We cannot afford to write off one of our front 3 in terms of output, and 7 league goals next season won’t cut it from a regular in the front 3. We can say he is ‘more of a creator’, which is true - but he needs to also score enough goals himself.

With uncertainty over the 9 position, and even more over the 7, Sancho needs to provide more of a threat. Personally, I do think he has 15 in him. While he is a creator, I don’t think he is a shot-shy player or one who is always trying to avoid the responsibility of shooting himself. He’s had a lot of shots blocked this season in and around the box and I think he can step it up. However, if he cannot do so, at some point I think he needs to join the conversation for the 10 position, where a lot of his attributes will also be useful. We may then need to look for some better output ahead of him on the left.

 

[Judas]

Yes.

 

[Bestie07]

We are awful at creating chances and space for our attackers. Once our system improves, his productivity should too. He has shown that already at Dortmund, I'm not at all concerned about him (at least for now).

 

[Lash]

Yes.

/thread

 

[tomaldinho1]

I think 15 assists is more likely than 15 goals given his game. If both our wide forwards have 20+ goal contributions and we have a decent CF we’ll be flying.

 

[Bwuk]

Yes.

I think if we improved our full backs and our wingers operated as more inside forwards rather than so wide, they'd be able to get their numbers up. We need our full backs to improve at getting up the park and stretching the width.

 

[Lynty]

Yes.

I think with decent service and good coaching, all of our forwards can be 15 goal strikers. Martial and Rashford have done it multiple times in dreadful teams, so the bar hasn't been set high.

 

[JJ12]

His output will improve greatly when the team is structured appropriately to ETH’s liking.

Sancho is one of many players suffering from playing in a lack of distinct structure.

 

[Red the Bear]

No , I don't think he'll ever reach his bundess output ever again . His lack of pace will be his undoing in that regard.
Doesn't mean we should ditch him per say and I'm sure he could be great under the right system and such but he will never be our main source of attacking output.
I would be really surprised if he does.

 

[King Azaz the Unabridged]

He'll be one of the most productive attackers in the league when we're a functional team again.

30 goal contributions a season. Would be close to it already if he was playing for City or Liverpool right now.

 

[Gonçalo Motta]

I don't think so tbh. Maybe in 1 or 2 odd seasons since I think his real contribution will be in providing opportunities for others to score.

I do think that he will be the kind of player that will provide 20+ goals + assists with the right players around him though.

 

[L1nk]

He was great in a system at Dortmund. Once we get ETH in and he works under his system and coaching I have no doubt he will flourish. He's only 22, he'll be one of our best players for years to come I think

 

[GaryLifo]

10 goals and 10 assists a season would be good enough.

He's shown he has the decision making skills to be very creative in the right team. It's been patchy, but I really like how he carries the ball and usually makes the correct choice whether to pass or shoot. A new manager will likely believe he is one that can be salvaged out of this sorry lot

 

[Tom Cato]

League goals? That would be extremely unexpected. 15 goals on the season, cups included = Yes definitely.

Sanchos role in the squad is more of a chance creator that gets his fair share of shots on goal as well.

 

[Yagami]

In a fully functioning team where we play as a cohesive unit, yes, I think so.

In a team that relies on individual brilliance, I don't think so. He seems a bit too lightweight to shine in those circumstances.

 

[Tavern in the town]

No.

His best return in the Bundesliga, a far weaker league, was 17 goals. Which is really good but his xG was 10.75, so a pretty significant overperformance. His two other full seasons yielded expected goals of 7.42 and 6.75.

Numbers aside, if you look at the best goalscoring wingers in the league who usually do hit 15 non penalty goals: they are usually pacy (he’s not) and constantly run in behind off the ball while having elite penalty box movement (think Sterling/Mane/Salah/Son). These things aren’t really Sancho’s game.

 

[Sparky_Hughes]

I dont see why not, under a proper system its doable.

 

[Rozay]

No.

His best return in the Bundesliga, a far weaker league, was 17 goals. Which is really good but his xG was 10.75, so a pretty significant overperformance. His two other full seasons yielded expected goals of 7.42 and 6.75.

Numbers aside, if you look at the best goalscoring wingers in the league who usually do hit 15 non penalty goals: they are usually pacy (he’s not) and constantly run in behind off the ball while having elite penalty box movement (think Sterling/Mane/Salah/Son). These things aren’t really Sancho’s game.

I don’t think there’s any merit looking back at his ‘best season in Germany’ when we are talking about 17, 18, 19, 20 years old. The idea is to look at his qualities and predict whether he can step up.

 

[Tavern in the town]

I don’t think there’s any merit looking back at his ‘best season in Germany’ when we are talking about 17, 18, 19, 20 years old. The idea is to look at his qualities and predict whether he can step up.

I don’t think it’s entirely useless but yeah his Bundesliga numbers aren’t the be all and end all. His qualities aren’t really conducive scoring plenty of goals from wide though, it’s not what he’s about as I said.

 

[Rozay]

10 goals and 10 assists a season would be good enough.

He's shown he has the decision making skills to be very creative in the right team. It's been patchy, but I really like how he carries the ball and usually makes the correct choice whether to pass or shoot. A new manager will likely believe he is one that can be salvaged out of this sorry lot

Don’t think it would personally. Not for a permanent fixture in the front 3 of a trophy chasing team. He’d need to be 10 goals/20 assists or something for it to make sense. 10/10 will just see him replaced in a few years by someone who offers more. Similar to Firmino with Jota.

 

[Bebestation]

It's weird how some players get

"Oh he isn't playing in a system"

Whilst some players are just thrown away arguably not being in a system either.

 

[L1nk]

It's weird how some players get

"Oh he isn't playing in a system"

Whilst some players are just thrown away arguably not being in a system either.

Well I would assume it's because Sancho has previous history of having worked very well in a system, so there's evidence to suggest that its at least worth trying

 

[Tavern in the town]

Don’t think it would personally. Not for a permanent fixture in the front 3 of a trophy chasing team. He’d need to be 10 goals/20 assists or something for it to make sense. 10/10 will just see him replaced in a few years by someone who offers more. Similar to Firmino with Jota.

That depends on the rest of the team really. You’ve used Liverpool as an example but they’re the type of team who rely pretty much solely on their front 3 plus set pieces, they very rarely get goals from midfield. Mahrez gets plenty of games at City despite not being a goalscorer and it works for them because players like De Bruyne, Foden and Bernardo chip in with goals. 10 league goals for Sancho will be fine if Bruno starts playing like an actual footballer again.

 

[DWelbz19]

Yes.

 

[Giggsy13]

/thread

bump.

 

[Steven-UK]

15 successful dribble a seasons would be a start for him...

He is currently not a top tier player. Lively enough, but his end product is nowhere near good enough considering what we thought we were getting.

Another player we are making excuses for, who does not deliver.

 

[Deery]

No, doesn’t look anyway prolific in front of goal, but his assists will surely go up..

 

[GaryLifo]

To be a smart arse for a moment, when we signed him i did say that I'd be surprised if he scored even 10 goals this season. Two reasons - one the transition to premier league where the defending across the entire roster of teams is better than in Germany (in my opinion). Two, United are/were not a well coached team who have a recent history of turning very good players into awful players within 3-6 months.

This said, I genuinely do see a top player in him and one that I think Ten Hag will get a lot more out of.

Next season 10 goals and 10-15 assists would be a sensible expectation, again in my opinion. Longer term you'd obviously be wanting to see those numbers go up year on year.

I don't think this happens though without us finding an equally good or better right-sided inverted winger to play opposite side to Sancho.

 

[Damien]

I don't think he necessarily needs 15 league goals a season.

Breakdown of City's 83 league goals last season:

Spoiler

Gundogan - 13
Sterling - 10
Foden - 9
Jesus - 9
Mahrez - 9
Torres - 7
De Bruyne - 6
Aguero - 4
Stones - 4
Silva - 2
Cancelo - 2
Mendy - 2
Rodri - 2
Walker - 1
Ake - 1
Dias - 1
OG - 1

When Liverpool won the league, of their 85 goals only three players scored more than 5 (Salah (19), Mane (18) and Firmino (9)).

New striker: 15-20
New RW: 10-15
Bruno: 10-15
Sancho: 8-10
Rashford: 5-10
Various midfielders and defenders: 1-5 each

Would do for a title challenge, and Ajax under ten Hag has shown that the goals were spread around.

Ajax's goals this season (only 2 players scored more than 10 of their 85 league goals - Haller (20) and Tadic (12))
Ajax's goals last season (only 3 players scored more than 10 of their 102 league goals - Tadic (14), Klaassen (12) and Haller (11))

 

[RedRonaldo]

One at a time. This season he has 8 g+a
Next season maybe he could hopefully aim for 15 g+a
Then, we will see. 20 g+a is definitely achievable for player of his talent.

 

[danamann]

He will come good eventually, I have no doubt about that.

 

[Nou_Camp99]

He doesn't have the pace to dominate in the PL. Most teams don't defend on halfway line like they do in Germany.

He will get better for us for sure but he's not a world beater.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Assuming ten Hag takes over, I believe Sancho will be used as more of a wide playmaker than an inside forward, and so because of that, I don't think he'd be getting 15 goals, but I think we'd see quite a few assists.

But then 15 goals from a wide player is extremely tough anyway, especially if we're talking about league goals. I mean, when you look at players like Son, he's only done it twice for Spurs. Mane the same (will most likely do it again this season) and Mahrez who has only done it once.

Time will tell, but Sancho was never really a goalscoring winger anyway, and I really think he will suit ten Hag, simply because of his playmaking abilities from wide i.e. Tadic.

 

[Rozay]

He doesn't have the pace to dominate in the PL. Most teams don't defend on halfway line like they do in Germany.

He will get better for us for sure but he's not a world beater.

Reliance on acres of space in behind is for cowardly counter attacking teams. We should be playing the game in the opponents half. Sancho is one of the few players we have who does not require acres of space to operate and be effective.

 

[bosnian_red]

I think he's more of a 10 league goals a season type of player with random productive years where he pushes past that, and 15 in all comps. Which is fine IMO. He improves our all round goalscoring loads, and in a better system would do that. Its about spreading goals throughout the team. And it depends on who we get to be opposite to Sancho, but I'd expect that winger to be a 15 goal a season guy.

Basically if we break it down like (league only)

• Striker (Darwin?) - 20
• Sancho - 10
• RW - 10
• Bruno - 10
• Squad attackers - 20
• Deeper Midfield group - 5
• Defenders - 5

Total: 80. I don't think this is anything crazy, its a pretty normal distribution of goals and reasonable to expect, with an aim of over 2 goals per game. If the team creates the chances, the goals will come. You really just need 2 true goalscorers in your starting 11, the striker and then if we count Bruno/Sancho/RW as mixed scorers and creators, we are more than fine.

 

[DJ_21]

No.

His best return in the Bundesliga, a far weaker league, was 17 goals. Which is really good but his xG was 10.75, so a pretty significant overperformance. His two other full seasons yielded expected goals of 7.42 and 6.75.

Numbers aside, if you look at the best goalscoring wingers in the league who usually do hit 15 non penalty goals: they are usually pacy (he’s not) and constantly run in behind off the ball while having elite penalty box movement (think Sterling/Mane/Salah/Son). These things aren’t really Sancho’s game.

He looked pretty pacy when he scored that goal against Chelsea. He’s mainly a dribbler and teams sit back against us so we aren’t going to see his pace much.

 

[Nou_Camp99]

Reliance on acres of space in behind is for cowardly counter attacking teams. We should be playing the game in the opponents half. Sancho is one of the few players we have who does not require acres of space to operate and be effective.

Will reserve full judgement until next season. He hasn't been good though.

 

[Lee565]

The best case scenario is if ten hag puts him in midfield like how pep uses de Bruyne and grealish in an uber attacking midfield or how di maria was used in midfield at real madrid

 

[Leftback99]

No. The PL isn't the Bundesliga.

 

[daveskimufc]

I think if the whole team is playing confidently and he’s got some movement around him and in front of him he will get 15+