Clinical but not enough shots on target.

[wolvored]

We have made quite a decent start and being 3 points better off against 2 teams we struggled with last year. To score 5 goals in 2 games is not too shabby either.
Then you look at shots on target. According to the BBC we had 5 against Chelsea and 2 against the Wanderers. We dominated possession in the first half against the Wanderers, but the goal was the only time we worried them in front of goal.
How do we improve this as we wont be this clinical all season. When you look at the other top teams, which we aim to emulate, they get a lot more shots on target and the more shots on target obviously the better your chances are to win.
Do we drop the ineffective Lingard and bring in Gomes or Greenwood? Do we change formation to accomodate 3 strikers? Is the midfield the problem? Any thoughts?

 

[11101]

I posted this in another thread, we're not creating many chances.

I think players like Lingard not being good enough to play the final ball have something to do with it but we're also trying to pass the ball into the net too much. I hope there's some of this going on in training:

 

[fergiesarmy1]

Hangover from LVG still?

 

[wolvored]

I posted this in another thread, we're not creating many chances.

I think players like Lingard not being good enough to play the final ball have something to do with it but we're also trying to pass the ball into the net too much. I hope there's some of this going on in training:

Lets hope this message gets through to our lot quick

 

[2 man midfield]

Definitely noticed this against wolves. It was like watching Arsenal at times. And as we know the problem with Arsenal is they always try and walk it in.

 

[AgentP]

We had the same problem under Jose the year we finished 2nd. We had a great start to that season winning quite a few games by scoring 4 goals. But the chances we created were not that high and that soon caught up with us when our strikers went through a lean patch.

We need to start creating more chances and for that we need more creative players on the pitch. Just having Pogba is not enough. He needs support and players like Lingard offer none.

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

They also don't have many players willing to test the goalkeeper from outside the box. Pogba is the only one who consistently has a pop and figures to be a threat and even he is playing much deeper now.

All said, they clearly need a higher caliber of #10 than Lingard to unlock the full potential of the attack.

 

[Ibi Dreams]

We have made quite a decent start and being 3 points better off against 2 teams we struggled with last year. To score 5 goals in 2 games is not too shabby either.
Then you look at shots on target. According to the BBC we had 5 against Chelsea and 2 against the Wanderers. We dominated possession in the first half against the Wanderers, but the goal was the only time we worried them in front of goal.
How do we improve this as we wont be this clinical all season. When you look at the other top teams, which we aim to emulate, they get a lot more shots on target and the more shots on target obviously the better your chances are to win.
Do we drop the ineffective Lingard and bring in Gomes or Greenwood? Do we change formation to accomodate 3 strikers? Is the midfield the problem? Any thoughts?

I wonder if we expected the Wolves match to be a bit more even. We have obviously trained to press and counter quickly, but in the first half we couldn't really do that against Wolves because we just kept getting the ball back again and again before they'd even had the chance to get up the pitch. It was encouraging to see us dominate like that but it didn't actually play to our strengths at all, getting through a team defending extremely deep has been the most difficult thing for us for years.

 

[Skills]

I posted this in another thread, we're not creating many chances.

I think players like Lingard not being good enough to play the final ball have something to do with it but we're also trying to pass the ball into the net too much. I hope there's some of this going on in training:

Been our problem for a long, long time. People lose their mind if the defense concedes a lot of goals one season but our goal totals for the last 5 seasons have been abysmal.

 

[adexkola]

I've only been shouting this for over a year. I'm still looking for all these chances that died at Lukaku's feet last season.

 

[Fosu-Mens]

We have made quite a decent start and being 3 points better off against 2 teams we struggled with last year. To score 5 goals in 2 games is not too shabby either.
Then you look at shots on target. According to the BBC we had 5 against Chelsea and 2 against the Wanderers. We dominated possession in the first half against the Wanderers, but the goal was the only time we worried them in front of goal.
How do we improve this as we wont be this clinical all season. When you look at the other top teams, which we aim to emulate, they get a lot more shots on target and the more shots on target obviously the better your chances are to win.
Do we drop the ineffective Lingard and bring in Gomes or Greenwood? Do we change formation to accomodate 3 strikers? Is the midfield the problem? Any thoughts?

Lack of ability on the ball. If we get better passers/technically able players in the midfield, then we should be able to pass the ball better and not lose it after three passes or be so easy to force into bad situations in the attack. Try Pereira and Gomes in midfield with PP and we should fix some of these issues. Additionally, playing James against teams that does not leave much space behind them is pointless. Lingard is better when we are not dominant in possession so let him play against the likes of City, Liverpool, Tottenham etc. He against serves little purpose against teams we are dominating in possession.

As for the attacking against balanced defences is something we will continue to struggle with under OGS and the current coaching staff. Don't think they have the competence or the preference to focus on possession-based football as City does.

 

[Skills]

I've only been shouting this for over a year. I'm still looking for all these chances that died at Lukaku's feet last season.

Yeah it's fecking mental. The massive drop-off last season was our attack stopped being insanely clinical like they were when we finished 2nd.

Strangely enough, when they went on a superhuman run of banging in every chance, we started winning again with Ole too.

 

[ivaldo]

Shot on target doesn't = chances. Martials had a golden opportunity from Rashfords cross, for example, but there's no stat to highlight this.

We've played Chelsea and away to Wolves. These aren't games you create buckets of chances in. We did more than enough to win both games, while denying both sides clear-cut opportunities. If the same thing happens against Palace and Southampton then perhaps it's worth discussing, but not yet.

 

[buckooo1978]

simply a lack of quality in attack.....that includes fullbacks, midfielders and attackers themselves

in terms of quality of product Pogba is in a league of his own and Rashford/Martial are developing more consistency so far.

in an attacking sense Mata, Lingard, McTominay, Pereira, Fred, Matic aren't of the right quality.

As some have suggested it's time to give Greenwood and Gomes a start

 

[Bubz27]

Shot on target doesn't = chances. Martials had a golden opportunity from Rashfords cross, for example, but there's no stat to highlight this.

We've played Chelsea and away to Wolves. These aren't games you create buckets of chances in. We did more than enough to win both games, while denying both sides clear-cut opportunities. If the same thing happens against Palace and Southampton then perhaps it's worth discussing, but not yet.

But the lack of creativity isn't a new thing. Forget stats, as fans we've all seen we don't create anywhere near enough chances, and as others have pointed out, it's only the spells we've been unusually clinical that our results have improved. We can't rely on being that clinical.

I get this is a new management team so obviously I'm not expecting everything to be fixed overnight. Even against Wolves, that late Martial 'offside' came from a through ball from Maguire. So signing the right defenders will help with our creativity as well.

 

[Beagle]

It will improve, give it some time. There are two important aspects which have changed since last season. Amount of work being put in off the ball and looking for long hoofs far less often.

It takes time to adjust but the signs are good. Chasing a winner while stringing passes together instead of long hoofs is a very positive sign. And there were few chances created at 1-1. I can't remember a United team looking so composed on the ball while needing a goal in recent years.

Also running more off the ball takes getting used to. These are good changes and once the team has adjusted to them fully we should see far greater chances being created.

 

[roonster09]

I've only been shouting this for over a year. I'm still looking for all these chances that died at Lukaku's feet last season.

I'm sure @GifLord posted shit loads of them, including few youtube clips.

 

[kouroux]

They also don't have many players willing to test the goalkeeper from outside the box. Pogba is the only one who consistently has a pop and figures to be a threat and even he is playing much deeper now.

All said, they clearly need a higher caliber of #10 than Lingard to unlock the full potential of the attack.

Pogba used to shoot it a lot from long range, he hit the woodwork so many times in his first season but over time he just stopped doing it as much. Now that he is deeper, it'll be even more rare of an occurence.

 

[acnumber9]

None of our attackers are good passers or crossers of the ball. That’s always going to limit the chances you can create. It’s why I’ve never understood the constant crying for more pace. Pace on its own is nowhere near enough and it’s why there’s still a place for Mata until such time as we actually sign somebody better.

 

[Smores]

I said before in the matchday thread against Wolves that nothing much has really changed from Jose in the attacking sense beyond personnel and this is the symptom of it in my opinion.

The only time we have looked a much more attacking team is with Pogba further forward but with our midfield options that seems unlikely to happen this season.

I don't put it on Ole it's just a reflection of our limitations and we'll need James/Pereira or one of the academy lot to change it.

 

[adexkola]

I'm sure @GifLord posted shit loads of them, including few youtube clips.

Missed the point.

Now that he's gone, all those opportunities that died at his feet last season should be alive and kicking now. We should be seeing what he held us back from.

Let me know when you find them.

 

[Grande]

Two things to add first: 1) when the OP starts saying that Wolves were only troubled once in the first half, it’s such a misgivimg that it makes me wonder if there is an agenda. I can go along with a discussion on the departure point that we have few shots on goal so far, but claiming that Wolves are not troubled by Martial needing only to complete his movement and put the leg out to have a shot on goal from five yards from Rashfords cross, or when he is past the keeper and steps on the ball, it’s just meaningless.

2) if we want to compare just shots on goal, it’s more relevant to compare with shots on goal away to Wolves or at home to Chelsea. I’ve not the time for a full study on this, but a quick look tells me arsenal, liverpool and chelsea had respectively 1, 2 and 3 SoT at Molineux last season. So it’s not particularly good, but neither is it necessarily the sign of a big problem.

My opinion is that United have been the better team on the whole in two consecutive games, two challenging games to boot, so based on this things are going in the right direction rather than the wrong. You ask: Have we produced few SoT because we have Jesse Lingard in the team? You could ask: Have we played better than Chelsea and Wolves because we have Lingard in the team?

 

[roonster09]

Missed the point.

Now that he's gone, all those opportunities that died at his feet last season should be alive and kicking now. We should be seeing what he held us back from.

Let me know when you find them.

Didn't know season ended already or it's close to half the season.

Since it's a thread for premature conclusions, we have created the 3rd best chances in the league with xG of 3.52 (scored 3rd most goals in the league), only behind City and Liverpool. We also have the second best defensive record, only behind City. So looks like we are doing alright.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Other than absolutely top class coaching, we clearly quality in midfield - playmaking from deep and from advance positions, and a genuine threat out wide right. Sort these out and it'll take us to a whole new level.

 

[VeevaVee]

This was massively predictable. Signing a CB and a RB is great, but it was never to help much with what was our main problem last year - quick attacking plays, breaking teams down, final balls etc.

We're somewhat better so far this season at not being entirely sluggish to the point where there's barely any proper chances at all, but we still don't do enough to make things happen, and there's still a lack of quality to make it so.

 

[ivaldo]

But the lack of creativity isn't a new thing. Forget stats, as fans we've all seen we don't create anywhere near enough chances, and as others have pointed out, it's only the spells we've been unusually clinical that our results have improved. We can't rely on being that clinical.

I get this is a new management team so obviously I'm not expecting everything to be fixed overnight. Even against Wolves, that late Martial 'offside' came from a through ball from Maguire. So signing the right defenders will help with our creativity as well.

It’s not a new thing, but our system, our manager, our players and our tactics are new. So I think it would be unfair to criticise the creativity after 2 games based on what has gone before.

 

[Robbie Boy]

We badly lack a creative number ten that can unlock a tight defence.

 

[GifLord]

I've only been shouting this for over a year. I'm still looking for all these chances that died at Lukaku's feet last season.

April 2019
Vs Chelsea

Vs Wolves


March 2019
Vs Arsenal

Vs Southampton


February 2019
Vs Crystal Palace

January 2019
Vs Spurs

October 2018
Playing for Belgium vs Swiss
https://streamable.com/fqglh

September 2018
Vs Burnley
https://streamable.com/0ygzz


August 2018
Vs Spurs
https://streamable.com/31fae

Vs Brighton
https://streamable.com/2bdc1

Vs Leicester
https://streamable.com/nv6yx

 

[adexkola]

Not gonna quote all of that but @GifLord do you have a schtick apart from creating gifs of the scapegoat of the week? Or have you captured all of Lingard's miscues yet?

Also, kudos for missing the point.

Missed the point.

Now that he's gone, all those opportunities that died at his feet last season should be alive and kicking now. We should be seeing what he held us back from.

Let me know when you find them.

Gif that over the season.

 

[GifLord]

Not gonna quote all of that but @GifLord do you have a schtick apart from creating gifs of the scapegoat of the week? Or have you captured all of Lingard's miscues yet?

Also, kudos for missing the point.



Gif that over the season.

Oh still a supporter of his? Well thanks for wasting my time

 

[Xaviboy]

I feel we dont have enough patterns in our attacking play. U watch City last week stack up 30 odd attempts at goal vs Spurs and the different ways of cutting through teams and creating chances, there's a purpose to their play, Noticed how city over loaded on the right hand side with B.Silva and De Brueyne. They got down that side all the time from movement and off the ball running which is alot of work on the training ground. We tried it on Monday v wolves in 1st half on our left side. McTominey seem to push out and receive the ball in the left side of the pitch alot and Shaw pushed high with Rashford but not alot of movement when we were in possession. The goal came from that side and was good goal but needs to be done more then once. You can see it was tactic but we don't have the players with the creative spark. Only Pogba has that in the locker to create chances. He made the penalty from his bit of creative play. We seriously lack another creative player where we will come up with teams that sit deep.

 

[ArjenIsM3]

We lack quality both in midfield and on the wings. It's that simple.

 

[settembrini]

We've played Chelsea and away to Wolves. These aren't games you create buckets of chances in. We did more than enough to win both games, while denying both sides clear-cut opportunities. If the same thing happens against Palace and Southampton then perhaps it's worth discussing, but not yet.

This is the correct opinion.

 

[Irwin99]

I think I was surprised by how much wolves sat off our midfield rather than us dominating through winning tackles and beating a hard press with accurate passing. It’s hard to break teams down that sit off like that.

That being said, I don’t think we’ve scored enough goals in the league in the post SAF era. Martial and Rashford look up for it this year on the small evidence we have so far so maybe that might change. The fact that we rely on Pogba so much For creating chances is a problem though.

 

[adexkola]

Oh still a supporter of his? Well thanks for wasting my time

Go back to creating gifs buddy.

 

[haram]

April 2019
Vs Chelsea

Vs Wolves


March 2019
Vs Arsenal

Vs Southampton


February 2019
Vs Crystal Palace

January 2019
Vs Spurs

October 2018
Playing for Belgium vs Swiss
https://streamable.com/fqglh

September 2018
Vs Burnley
https://streamable.com/0ygzz


August 2018
Vs Spurs
https://streamable.com/31fae

Vs Brighton
https://streamable.com/2bdc1

Vs Leicester
https://streamable.com/nv6yx

You’ve just shown him miss chances like every striker does. You have completely missed the point. Some of those games he even goes on to score, I was at that Southampton game and he scored twice and won us the game.

 

[romufc]

You’ve just shown him miss chances like every striker does. You have completely missed the point. Some of those games he even goes on to score, I was at that Southampton game and he scored twice and won us the game.

Lukaku will always score goals but he is nowhere near good enough for the way Manutd want to play.

 

[adexkola]

I feel we dont have enough patterns in our attacking play. U watch City last week stack up 30 odd attempts at goal vs Spurs and the different ways of cutting through teams and creating chances, there's a purpose to their play, Noticed how city over loaded on the right hand side with B.Silva and De Brueyne. They got down that side all the time from movement and off the ball running which is alot of work on the training ground. We tried it on Monday v wolves in 1st half on our left side. McTominey seem to push out and receive the ball in the left side of the pitch alot and Shaw pushed high with Rashford but not alot of movement when we were in possession. The goal came from that side and was good goal but needs to be done more then once. You can see it was tactic but we don't have the players with the creative spark. Only Pogba has that in the locker to create chances. He made the penalty from his bit of creative play. We seriously lack another creative player where we will come up with teams that sit deep.

In every PL matchday thread someone ponders how City are able to roll the ball across the 6 yard box over and over. Yes more creative persons are needed but it is also an issue of coaching.

If every team gives us the space Chelsea gave us on opening weekend then we will be fine. But that will not happen, and for us to do better than last season we'll have to be better at systematically creating chances than we did at Molineaux.

 

[haram]

Lukaku will always score goals but he is nowhere near good enough for the way Manutd want to play.

You are free to have that opinion. We probably will have trouble creating chances regardless of how we play and that’s the main problem.

 

[romufc]

You are free to have that opinion. We probably will have trouble creating chances regardless of how we play and that’s the main problem.

I don't remember the last time we created chance after chance anyway.

This season at least the football is better so far.