The need for creativity in our squad

RC89

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We severely lack intelligent movement. You look at City and sometimes it's a simple straight forward ball that looks brilliant because the receiver has moved across the back line and completely exploited the space. Our players rarely use such intelligent movement.
 

Walters_19_MuFc

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I think if we look at Liverpool, its the same problem they have. If their front three are not quite on it, they fail to break teams down because they have no real creative threat in their midfield.

Thankfully we have Pogba who, when he's on it, is fantastic. However, when he's not quite on it, we really struggle to create.

Going forward, we need to drop Herrera into the holding role and get a playmaker in the 8 role. Not too sure who that player is, but I look at City and how they have the two Silva's, De Bruyne and Gundogan in the advanced midfielder roles and cant help but think we need some of that creativity.

Martial Rashford Winger
Pogba Herrera Playmaker


This would completely transform our right side, which at the moment is pretty non existent.
Adding to this, I look at the way Pogba plays for France and wonder if we could get a number 10, playing Pogba deeper against the teams we need to break down. Basically what Mourinho used to do with him.

Teams we dominate:

Number 10 (Dybala, Fekir, etc)
Herrera Pogba

Teams we need to be solid against

Striker
Winger Pogba Fekir
Matic Herrera
 

Aloysius's Back 3

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There we go - another game where fans talk about Rashford & Martials problems of dribbling too much, passing too much, not making runs in behind the defence.

The problem is clear - these strikers we have are making chances for themselves rather than having chances created for them. The most clear cut chance created today only came from Shaw & these type of passes are what strikers in our squad need & yet we get maybe only one or 2 chances a game.

How good would Aguero be for our squad? Better than Martial & Rashford sure - but no way would he be able to get the number he gets at city because he spends half the time getting chances from the likes of Silva & de bryune centrally whilst getting cut backs and width chances from the likes of Sane, Mahrez & sterling never mind the rest of the team like fullbacks etc.

Rashford & Martial are players that spend most of their time creating chances for themselves. The few times they get a chance like Shaw's pass today - they put it in the back of the net.

The lack of creativity in our squad has been seen under LVG, under Jose and now under Ole.

Pogba is an average to good creator as a CM; but cant be the only midfielder that creates chances for us.

Mata as RW was nothing for anybody and soon as he went to AM then it started to open up chances more. We need more of these type of players creating chances for our strikers - then they spend less time trying to dribble and creating chances for themselves.

Aguero at our club would be better than our strikers no doubt -but he would never score 20 goals a season or more. How many tap in chances do we produce? Absolutely nothing.
 

Aloysius's Back 3

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Need ball playing defenders ( we miss the calmness and creativity of Blind)

Need a midfielder with creativity - pogba is not creative enough to be our own source of passing.

Need a creator who plays through balls as an AM or False 9.

Getting hard to watch what we do with the ball.
 

Resch

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Our lack of creativity could be covered by tactics. A mixture of high pressing and counter attacking could work for us. If you win the ball, attack fast and direct. If you loose the ball, try to press and recover the ball as fast as possible. If you can not recover the ball within 3-5 Sek. Sit back. We are not good enough to controll the MF, so the best thing could be not useing it.
 

mark_a

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I think it's pretty obvious that the lack of spark/creativity is what slows us down. So our attacks are laboured and slow (again). We also drop off and don't press and end up with lacklustre performances like the one vs. West Ham. Yes we won, but it was unconvincing and we manage to make teams playing us look sharp!
What we've seen under Ole has been nothing short of a miracle, but the miracle has ground to a halt, at least partly because you can't just erase how the players were drilled under Mourinho.

We've plenty to be thankful for, i.e. we've got some spirit back, which is a key thing many have bemoaned over the last few years. The PSG game was a great example of that. There are also many positives in terms of young players who have stepped up to look deserving of the shirt: Rashford, Lindelof, Shaw, McTominay etc.. Now maybe Fred after a couple of decent showings.
 

AgentP

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Lingard makes some decent runs (even that he isn't doing nowadays) but doesn't have the ability on the ball to do anything with it.

Martial has zero creativity despite having a few assists. He can't make a decent run or thread a good pass.

Lukaku can actually make clever passes. But his technical ability let's him down. Without a good first touch, he gives the opposition too much time to adjust to the threat.

Rashford is the only one who has a proper mix of everything you need from a forward. Makes great runs, has good technique, can finish(needs to work on headers and one v one situations) and can also pick out a pass.

In our midfield, we have Pogba. One of the most creative midfielders in the world. We need better movement upfront to make him even more dangerous. The other two midfielders have no creativity or guile.

Finally, the full backs can't cross to save their lives. Atleast Shaw can play some clever passes and link up. Young can't do anything.

Get Sancho, Bruno Fernandes and an attacking right back. That will solve most of our problems. The rest can be worked on in training.
 

golden_blunder

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We need to identify how we’re going to setup and then get the players to fit. No more square pegs in round holes or building a team around 1 specific player such as Pogba - that’s too easy to nullify
 

Art Vandelay

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Lingard makes some decent runs (even that he isn't doing nowadays) but doesn't have the ability on the ball to do anything with it.

Martial has zero creativity despite having a few assists. He can't make a decent run or thread a good pass.

Lukaku can actually make clever passes. But his technical ability let's him down. Without a good first touch, he gives the opposition too much time to adjust to the threat.

Rashford is the only one who has a proper mix of everything you need from a forward. Makes great runs, has good technique, can finish(needs to work on headers and one v one situations) and can also pick out a pass.

In our midfield, we have Pogba. One of the most creative midfielders in the world. We need better movement upfront to make him even more dangerous. The other two midfielders have no creativity or guile.

Finally, the full backs can't cross to save their lives. Atleast Shaw can play some clever passes and link up. Young can't do anything.

Get Sancho, Bruno Fernandes and an attacking right back. That will solve most of our problems. The rest can be worked on in training.
I agree with most of that. If we had creativity or at least decent movement from the right it would help. Someone else alongside Pogba that can create would be another huge help and improvement on the left wouldn't go amiss. Someone to cover for Pogba when his form goes to shit would be useful too, we need to be able to drop him at times because when he's not on it he's no use to us on the pitch.

I think we need too much to get in one or two windows, it's going to be a long slow process.
 

StrettyEnder07

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Massive lack of creativity right through the center of our side at the moment, few signings should sort that out and have to say I was massively impressed with Rice at the weekend thought he looked quality in that DMC position.

We need someone mobile enough to do that job as Matic is just a liability now and always needs help, Pogba has no chance as at the moment he has no other creative players around him, Martial is offering zero, nothing from the right and nothing from our full backs.

Alderweireld/Koulibaly
Bruno Fernandes
Rice/Neves
Sancho/Pepe/Brooks
Wan Biasska/Munier

And if Lukaku wants to play in Italy, straight swap for Icardi who is available for 52m by all accounts.

Any one of the above in each position would be a top top summer, getting rid of the deadwood in the process.
 

OleTheGreat

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We have extremely creative players in our squad. We just need to be confident on the ball and exclude players like Young and Smalling (old school).
 

StrettyEnder07

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We have extremely creative players in our squad. We just need to be confident on the ball and exclude players like Young and Smalling (old school).
Pogba, I hear Martial is creative but he has done sod all for about 6 months, Rashford just shoots every time he has the ball within 40 yards, Lukaku top finisher but not creative, Sanchez not for 18 months, Mata not for about 3 years, Lingard/Fred/Pereira/McTom/Herrera/Matic/Shaw/Young wouldn't call any of them creative, Dalot has a good ball and the potential to be a creative full back.

So basically you have Pogba who has the talent and awareness to be a consistent creative player, the rest, not for me.
 

Tibs

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Need a lethal goal scorer more than anything who isn't going to shit themselves in front of goal, or with the touch of an elephant
 

ArjenIsM3

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Pogba, I hear Martial is creative but he has done sod all for about 6 months, Rashford just shoots every time he has the ball within 40 yards, Lukaku top finisher but not creative, Sanchez not for 18 months, Mata not for about 3 years, Lingard/Fred/Pereira/McTom/Herrera/Matic/Shaw/Young wouldn't call any of them creative, Dalot has a good ball and the potential to be a creative full back.

So basically you have Pogba who has the talent and awareness to be a consistent creative player, the rest, not for me.
Bit sad init :lol:
 

Axle17

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I agree with a lot of what is being said. I think the issue we have is our "attackers" had no former player to help their transition or development.
If only we kept a Chicharito or RVP instead of defenders who can't show them a thing!

Personally I think we need a major rebuild
 

OleTheGreat

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Pogba, I hear Martial is creative but he has done sod all for about 6 months, Rashford just shoots every time he has the ball within 40 yards, Lukaku top finisher but not creative, Sanchez not for 18 months, Mata not for about 3 years, Lingard/Fred/Pereira/McTom/Herrera/Matic/Shaw/Young wouldn't call any of them creative, Dalot has a good ball and the potential to be a creative full back.

So basically you have Pogba who has the talent and awareness to be a consistent creative player, the rest, not for me.
Of course we cannot compare ourselves to the likes of Barca, but i think we can handle most teams on the planet if we bought a couple of players and create the balance and strength at the back.
 

Raw

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Do we have 2 players that can pass like someone from Barcelona?
I feel like quite a few of them can do, but their movement is utter shit. They give themselves no space to showcase their passing ability. There are slight glimpses of top passing moves here and there, but they're just glimpses. Never consistent.

That Martial goal v Cardiff is a good example of what the players can do. It's only Cardiff sure, but it was still a sequence of slick, decisive passing that broke down a defence. We are capable, it's just we don't do it so much now for whatever reason. Could be a mentality issue, could be a shift in tactics or maybe the players are just inconsistent shites. Who knows.
 

fallengt

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Our front 3 are too static. No creativity you could pull when no one bothers to make off the ball movement
Either coach them better or get new players
 

StrettyEnder07

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Of course we cannot compare ourselves to the likes of Barca, but i think we can handle most teams on the planet if we bought a couple of players and create the balance and strength at the back.
Yeah agree with you mate, levels below Barca etc at the moment but I think with a shift of the deadwood, serious investment in the back line, CM & RW, we will have a decent side.

Need to sort the spine of the side out, top CB, top DMC, CM to partner Pogba in front of the new DMC and we need a right hand side as at the moment it is dreadful with the left not being much better.

We're talking about creativity, at the moment we have Martial not scored in 2 months, Lukaku none in 5, Rashford 3 in 12 and Lingard 1 assist in 2019 and that is our top class front 4, add to that Mata/Sanchez and I am stunned we are in the position we are.

Buy 5 promote Gomes Greenwood Chong and roll into next year.
 

Jib

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The majority of the top teams have a GK with a very good distribution, 1 ball-playing CB, the other CB isn't necessary a ball-playing CB but he's good on the ball and at least 2 midfielders with a lot of creativity.

We only have Pogba...and the worst thing is that's half of our players are afraid of the ball ( De Gea, Young, Smalling...)
 

Hawks2008

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It starts from the back. How many of our defenders are good in possession? Lindelof and Shaw are decent but the likes of Smalling, Jones, Young, and even De Gea really hamper our ability to create attacking moves from deep. On top of this our best midfielder in terms of carrying the ball and passing range also does his best work closer to goal so we can't afford to play Pogba in the deeper role.

This has a huge effect on our entire attack because since these players cannot progress the ball properly our more advanced players have to come short for the ball and by that time we have an entire team to play through.

Oh and we have a non existent right wing too, which makes us predictable as hell as teams just work to nullify our left side and it works fairly often. The summer ahead is huge and I hope Ole identifies the right players.
 

Bestietom

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imo Pogba needs to be replaced. He is only performing @50% now and everyone can see that his mind and heart is on moving to Real. Sell him for 130million, and we can replace him with a box to box midfielder that will give us 120% every game and still be able to buy another player.

We really need to scrutinise every player we bring in this summer and thereafter. We seem to have lost the edge in bringing in Fergie type players who will give everything for this club.
 

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UNITED ACADEMY

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Apologies for bumping an old thread, but this seems the best place to put this.

https://www.football365.com/news/chances-created-premier-league-willian-fernandes-de-bruyne-grealish

Our top three are:

Manchester United
Bruno Fernandes 3.2
Luke Shaw 2.2
Alex Telles 1.8

Quite telling that our top three are an attacking midfield and 2 left backs.
But it does highlight what we probably already know, in that we struggle creatively without Bruno, but good to see Shaw stepping up this season.
Well, the guy been playing all our league games. I’m pretty sure Pogba and ‘’may be’’ Donny can also get higher numbers (not as good as Bruno) if they play in Bruno‘s role.
 

ThreeCorners

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Well, the guy been playing all our league games. I’m pretty sure Pogba and ‘’may be’’ Donny can also get higher numbers (not as good as Bruno) if they play in Bruno‘s role.
Just having the AM being creative makes us easier to defend against. "Most of the other Top 6" teams have at least 2 players from their attacking players on that list.
Our current forward 3 are all goal scorers rather than creative, we would have really benefitted if we had Sancho or Grealish.

Chelsea
Mason Mount 2.8
Callum Hudson-Odoi 2.7
Hakim Ziyech 2.6

Manchester City
Kevin De Bruyne 3.5
Riyad Mahrez 2.5
Phil Foden 2

Liverpool
Xherdan Shaqiri 2.5
Sadio Mane 1.9
Trent Alexander-Arnold/Andrew Robertson 1.7
 

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Well, the guy been playing all our league games. I’m pretty sure Pogba and ‘’may be’’ Donny can also get higher numbers (not as good as Bruno) if they play in Bruno‘s role.
No disrespect but we have tried Pogba further forward. He is actually best at deep long passes. He has created 22 big chances in 130 app. Bruni has created 19 in 37. Thats probably the reason most managers play Pogba deeper. He isn't THAT attack minded with his passes. Also when Donny plays in Bruno role it is like playing Cleverly and he doesn't even attempt to cut the lines.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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Just having the AM being creative makes us easier to defend against. "Most of the other Top 6" teams have at least 2 players from their attacking players on that list.
Our current forward 3 are all goal scorers rather than creative, we would have really benefitted if we had Sancho or Grealish.

Chelsea
Mason Mount 2.8
Callum Hudson-Odoi 2.7
Hakim Ziyech 2.6

Manchester City
Kevin De Bruyne 3.5
Riyad Mahrez 2.5
Phil Foden 2

Liverpool
Xherdan Shaqiri 2.5
Sadio Mane 1.9
Trent Alexander-Arnold/Andrew Robertson 1.7
What makes you think we don’t have more than just AM? The list only pick the best 3.

Our AM & our left back are up there in top 8 highest xGA and most big chances creation. Fred, Cavani, Martial each of them also created 4 big chances each.

https://www.premierleague.com/stats/top/players/big_chance_created

 

bosnian_red

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As good a spot to put this as any, but maybe more so just shows the need to get proper right wing creativity and not playing a striker there.
 

Polar

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Fred, McT, Pogba and Bruno is a pretty good combo (balance). If we want more offensive creativity, Fred obviously is the one to be replaced. I don’t see any alternative to Fred today. That’s why I’ve urged for a CDM with some of the same skills as Fred, but with better playmaking skills (creativity) who also could be an offensive threat, example shooting from distance
 

Polar

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Fred, McT, Pogba and Bruno is a pretty good combo (balance).

As good a spot to put this as any, but maybe more so just shows the need to get proper right wing creativity and not playing a striker there.
Compared to the most offensive teams (LFC and City) the models imply we suffers a bit from lacking a proper RW.

Looks like our RW problem is peanut compared with Chelsea’s LW problem :D
 

MU655

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xA and (xA per minute) - Ranked by xA per minute - Liverpool stats from 19/20 - xA isn't extrapolated, by the way.

Attack
Mahrez - 4.29 (0.00386)
Foden - 3.50 (0.00341)
Salah - 8.73 (0.00301)
Sterling - 4.27 (0.00263)
Mane - 7.24 (0.00262)
Firmino - 7.35 (0.00242)

Torres - 1.53 (0.00212)

Cavani - 1.56 (0.00210) - Fewer Minutes in Comparison
Martial - 2.52 (0.00201)

Jesus - 1.46 (0.00147)
Greenwood - 1.20 (0.00122)
Rashford - 2.1 (0.00113)


Midfield

De Bruyne - 7.98 (0.00565)
Fernandes - 8.65 (0.00446)
Keita - 3.22 (0.00397) - Fewer Minutes in Comparison
Silva - 2.62 (0.00215)
Gundogan - 2.78 (0.00212)

Henderson - 4.11 (0.00182)
Fred - 1.71 (0.00129)
McTominay - 1.57 (0.00128)

Fabinho - 1.68 (0.00081)
Rodri - 1.31 (0.00076)
Chamberlain - 0.94 (0.00062) - Fewer Minutes in Comparison
Pogba - 0.75 (0.00056)


Defence

Alexander-Arnold - 11.17 (0.00351)
Shaw - 4.55 (0.00306)
Robertson - 7.90 (0.00254)
Cancelo - 3.23 (0.00225)
Bissaka - 1.64 (0.00087)
Van Dijk - 1.13 (0.00033)



I think it's pretty clear we are lacking overall in creativity in comparison, looking at these stats. But it seems particularly jarring in the attack. All of our forwards rank right at the bottom in comparison to their opposition. So, is this actually our main area of concern?

It is pretty obvious Cavani should be playing more, and this just backs it up along with his goalscoring being far higher per 90 than any of them. Rashford has done pretty well goalscoring wise, but he is on course for 13 goals, which is quite a bit below Salah and Mane of last season, and he is being matched for goals per minute by quite a few of the City team. The problem is he is not even close to matching them in terms of creativity.

Martial creates more chances, but not enough to take on the Firmino role. And it doesn't make up for the lack of goalscoring.

Pogba is also shockingly low in terms of creativity for someone that seems predominantly reliant on such an area. I am surprised by this. Fred and McTominay are predictably lower than a lot of the players, but you do have to remember that Gundogan pretty much plays as an attacking midfielder. Henderson is probably the most comparable in the list, and he does exceed them by a bit. But I do think that Fred and McTominay have played deeper for longer periods than him, which will affect creativity.

I think people are dreaming when they say about having a CDM that creates lots of chances. Fabinho and Rodri both barely make/made any chances despite (Fabinho at least) being considered one of/the best in the league. I don't think you will ever get that, unless the CDM is also the main freekick/corner taker.

Defence - Shaw is doing very well. Bissaka is lagging behind, but it seems you can get away with that if you make up for it in other areas e.g. City's other wing backs aren't particularly creative, yet it doesn't do them much harm.
 

lysglimt

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People say we lack creativity - still we have outscored every single team in the league. Even changing the freak result against Southampton to a 3-0 win and we would still be more or less level with City and Liverpool.

So considering we have strikers who haven't been firing on all cylinders this season and a team that lacks creativity, we score a hell of a lot of goals
 

Ali Dia

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As good a spot to put this as any, but maybe more so just shows the need to get proper right wing creativity and not playing a striker there.
Big time. At least one if not the two of our wider players need to be creative with Bruno and the striker taking the middle but they are all strikers playing wide. I’ve been saying it for a while. Also the non existent threat from our right for yet another season. It’s bananas for a supposed top team to continually ignore the lack of anything from that side.
 
Last edited:

tjb

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xA and (xA per minute) - Ranked by xA per minute - Liverpool stats from 19/20 - xA isn't extrapolated, by the way.

Attack
Mahrez - 4.29 (0.00386)
Foden - 3.50 (0.00341)
Salah - 8.73 (0.00301)
Sterling - 4.27 (0.00263)
Mane - 7.24 (0.00262)
Firmino - 7.35 (0.00242)

Torres - 1.53 (0.00212)

Cavani - 1.56 (0.00210) - Fewer Minutes in Comparison
Martial - 2.52 (0.00201)

Jesus - 1.46 (0.00147)
Greenwood - 1.20 (0.00122)
Rashford - 2.1 (0.00113)


Midfield
De Bruyne - 7.98 (0.00565)
Fernandes - 8.65 (0.00446)
Keita - 3.22 (0.00397) - Fewer Minutes in Comparison
Silva - 2.62 (0.00215)
Gundogan - 2.78 (0.00212)

Henderson - 4.11 (0.00182)
Fred - 1.71 (0.00129)
McTominay - 1.57 (0.00128)

Fabinho - 1.68 (0.00081)
Rodri - 1.31 (0.00076)
Chamberlain - 0.94 (0.00062) - Fewer Minutes in Comparison
Pogba - 0.75 (0.00056)


Defence
Alexander-Arnold - 11.17 (0.00351)
Shaw - 4.55 (0.00306)
Robertson - 7.90 (0.00254)
Cancelo - 3.23 (0.00225)
Bissaka - 1.64 (0.00087)
Van Dijk - 1.13 (0.00033)



I think it's pretty clear we are lacking overall in creativity in comparison, looking at these stats. But it seems particularly jarring in the attack. All of our forwards rank right at the bottom in comparison to their opposition. So, is this actually our main area of concern?

It is pretty obvious Cavani should be playing more, and this just backs it up along with his goalscoring being far higher per 90 than any of them. Rashford has done pretty well goalscoring wise, but he is on course for 13 goals, which is quite a bit below Salah and Mane of last season, and he is being matched for goals per minute by quite a few of the City team. The problem is he is not even close to matching them in terms of creativity.

Martial creates more chances, but not enough to take on the Firmino role. And it doesn't make up for the lack of goalscoring.

Pogba is also shockingly low in terms of creativity for someone that seems predominantly reliant on such an area. I am surprised by this. Fred and McTominay are predictably lower than a lot of the players, but you do have to remember that Gundogan pretty much plays as an attacking midfielder. Henderson is probably the most comparable in the list, and he does exceed them by a bit. But I do think that Fred and McTominay have played deeper for longer periods than him, which will affect creativity.

I think people are dreaming when they say about having a CDM that creates lots of chances. Fabinho and Rodri both barely make/made any chances despite (Fabinho at least) being considered one of/the best in the league. I don't think you will ever get that, unless the CDM is also the main freekick/corner taker.

Defence - Shaw is doing very well. Bissaka is lagging behind, but it seems you can get away with that if you make up for it in other areas e.g. City's other wing backs aren't particularly creative, yet it doesn't do them much harm.
Essentially our forwards don' t do enough goalscoring generally to justify staying so high up the pitch.
 

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xA and (xA per minute) - Ranked by xA per minute - Liverpool stats from 19/20 - xA isn't extrapolated, by the way.

Attack
Mahrez - 4.29 (0.00386)
Foden - 3.50 (0.00341)
Salah - 8.73 (0.00301)
Sterling - 4.27 (0.00263)
Mane - 7.24 (0.00262)
Firmino - 7.35 (0.00242)

Torres - 1.53 (0.00212)

Cavani - 1.56 (0.00210) - Fewer Minutes in Comparison
Martial - 2.52 (0.00201)

Jesus - 1.46 (0.00147)
Greenwood - 1.20 (0.00122)
Rashford - 2.1 (0.00113)


Midfield
De Bruyne - 7.98 (0.00565)
Fernandes - 8.65 (0.00446)
Keita - 3.22 (0.00397) - Fewer Minutes in Comparison
Silva - 2.62 (0.00215)
Gundogan - 2.78 (0.00212)

Henderson - 4.11 (0.00182)
Fred - 1.71 (0.00129)
McTominay - 1.57 (0.00128)

Fabinho - 1.68 (0.00081)
Rodri - 1.31 (0.00076)
Chamberlain - 0.94 (0.00062) - Fewer Minutes in Comparison
Pogba - 0.75 (0.00056)


Defence
Alexander-Arnold - 11.17 (0.00351)
Shaw - 4.55 (0.00306)
Robertson - 7.90 (0.00254)
Cancelo - 3.23 (0.00225)
Bissaka - 1.64 (0.00087)
Van Dijk - 1.13 (0.00033)



I think it's pretty clear we are lacking overall in creativity in comparison, looking at these stats. But it seems particularly jarring in the attack. All of our forwards rank right at the bottom in comparison to their opposition. So, is this actually our main area of concern?

It is pretty obvious Cavani should be playing more, and this just backs it up along with his goalscoring being far higher per 90 than any of them. Rashford has done pretty well goalscoring wise, but he is on course for 13 goals, which is quite a bit below Salah and Mane of last season, and he is being matched for goals per minute by quite a few of the City team. The problem is he is not even close to matching them in terms of creativity.

Martial creates more chances, but not enough to take on the Firmino role. And it doesn't make up for the lack of goalscoring.

Pogba is also shockingly low in terms of creativity for someone that seems predominantly reliant on such an area. I am surprised by this. Fred and McTominay are predictably lower than a lot of the players, but you do have to remember that Gundogan pretty much plays as an attacking midfielder. Henderson is probably the most comparable in the list, and he does exceed them by a bit. But I do think that Fred and McTominay have played deeper for longer periods than him, which will affect creativity.

I think people are dreaming when they say about having a CDM that creates lots of chances. Fabinho and Rodri both barely make/made any chances despite (Fabinho at least) being considered one of/the best in the league. I don't think you will ever get that, unless the CDM is also the main freekick/corner taker.

Defence - Shaw is doing very well. Bissaka is lagging behind, but it seems you can get away with that if you make up for it in other areas e.g. City's other wing backs aren't particularly creative, yet it doesn't do them much harm.
We create lot of chances but the quality is not comparable to City & Liverpool due to our forwards are goal scorers not someone who provides chances for goalscorer. Sterling, Mahrez, Foden & Torres are all natural winger and one is playmaker. That's why Ole was aiming for Sancho or Grealish last summer to bring more balance in his attacks.

We don't have wingers and playmaker except for Pogba (been injured/unfit) & Bruno. The only other ones like Mata, James & Diallo are ageing, not good & still very young/raw (just joined). Our full backs show good improvement though.
 

stevoc

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As good a spot to put this as any, but maybe more so just shows the need to get proper right wing creativity and not playing a striker there.
Having such poor options on the right wing is the biggest issue holding this team back.
 

MikeeMike

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We need to identify how we’re going to setup and then get the players to fit. No more square pegs in round holes or building a team around 1 specific player such as Pogba - that’s too easy to nullify
This. We should have a strategy and not rely so much on how opposition will setup. If we concede then this should be included in the plan. Building a team around a player is niave.
e.g. I’d like to see more movement and quicker crosses(more accurate) into the box now Cavani has guile to exploit.
 

MadDogg

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I think people are dreaming when they say about having a CDM that creates lots of chances. Fabinho and Rodri both barely make/made any chances despite (Fabinho at least) being considered one of/the best in the league. I don't think you will ever get that, unless the CDM is also the main freekick/corner taker.
Agreed. I looked into this myself yesterday and went through the stats of 26 defensive or central midfielders this season (or last season for players like Henderson and Fabinho who have been playing in defence) and I think people would be very surprised with it. In terms of expected assists, Kalvin Phillips was out ahead of the pack (I'm not sure but it may have been including his set pieces) and then Fred was in equal second place alongside Jorginho. In terms of the pass directly before a shot Fred was behind only Moutinho, Ward-Prowse, Thiago, Phillips, Jorginho and Neves, and I'm pretty sure that is including set pieces so without them he'd probably be third behind Thiago and Jorginho. I do tend to defend Fred when I think the criticism is going overboard, but even I certainly wasn't expecting him to be up near the top of these categories.

I think it shows that people have an unrealistic expectation on that role, and also over-state what the players from other teams are doing.