Will our forwards wake up from their slumbers in time to challenge for the league? | No. Hibernating now

[Sylar]

I wanna see a run of like 5-6 games where we win 1-0 or similar and keep a clean sheet like we used to do in some of fergies title wins

That would be an easy pick up of nearly 20 points and frustrate our rivals

 

[TrustInOle]

I'm most excited for Greenwood to find his feet, his finishing ability is beyond scary.

 

[Sandikan]

I wanna see a run of like 5-6 games where we win 1-0 or similar and keep a clean sheet like we used to do in some of fergies title wins

That would be an easy pick up of nearly 20 points and frustrate our rivals

I'd much prefer to see our forwards go ape sh!t hungry like the Leeds game.
Rather than hang on like the last 2 games.

 

[Sylar]

I'd much prefer to see our forwards go ape sh!t hungry like the Leeds game.
Rather than hang on like the last 2 games.

I think everybody would wanna see goals, goals and goals. But there was always something satisfying as well about seeing rivals being frustrated by a string of wins and clean sheets.

 

[Borys]

Strikers are important, Martial is not on his level this season so far, Rashford is on his usual level, and Greenwood is a question mark.

But De Gea is more important.

 

[InfiniteBoredom]

It’s worth noting that even with some of our attackers misfiring in the league, we are still joint 2nd with Chelsea at 31 goals at the moment, that’s 73 goals extrapolated over 38 games, which is on the low side but still adequate for a title challenge

On the other hand, we’ve let in 24 goals, that’s over 50 goals over the full season. I don’t think there’s a league winner in recent memory with that amount of goals conceded, so we need to fix that first.

 

[NoPace]

this one

Yaya had 20 goals. 6 Pens, 4 free kicks (from 7 shots according to an OptaJoe tweet which feck wow. He missed some pens I think?) and 10 from open play.

Also subjectively, he had Nasri and David Silva as lovely link players who didn't shoot very much. If you want to somehow score 20 goals while playing in a 2 man midfield in Pellegrini's 4-2-2-2-, you'd pick Silva first among all-time Prem players as who you'd want on the wing and Nasri probably top 5-10 even because of his style and ball retention (can't bomb forward as an 8 if the wingers lose the ball often by hitting crosses rather than linking play). On the other hand, there are a lot of strikers you'd pick over Dzeko and Aguero. He might have hit 25 with a Bergkamp playmaking or Giroud with knockdowns or Yorke or Berbatov doing a bit of both or a 9 who likes to move wide and take on fullbacks and sometime play cutbacks and opens up the middle like Henry or David Villa.

 

[Samid]

It’s worth noting that even with some of our attackers misfiring in the league, we are still joint 2nd with Chelsea at 31 goals at the moment, that’s 73 goals extrapolated over 38 games, which is on the low side but still adequate for a title challenge

On the other hand, we’ve let in 24 goals, that’s over 50 goals over the full season. I don’t think there’s a league winner in recent memory with that amount of goals conceded, so we need to fix that first.

We've scored 33, one more than Chelsea.

 

[Bastian]

It’s worth noting that even with some of our attackers misfiring in the league, we are still joint 2nd with Chelsea at 31 goals at the moment, that’s 73 goals extrapolated over 38 games, which is on the low side but still adequate for a title challenge

On the other hand, we’ve let in 24 goals, that’s over 50 goals over the full season. I don’t think there’s a league winner in recent memory with that amount of goals conceded, so we need to fix that first.

That's the reason we need more from our forwards too. But yes, the defense is an issue. That being said, Liverpool have conceded 21 (we've both had a mare of a game this season conceding loads). This season will likely be a statistical anomaly. Which doesn't mean we shouldn't be looking for a partner for Maguire in January if possible and/or competition for AWB.

 

[dal]

If Greenwood finds his feet and we start finding him consistently I think we will win the league, all other things remaining as per normal of course.

I hope Diallo can push him.

 

[DRJosh]

I think we need to shore up our defence if winning the title is going to become a reality.

The whole "I will score more than you" approach isn't our style, so beefing up that defence is a must. Maguire needs a pair of rocket boots...he is painfully slow at times in recovering loose balls.

 

[InfiniteBoredom]

We've scored 33, one more than Chelsea.

I just looked at the result Google threw up, apparently they haven’t updated the latest match day for some reasons.

So yeah, 33 would put us at 78 over the full season, which is perfectly fine if the defence sorts itself out. In our last title win, we scored 86 and let in 43. Chelsea won in 04/05 and 05/06 with just 72 goals.

 

[Samid]

Halfway through the season. Good time to compare with last season's numbers.

19/20:
Rashford 17
Martial 17
Greenwood 10
Avg per game: 1.15

20/21:
Rashford 7
Martial 2
Greenwood 1
Avg per game: 0.52

Rashford you could argue is doing ok relative to last season (missed 7 games but he was on pen duties until Bruno arrived which boosted his numbers). The other two have been downright disappointments though. Fair enough Greenwood is having the typical second season syndrome but 1 goal in 700+ minutes is still poor for a player specifically known for his excellent finishing. The trio was scoring well over a goal per game between them last season. This season it's only a goal every two games.

Of course there are other factors too. Cavani has added goals. Bruno, Pogba and even McT are chipping in with more goals from midfield than last season. So there isn't as much burden on the aforementioned trio but it's still annoying that they haven't kicked on from last season. Just don't see any real goalscoring desire from any of the three. Teams that win things have forwards who take games by the scruff of the neck. Those forwards provide you with comfortable 2-3 goal leads by the hour mark and take the sting out of the game. After 19 games we've had one game with a comfortable final 20 minutes and even in that big win it wasn't the forwards who scored the goals.

Hoping Cavani can finally get a prolonged run up top. If he can get 15+ goals we've got a serious chance.

 

[Jaxa]

Halfway through the season. Good time to compare with last season's numbers.

19/20:
Rashford 17
Martial 17
Greenwood 10
Avg per game: 1.15

20/21:
Rashford 7
Martial 2
Greenwood 1
Avg per game: 0.52

Rashford you could argue is doing ok relative to last season (missed 7 games but he was on pen duties until Bruno arrived which boosted his numbers). The other two have been downright disappointments though. Fair enough Greenwood is having the typical second season syndrome but 1 goal in 700+ minutes is still poor for a player specifically known for his excellent finishing. The trio was scoring well over a goal per game between them last season. This season it's only a goal every two games.

Of course there are other factors too. Cavani has added goals. Bruno, Pogba and even McT are chipping in with more goals from midfield than last season. So there isn't as much burden on the aforementioned trio but it's still annoying that they haven't kicked on from last season. Just don't see any real goalscoring desire from any of the three. Teams that win things have forwards who take games by the scruff of the neck. Those forwards provide you with comfortable 2-3 goal leads by the hour mark and take the sting out of the game. After 19 games we've had one game with a comfortable final 20 minutes and even in that big win it wasn't the forwards who scored the goals.

Hoping Cavani can finally get a prolonged run up top. If he can get 15+ goals we've got a serious chance.

Jesus I didn't realise it was that bad ! It's a miracle were top of the league with really bad numbers like that, I hope this shows the board we really need to be looking in the market for a striker

 

[Sunny Jim]

Halfway through the season. Good time to compare with last season's numbers.

19/20:
Rashford 17
Martial 17
Greenwood 10
Avg per game: 1.15

20/21:
Rashford 7
Martial 2
Greenwood 1
Avg per game: 0.52

Rashford you could argue is doing ok relative to last season (missed 7 games but he was on pen duties until Bruno arrived which boosted his numbers). The other two have been downright disappointments though. Fair enough Greenwood is having the typical second season syndrome but 1 goal in 700+ minutes is still poor for a player specifically known for his excellent finishing. The trio was scoring well over a goal per game between them last season. This season it's only a goal every two games.

Of course there are other factors too. Cavani has added goals. Bruno, Pogba and even McT are chipping in with more goals from midfield than last season. So there isn't as much burden on the aforementioned trio but it's still annoying that they haven't kicked on from last season. Just don't see any real goalscoring desire from any of the three. Teams that win things have forwards who take games by the scruff of the neck. Those forwards provide you with comfortable 2-3 goal leads by the hour mark and take the sting out of the game. After 19 games we've had one game with a comfortable final 20 minutes and even in that big win it wasn't the forwards who scored the goals.

Hoping Cavani can finally get a prolonged run up top. If he can get 15+ goals we've got a serious chance.

that's a grim a read. So our forwards combined have scored as many as Greewod alone last year.

 

[Glorio]

It's puzzling especially considering they are all so good last season. Throw in the fact that our manager was a lethal goal scorer who was a master at finding space in his own right, and it's even more odd

 

[yumtum]

You could maybe excuse Greenwood for only having a single goal, he's in his second season and learning how to adapt his game, Martial on the other hand - just wow, that's genuinely embarrassing, you could guarantee any other striker in the league getting as many as he has for us this year.

Rashford has looked lethargic this year, and has taken a massive step back with his greediness, I've mentioned it here before but Ole needs to wake these guys up to be in with a chance of fighting for this league.

As a fan I'm not remotely confident with any of these players scoring from a good chance let alone half chances, I think opposition are starting to clock on as well, which will lead to them shutting up shop for 80 mins then bombarding us for the final 10, and with our defence it's a tactic thats going to start bearing fruit.

 

[Sayros]

This whole season is so weird, and many teams and players are struggling with the short turn-around from last season, but the MMM trio had more recovery time than others who went far in the CL, and so it seems to be much more of a mental/motivation issue. Now there's a genuine race for the league, you'd hope the motivation comes and the rest follows but it's really fitting that in such a weird season, United is top of the league and their forwards are pretty much all struggling.

 

[LuisNaniencia]

Begs the question, how good would we be with a goal scoring front three?

And Martial, 2 fecking goals.

 

[Lee565]

The non signing of sancho during the summer could be the deciding factor of us not winning the title this season, having a class forward in our problematic position could have contributed an extra 10 goals in assists and goals already at this stage of the season.

 

[Zlatattack]

I hope we're looking at a proper striker this summer. Martial and Rashford are inconsistent. Martial is older and i'd expect more from him now. Rashford is currently being played out of position on the RW. I think we need to bring in a top quality CF and then cut our losses maybe this summer or next summer with Martial.

 

[Jacob]

I'd score two just by standing still ffs, it's bound to bounce off of me sooner or later.

Terrible stats.

 

[rooney2009]

Can you imagine if they hit form soon...and they will.
class is permanent and this guys are good, they have all played a lot of games inthe last year
even the strikers from Liverpool are struggling

 

[Matthew84!]

The non signing of sancho during the summer could be the deciding factor of us not winning the title this season, having a class forward in our problematic position could have contributed an extra 10 goals in assists and goals already at this stage of the season.

You could be right there but I'd give DVB a try on the RW, just need someone who's good on the ball and able to cross it,

 

[Robertd0803]

Lets hope they have been saving themselves for an amazing run for the second have of the season.

 

[MalcolmTucker]

I predicted Martial to get 30 goals this season

Rashford has been ok but Greenwood and Martial have been bad. Hopefully we can thrash someone soon and Martial / Greenwood can get a brace each and build their confidence up.

 

[C'est Moi Cantona]

We've got Martial, Rashford, and Greenwood, all horribly out of form, it's quite reassuring really, as we're top, whilst carrying these three as passengers just now, so when they do find some form then we've potentially got a few more gears to go through yet.

 

[arnie_ni]

Jesus I didn't realise it was that bad ! It's a miracle were top of the league with really bad numbers like that, I hope this shows the board we really need to be looking in the market for a striker

Said it before, but if those 3 started firing like they did last year I'd put us favourites.

 

[Bondi77]

Strikers normally win matches so if they don't start firing it is obvious what will happen over the whole season

 

[ExecutionerWasp001]

I'd play Cavani in the League games only. I doubt he would stay injury free though if we run him into the ground & keep playing him for 90 Mins. We need to start games well & get ourselves into the lead. We can them bring him off early & hope the defence can do it's job.

 

[The United]

Lack of real competitions for those positions might be the main issue here.

 

[GoldanoGraham]

Martial has been fairly abject in recent games, nothing seems to come off and he just seems to give up, his first touch is off and he isn’t on the same wavelength as last season....think a a couple of games out of the team would do him the world of good, however, while Rashford can play on the left and Cavani up front we are still left with the same problem as the last few seasons - the RW position.

Greenwood was sensational last season from there but his form has been even more woeful than Martial this season. If we are to push on a as really challenge then both of these players (and Rashford) need to get some form back quickly.

Unless Diallo can hit the ground running, which is a big ask, we are going to be struggling for goals and will start to drop points.

Big challenge for Ole and staff to get the boys firing up front again......

 

[Olecurls99]

Our forwards were scoring for fun last year, so I expect the tide to change eventually. Martial just needs one from open play to get going again. His confidence is low but I think he’s on the verge of going on one of his runs where he starts looking like a world beater again.

We've played MMM up top 3 times this season. That's right 3 times. How can they be expected to recover last summer's form if they're never put on the pitch together?
Martial showed he can lead the line last year. He's had a bad start this season with that bloody suspension not helping but he needs a run of games with his ideal forward line. 3 games this season is just not enough. Same goes for the other 2. Put the lads together Ole. Give them 5 league games in a row. It will click.

 

[Pretzels81]

Ole's job.

 

[romufc]

Lack of real competitions for those positions might be the main issue here.

Cavani, Martial, Greenwood, Rashford, James, Diallo, Mata all fighting for the forward positions.

I dont get where real competition for places is an issue? Its not like we rely on only 3 and the drop off is massive. Maybe James and Mata but Greenwood is still a very good player. Diallo, we will see how he is used.

 

[charlenefan]

They're not asleep anymore

 

[Judas]

Seriously hope Rashford's injury isn't anything at all. He was brilliant today, tore Williams to shreds as expected.

 

[Samid]

We're effectively an extra point behind City when you look at our poor goal difference. We're on course for +22 which would be comfortably worse than last season's +30.

I know we've scored the same amount as City so on the surface the difference seems to be between our defences. But there's an argument to be made that attacking wise we are doing the bare minimum to win games. They don't score, we score 1. They score 1, we score 2. They score 2, we score 3. If we hadn't conceded all those goals chances are we'd be winning those games 1-0 rather than 2-1 or 3-2.

People on here love to dish out the phrase 'any win will do' before every game. Can't argue with that logic but we really do need a couple of statement wins in the upcoming weeks.

 

[eire-red]

We're effectively an extra point behind City when you look at our poor goal difference. We're on course for +22 which would be comfortably worse than last season's +30.

I know we've scored the same amount as City so on the surface the difference seems to be between our defences. But there's an argument to be made that attacking wise we are doing the bare minimum to win games. They don't score, we score 1. They score 1, we score 2. They score 2, we score 3. If we hadn't conceded all those goals chances are we'd be winning those games 1-0 rather than 2-1 or 3-2.

People on here love to dish out the phrase 'any win will do' before every game. Can't argue with that logic but we really do need a couple of statement wins in the upcoming weeks.

Yeah I can't bear to even think of another title loss to City on GD. We need to put a few past SHU tonight, and consistently do it to the smaller teams. I think a couple of thrashings would make a statement that we're here for the long haul as you said, it's not feasible to win every game by the odd goal.

We have Arsenal, Chelsea, City and Spurs away this season, potentially very cagey games where the game will be decided by the odd goal either way. Need to get that GD up in the remaining fixtures. SHU at home, Fulham at home, West Brom away, Brighton at home, Newcastle at home. These are the games where we should be looking to dish out hammerings by 4 or 5.

 

[Schmeichel's Cartwheel]

We're effectively an extra point behind City when you look at our poor goal difference. We're on course for +22 which would be comfortably worse than last season's +30.

I know we've scored the same amount as City so on the surface the difference seems to be between our defences. But there's an argument to be made that attacking wise we are doing the bare minimum to win games. They don't score, we score 1. They score 1, we score 2. They score 2, we score 3. If we hadn't conceded all those goals chances are we'd be winning those games 1-0 rather than 2-1 or 3-2.

People on here love to dish out the phrase 'any win will do' before every game. Can't argue with that logic but we really do need a couple of statement wins in the upcoming weeks.

That’s because we often retreat into our own area when we go ahead in games. Either we hold on or the other team score, then we have to open up again. We’re literally set up to win by 1 goal.