10 Nov 2017 18:51:45
Evening guys - with nearly a quarter of the season gone already we have a clearer picture of how our season is panning out and I think a worrying trend is emerging.

If you look at our league goal scorers from our attacking players Lukaku has 7, Martial has 4, Rashford has 3 then Mata and Miki have one a piece.

I wrote a post last year commenting that unless we get more goals into the team we'll face similar problems to the ones we encountered last year. Lukaku has been an excellent signing and he's taken up the void left by Ibra, Martial and Rashford are young players and have undoubtedly improved but Miki and Mata have been poor. Miki has been given ample opportunities in his favoured No 10 position and consistently failed to delivery. Not only in terms of his creative and goal scoring output but I think his effort and work rate has been questionable as well. Pogba who has spent most of the season injured has two goals and Fellaini who has also been injured and an inconsistent starter has 3 goals, these are the stats which bring his role in the team into sharper focus.

In comparison Aguero has 8, Jesus 7, Sterling 7 and Sane 6. This is where the real difference lies.

We are so solid defensively and when we go in front we normally win. What we can't do anymore is chase a game and come from behind. I don't think this has anything to do with formation or style of play but emanates from a lack of consistency by our attacking players.

With this continuing to be a problem do you think there is any chance that we might see Ibra paired with Lukaku? Is there any chance we could play 4-4-2 now we have Matic to partner Pogba in midfield?

Unless we find another consistent goal scorer to support Lukaku our chances of the title remain slim and the prospect of getting dragged into a dog fight for top 4 become more of a reality.

1.) 10 Nov 2017
10 Nov 2017 23:11:48
I think only city have scored more than us this season but them boys are on fire.

2.) 11 Nov 2017
11 Nov 2017 09:21:35
Jred - we started well but the goals have dried up. We won't mount a serious challenge unless we can find at least one other consistent goal scorer to relieve some of the burden off Lukaku in my opinion. Could Ibra be that man or will he swap and change with Lukaku? I just can't see him sitting on the bench when he gets back to full fitness especially with Miki going through the motions.

3.) 11 Nov 2017
11 Nov 2017 10:50:27
Danny
So are you judging us over the the 11 games we have played in the league scoring 23 goals plus the CL games where we have scored 10 in 4 games .
So 33 in 15 games

Or just the games we haven't played well.

4.) 11 Nov 2017
11 Nov 2017 11:26:35
Forget the goals. What games have we played well in? West Ham we played well. Spurs we played decent. We had a 15 minutes spell in Swansea match. We have scored goals, but we haven't been playing well. City have been playing very good football all season thus far and goals have been scored.

We have done okay up until now, but we have to improve otherwise Spurs, Chelsea and potentially Liverpool if they put a few wins together will overtake us. I'm not concerned at this time, not at all as I think we will be okay, but we haven't played well all season. We've have moments and we've ground out boring wins.

5.) 11 Nov 2017
11 Nov 2017 13:06:07
Jred - I'm judging over the 11 games as I can see a similar pattern emerging. Unfortunately apart from Lukaku nobody has really stepped and supported him on a consistent basis. Rashford and Martial have dovetailed nicely and have improved on last season but Miki and Mata have disappointed.

As you know I'm a Jose fan and think he's doing a good job. I think we're heading in the right direction but until we get a player that can take the pressure off Lukaku and get upwards of 15 league goals I don't think we'll be Champions.

For example City have Jesus and Aguero, Spurs have Kane and Ali, Chelsea had Costa and Hazard, they now have Morata, even Leicester had Vardy and Marahez.

We don't have that second player yet and that's why although we scored games in the first 5-6 games they've dried up now as we lost Pogba, Lukaku had a dip, nownody else stepped up and results have suffered.

6.) 12 Nov 2017
12 Nov 2017 09:33:48
At least 1 of Rashford or Martial will get 15 this season, and they Don't always play. Pogba and probably Mata will get 10. Shouldn't be a problem.