Nwaneri looks good, I thought Vieira could have given us something useful on the right perhaps, but clearly Arteta wasn't sufficiently impressed in pre-season
Nwaneri looks good, I thought Vieira could have given us something useful on the right perhaps, but clearly Arteta wasn't sufficiently impressed in pre-season
We defo need a striker. Jesus is out for two months with a groin injury. Yet another injury prone tosser. We should have sold him in the summer.Originally Posted by Mac76
The mirror claims we will target a striker after we’ve completed Merino signing
For my money when Jesus comes back from his injury we should play him on the right as cover for Saka
However what I’ve noticed is that we’ve scored four goals in two games, in both instances exceeding our XG. We for sure missed chances yesterday, but I don’t feel like we are creating loads of chances that we are just not putting away.
Last edited by HCZ_Reborn; 25-08-2024 at 09:36 AM.
So looking at 23/24
12 times our XG was higher than the goals we scored
15 times we scored more goals than our XG count
11 times our XG was in line with the goals scored
6 times our XG was less than 1
Forest (H)
Everton (A)
City (H)
Newcastle (A)
Liverpool (A)
City (A)
We got 11 points from 18
12 times our XG was between 1-1.99
United (H)
Chelsea (A)
Brentford (A)
Villa (A)
Fulham (A)
Forest (A)
Brentford (H)
Luton (H)
Villa (H)
Wolves (A)
Tottenham (A)
Man United (A)
We got 25 points from 36
The remaining 20 games our XG was over 2
And we got 53 points from 60
The three games where we dropped points at home - Spurs, Fulham and West Ham. Our average XG over these games was 2.78. And we managed an average of 1.33 goals. And the goals we did score included an own goal and two penalties which speaks to our problem with deep blocks.
It suggests a need for someone a bit more clinical, who can get a toe end on goals against teams that come to the Emirates looking for a smash and grab win or a draw
So..........
We need a striker?
Which is what I said about 3-4 pages back on this thread.
What we have currently is ok when all contributors are firing on all cylinders, but a bit of a void when they are not.
We could just do with an option of a player who has that goal scoring instinct. He doesn't have to be a top striker either, just a player with the nous of where to be and when & the chances will come.
Also, Jesus is a crock and it's borderline now whether or not he should be sold.
He just offers nothing to the team anymore and is constantly out injured for long periods
We don’t live in the world of what should though. The fact is he’s not going to be sold, he doesn’t want to go and his wages and his injury issues mean he’s not exactly a tempting target for other clubs.
Next summer? Maybe things will be different, but whilst he’s here I would rather try and utilise him as much as possible
I think my post was I don’t think it’s as simple as that, for the most part we are quite clinical. But the fact is if you don’t just need a ruthless striker you need other players around just as ruthless and direct. Even as ruthless as City are, we barely gave Haaland a sniff because he had no room to operate in, in the penalty box. The reason in the games I cited where our XG was superior to our goals scored, is look at the goals scored…penalties and own goal….when teams do the deep block you might get some clumsy oaf who sticks out a leg or a shot that goals in off a defender (which I don’t think counts towards XG)
Like with everything in life, a striker would be desirable but it’s a bit more complicated than that. If you take the West Ham game, as unlucky as we were our build up play was slow and gave them too much time to get back
Also Letters/Macca whoever is here. It looks like there are a lot of bot accounts online.
Just thought I’d make you aware.
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