Goals in the league from midfield this season

[doddisalegend]

Our strikers/forwards are getting a lot of stick, not unjustified at the moment TBH, for not scoring/missing chances but between the three of them (Adam, J-rod and Lambert) they have not done to badly this season. We could really do with some more goals from midfield though IMO.

 

So far we have

 

Gaston 1

Morgan 1

Davis 2

JWP 0

Cork 0

Victor 0

 

That's pretty pants honestly (our 3 central defenders have scored 5 in the league this season). Any reason why our midfield contribute so few goals?

[melmacian_saint]

They play excessively deep and very often drift to the wings as our full-backs seem to struggle to find a pass to one of our forward players who themselves don't seem to drop down as much as they should to offer a pass.

 

That and what I can only assume to be a dressing room law to not try or have a shot from outside the box under any circumstances with life imprisonment as punishment.

[SaintSteve]

Lets face it... only Gaston from that list can hit a barn door.. but its another reason we struggle as no midfield player makes runs beyond the main striker

[Saint Garrett]

Why does Lallana not count as a midfielder or is it just because he doesn't fit with your argument? I know our CM don't score many but if you're including the 3 attacking midfield positions then you have to include Jrod and Lallana along with Davis and Gaston.

 

With 3 "attacking" players the others don't get that much of a chance to score...although they probably should have the odd goal more than what they have.

[Roger]

Morgan escapes any criticism but his shooting is woeful.

[doddisalegend]

Why does Lallana not count as a midfielder or is it just because he doesn't fit with your argument? I know our CM don't score many but if you're including the 3 attacking midfield positions then you have to include Jrod and Lallana along with Davis and Gaston.

 

With 3 "attacking" players the others don't get that much of a chance to score...although they probably should have the odd goal more than what they have.

 

I don't see J-rod or Adam as midfielders (attacking or otherwise) personally but as part of a forward three.

[doddisalegend]

Morgan escapes any criticism but his shooting is woeful.

 

Last season he managed five goals I had hoped that might mean he would start scoring more regularly.

[Rasiak-9-]

Last season he managed five goals I had hoped that might mean he would start scoring more regularly.

 

I've been disappointed with Morgan this season too. Think he's a wonderful player but he takes no responsibility for any creative aspect to the team. Once he's into the final third he tends to play a sideways pass and just expect someone else to do something with it rather than ever taking a player on, attempting a killer pass, or shooting from distance.

 

Interestingly enough, I remember the other day thinking back to a game we played at home to Ipswich in the champo when he was an 18-year old and I actually remember him (perhaps with the fearlessness of youth and all that) attempting to take a player on and executing a pretty impressive sequence of step-overs. It just sticks in my mind as it was so out-of-character as I don't remember him ever taking anyone on in his career apart from that one occasion.

 

Ahwel, I don't know if he'll be able to re-learn stuff like that but long story short, he needs to offer more of an attacking threat if he wants to get picked for France.

 

I'm beginning to be a bit sceptical of the holy trinity of Davis/Cork/Morgan. Neither JC nor MS offer anything whatsoever in terms of forward running and SD for all his effort and useful passing is hardly going to beat two players and slot a through-ball through.

 

I think the pressing game earlier in the season did paper over the cracks of just how defensively-minded that midfield three really is.

[melmacian_saint]

I insist that it's only going to work if it's Davis in front of Schneiderlin and Cork. This pairing of three CMs where two seem to drift into wide positions is not working.

 

Pochettino played them as I described during last season, and it worked wonders. This season however, maybe because Puncheon left and we didn't really find a replacement we seem to want to get Lallana and Rodriguez into wide positions at the expense of getting more numbers in the final third.

 

I notice Davis spends more time helping out Chambers than bombing forward. Same with Morgan and Shaw. If the only central option is Cork and is backwards, then we don't have a chance other than hoofing or hoping the (off-form) strikers get a worldy touch that sets them up.

[The9]

Our strikers/forwards are getting a lot of stick, not unjustified at the moment TBH, for not scoring/missing chances but between the three of them (Adam, J-rod and Lambert) they have not done to badly this season. We could really do with some more goals from midfield though IMO.

 

So far we have

 

Gaston 1

Morgan 1

Davis 2

JWP 0

Cork 0

Victor 0

 

That's pretty pants honestly (our 3 central defenders have scored 5 in the league this season). Any reason why our midfield contribute so few goals?

 

I think your mistake here is not classing Lallana, Rodriguez and Lambert as midfielders. The reason we're not scoring goals is because ONLY our midfield contributes goals, and we don't have any strikers (except Gallagher).

[Saint_Tony]

I've brought this up several times. We can go on about the front 3 missing chances, but their individual goal returns are all decent. The goal return of the midfielders is simply not good enough. Fonte and Lovren are more of a goal threat than they are

[Sour Mash]

The problem stems from the way we're set-up. We play with Cork/Wanyama, Schneiderlin and Davis, three players out of the 11 on top of our back 5 that won't contribute much in terms of goals. It helps guarantee we have a load of possession, but will have an impact in our overall goal threat at times.

[bazza]

The problem stems from the way we're set-up. We play with Cork/Wanyama, Schneiderlin and Davis, three players out of the 11 on top of our back 5 that won't contribute much in terms of goals. It helps guarantee we have a load of possession, but will have an impact in our overall goal threat at times.

 

^This

[shurlock]

The problem stems from the way we're set-up. We play with Cork/Wanyama, Schneiderlin and Davis, three players out of the 11 on top of our back 5 that won't contribute much in terms of goals. It helps guarantee we have a load of possession, but will have an impact in our overall goal threat at times.

 

Not so sure about Davis- seen him get forward enough that he could have weighed in with more goals - after all, he has as many assists as Lallana.

[Sour Mash]

Not so sure about Davis- seen him get forward enough that he could have weighed in with more goals - after all, he has as many assists as Lallana.

Yeah, his assist return isn't bad, but his goal return for someone that plays in that position? His game is about chasing down opposing players, being tidy with the ball etc, great for retaining possession, but is ultimately a cautious approach when we're also playing two midfielders that don't contribute much in the final third.

[shurlock]

Yeah, his assist return isn't bad, but his goal return for someone that plays in that position? His game is about chasing down opposing players, being tidy with the ball etc, great for retaining possession, but is ultimately a cautious approach when we're also playing two midfielders that don't contribute much in the final third.

 

True though I think the players -as much as the system- have to take responsibility. Schneiderlin, for instance, scored more goals under MP and his system than Adkins last season. If he had carried on his form to this season he would already be on around 6-7 goals.

Edited 3 March, 2014 by shurlock

[doddisalegend]

Different story this season DMs really chipping in with some goals this got to give RK some credit he is turning Jack and Victor in to goal machines:)