Where are the goals coming from

[miserableoldgit]

I thought Matsuki might have got more of a chance after his fantastic goal against Norwich.....

[trousers]

11 minutes ago, miserableoldgit said:

I thought Matsuki might have got more of a chance after his fantastic goal against Norwich.....

Yep, same here. Didn't occur to me at the time to question his whereabouts when the matchday squad was announced on Sunday, but he's just the sort of tenacious 'have a go' type midfielder we were missing versus PCFC, IMO. Defo think he should get more of a look in, but I guess Azaz has knocked him down the pecking order somewhat. 

Edited yesterday at 15:27 by trousers

[Midfield_General]

1 hour ago, Oh no Mick Mills said:

Paul Onuachu? 

Yeah, he doesn't play for us anymore, and even when he did, he was strangely not that strong or great in the air despite being 6 foot 8 or whatever he was. Plus we hardly ever seemed to put any crosses in for him. 

Why is it seemingly so hard for us to apply the basic common sense principles: 

- If we're going to play long balls forward in the air and/ or lots of aerial crosses: need to do it to a big strong CF who can win a battle and a header. 

- If we're going to play through balls and play off the shoulder: need to do it along the ground to someone quick with good feet who can run in behind and finish. 

Last season we played Tall Paul then never crossed it to him, and this season we've played teeny tiny Adam Armstrong or Cam Archer and then hoofed long high balls and crosses up to them. 

Your average non-league manager would coach their team to play to these obvious basic strengths, yet we've had a succession of managers who don't seem to be able to do it. It's bizarre. 

Edited yesterday at 15:45 by Midfield_General

[Sunnyside Saint]

On 17/09/2025 at 17:22, saintant said:

We seem to be high in the list of teams putting in crosses and from what I gather this is a Will Still trait. However, we'll not score many goals from crosses unless we introduce a big centre forward and therein lies our problem. We should be mixing it up by getting our wide men and Archer supported by Azaz to drive forward and get shots off plus threading passes through the inside channels for runners. Still has to come up with a formation that gives us more threat going forward and creates more chances because we look toothless particularly on Sunday.. 

Crosses into the box don't require a big centre forward if the ball is played in low. Perhaps it's the idea? We conceded a shed load of goals over recent years to pull backs into the penalty spot area to be dispatched by an unmarked on rushing forward or midfielder. Crosses to small guys can work.

[Greedyfly]

2 hours ago, Sunnyside Saint said:

Crosses into the box don't require a big centre forward if the ball is played in low. Perhaps it's the idea? We conceded a shed load of goals over recent years to pull backs into the penalty spot area to be dispatched by an unmarked on rushing forward or midfielder. Crosses to small guys can work.

I am ok with this if our No9 has some positional sense and strength to shrug off defenders - not sure who that is from our crop.  Probably AA but he can't lead the line for shit so....

 

That said I think the injury update from Will today might actually help us.  Jander in the middle and Stewart up front if Archer is struggling are the two changes I might have made regardless of fitness.