Lallana, davis, puncheon, and cork provide very little speed, creativity, accurate crosses, counterattacking, and aerial threat. All good players but we need some attacking threat. I'm pleased that wanyama will provide more of an aerial threat along with his dynamic physicality. However we will still be lacking quality widemen i feel and it does look like we will be persisting with the same formation of having 2 widemen.
we had 21 shots against man u and had very few good chances, i don't rate these stats very highly tbh.
The role of Cork isn't to create or score goals in open play. He's a holding player. I assume Wanyama will replace Cork and should chip in with goals from set pieces. We actually have a better scoring rate with Puncheon on the pitch than any other player so I think you're being harsh on him.
yeah i rate puncheon because he takes the game on and he does put in good crosses but he won't get to the bye line and open up a defence. I could also see Wanyama getting forward a bit more than cork, i hope so anyway as he would be a menace in the air, plus from his youtube videos he's got a proper shot on him.
What we really, really need is for Gaston to play well. We lack a creative number 10, and Gaston just turned and ran into trouble every time he got the ball last season. I agree that the strikers aren't our issue, it's that we aren't incisive enough. With that being said, we also never seem to have a forward running off of their last man. Mostly I guess because Lambert tends to drop deeper. I think Lambert at 10, and JRod up front might work well. (Or Osvaldo up front when we sign him!) I feel like we can transition from defence to attack much more quickly. Instead we play a slower build up and let the opposition get back in numbers. When we were playing on the counter at the start of last season we scored a hatful of goals. With defensive improvements in Wanyama and Lovren, it might be necessary for us to use the old Red Arrows tactic more often, safe in the knowledge that we have defenders that can defend.
Plus it looks like Lovren can hit up a target with a long accurate pass, and in wanyama we will finally have a midfielder who can shoot from range and also score with his head. We should get many more goals even without any more signings.
Lambert may have scored in his last game but that was the only goal from open play that he scored in the last 10 or 11 games of the season so I don't think it's sacrilege to suggest a new striker may be needed. I strongly suspect Lambert won't be as prolific this coming season as he was last season. A new striker wouldn't necessarily mean the end of Lambert either. I'm pretty sure he could play the AMC role. How about Rodriguez, Lambert and Ramirez playing behind Osvaldo (or another striker)?
I would go JRod, Lambert, Puncheon. I do like that midfield three, but I would still prefer Puncheon on the wing over Ramirez. Ramirez doesn't have the defensive ability, nor the dribbling ability of Puncheon. For me, Ramirez's main quality is his reading of the game, and being able to see a pass, which is why I would always prefer him in the centre.
Eh? Did you think the football under Nige was better/more effective. I'd suggest that the standard (in general) of football under Pochettino was pretty good, we just lacked the quality of player and fitness on occasion to maximise it. [/QUOTE]If a team didn't come out and attack we didn't win, liverpool, chelsea, man city and also reading looked to play attacking passing football. Every time a team looked to defend against us we dropped points. I believe pochettino is a very good manager but he failed every time a team came out to defend. Simply bringing in better finishers won't solve the problem imo. We need better off the ball movement ,creativity, and a much faster tempo to pick apart defensive teams.[/QUOTE] But a huge increase in tempo was a signature of Pochettino's style that he implemented. I do really think you're getting your wires, or at least eyes, a little crossed here. I absolutely agree that the goalscoring responsibility weighs too much (currently) on Lambert, hence the clear pursuit of a goalscoring striker and creative midfield influence.
1. I knew what you meant by 3-7-9. I was taking the piss. 2. I am not criticising Rickie. 15 goals was a good return. 3. Yes, the midfield should/could score more 4. Yes, I still suggest signing another striker. It doesn't need to be a £30m striker and who on earth thinks any if those you mentioned are in our range; strange to mention them. Our scouts have to do their job and find us another striker, UNLESS Mayuka can do the business. You make out that me wanting to sign a striker is a ridiculous suggestion, but I think it's a fairly sensible one.
If a team didn't come out and attack we didn't win, liverpool, chelsea, man city and also reading looked to play attacking passing football. Every time a team looked to defend against us we dropped points. I believe pochettino is a very good manager but he failed every time a team came out to defend. Simply bringing in better finishers won't solve the problem imo. We need better off the ball movement ,creativity, and a much faster tempo to pick apart defensive teams.[/QUOTE] But a huge increase in tempo was a signature of Pochettino's style that he implemented. I do really think you're getting your wires, or at least eyes, a little crossed here. I absolutely agree that the goalscoring responsibility weighs too much (currently) on Lambert, hence the clear pursuit of a goalscoring striker and creative midfield influence.[/QUOTE] Pochettino is streets ahead of adkins imo as I said I like him as our manager but think there is a lot of room for improvement in the way we attack. Too often we slowed the ball down in possession and never looked to penetrate particularly in games like the sunderland game. We were quicker to transition but when a team was back defending we weren't threatening at all which is why we didn't beat any defensively set up teams. Another gripe with pochettino is his zonal marking at set pieces, we were terrible at defending set pieces and it worries me to see that we look to be continuing with a zonal defence.
Okay, I'm beginning to see where you're coming from now, and I'd tend to agree. However, implementing a very new style of football with half a season gone was always going to be tough. I think that along with it being a big season for many of our players, it's likely a big one for Pochettino as well. He'll have had a full preseason and some of his own player choices coming in, to implement his style. I'm not worried a jot, as I think we'll do well. As long as we can finalise a couple more signings that will make this style that much more effective.
1. You still haven't even attempted to describe a good chance ... sort of lowers your debating position a little. 2. Don't rely on your memory, just accept that it when I tell you that we did create a lot of chances ( I only sound this blunt, because I went back and checked the games) then you won't have to worry about your memory. I am amazed that you now tell me you are not sure if we created a lot of chances, because you spent three posts arguing that we didn't. It is ok to accept something that contradicts your thoughts when it is presented with facts. It won't hurt you and no-one will think you less of a person. 3. I agree with part of your last paragraph. Just stop for one minute and ask why those teams wanted to play defensively against us.... do you think it might have been because we were a better/improving team that was playing well and creating chances? I do. You are right that we need to work on breaking teams down more and this is one reason why I'd like another type of striker to compliment what we have as it gives another option. 4. And finally, what is wrong with scoring from a cross? Does it have to be a pass?
I know we create lots of chances, because I get frustrated by our poor conversion rate. If we improved that, we'd be top half no problem. We will find it harder this season as people adapt their system to counteract ours, but isn't that a compliment. Some teams will defend to frustrate us and hope to catch us on the break, but that means they will create fewer chances. Now if only we could stop them from scoring from their only chance in the game
But a huge increase in tempo was a signature of Pochettino's style that he implemented. I do really think you're getting your wires, or at least eyes, a little crossed here. I absolutely agree that the goalscoring responsibility weighs too much (currently) on Lambert, hence the clear pursuit of a goalscoring striker and creative midfield influence.[/QUOTE] Pochettino is streets ahead of adkins imo as I said I like him as our manager but think there is a lot of room for improvement in the way we attack. Too often we slowed the ball down in possession and never looked to penetrate particularly in games like the sunderland game. We were quicker to transition but when a team was back defending we weren't threatening at all which is why we didn't beat any defensively set up teams. Another gripe with pochettino is his zonal marking at set pieces, we were terrible at defending set pieces and it worries me to see that we look to be continuing with a zonal defence.[/QUOTE] I understand some of what you are now saying too. One point out though is that sometimes an a fast attacking tempo does not work against a defensive minded team. They are already there defending in numbers. This works well against a team that pushes on to you and in effect becomes quick counter-attacking. What is more important than the fast paced attack, is the right movement upfront and the right creativity in midfield.
I do accept that stats can be mis-leading, however you still haven't indicated what is a good chance. Try it another way: a team gets 21 shots against Man Utd (bear in mind here that we don't shoot from distance), that must suggest they are creating something?
I'd argue that we create plenty of good chances, but we don't create enough of the "surely, they'll score here" variety where the defense is out of sorts, allowing a player in the box to get a shot away unmolested...and at the other end, we don't allow a tonne of chances, but those we do are often gimmies. One of my favourite goals last year was also one of the most simple: Lambert's against Newcastle. Ball out to Lallana on the right, quick move down the edge of the box before Newcastle could set up, played in low to Lambert as he cut across the defender, relatively simple finish. Wasn't much in it, but Lallana was decisive, Lambert moved quickly into a dangerous position, the ball was delivered accurately, and into the back of the net it went. Didn't require any great pace or trickery, just a couple of decisions quickly and correctly made.
