Then we end up like Arsenal, always trying to walk the ball into the net. And if that frustrates their supporters (trust me, it does) with the talent at their disposal, I can just see that going down a treat at St Marys. Obviously the more we can work the ball in the oppositions box the better, but sometimes you have to gamble. Good job Jay did yesterday.
It went down a treat last year at St Mary's. Two-thirds of our shots came within the opposition box (we were fifth in the league in raw count), leading to 59 goals scored. Working shots in the box is not chasing some impossible dream.
Where are you getting these numbers from? are you Ralph Krueger? One criticism frequently heard last season was that we hardly ever tried our luck from outside the box.
https://www.whoscored.com/Regions/2...amStatistics/England-Premier-League-2015-2016 And yeah, some people did state that we should shoot more from range. And indeed, at times, we should have. But there is a vast world between the two extremes, and it must be said that last year's balance was very effective in producing goals. So given the choice between taking two-thirds of our shots in the box, as we did last year, or a mere one-third, as we have done thus far, I'd very much like us to work toward the former, as the results were much more profitable.
I can remember when players tried to find the optimal shot from within the area and we were all begging them to shoot from distance.
Jesus Christ, been away all weekend so I missed the game, but anyone would think we got hammered 8-0 going by Twitter. Having read through this thread, and your more level-headed views, and watched the highlights, it doesn't seem like we were that poor!
Just out of interest what formation did our U23's use?? Les Reid has said in the past we adopt the same formation (4-2-3-1 at the time) for all our academy sides right through to the first team.
There is an area of grey between "always shooting outside the box" and "always trying to walk the ball into the net". Vin
You realise we've been looking pretty great in the under 23s until now and we didn't put out our strongest side by any means, right? The under 23s have another game in two days - the Checkatrade trophy. They're most likely resting some of the best players for that. They're definitely resting some - no Lewis or Hesketh for a start and there will be others missing too, they're just the first I noticed. If there's ever a game not to judge the academy on, it's the one you've just watched.
We have literally got about 8 youngsters genuinely pushing the first team, at the moment. That Josh Maja who got a first half double today, was promoted to the under 23's today from the under 18's. He has got a hell of a reputation and was working with Defoe throughout pre-season. I have never known anything like it at Sunderland. This really could be a golden generation coming along and it's great for us to see. This has been building for a few years now and it's finally all coming together.
It could also be summarised by saying we should create more shooting opportunities and also shoot more (inside and outside the box)
and that is what it was- our senior U21/23's have been rested for the Charlton game. Stephens, Hesketh, Reed, McQueen etc were missing
Scoring from inside the box does not equate to trying to walk the ball into the box. If you attack at speed you may end up with 3 attackers in the box against 4 defenders, good chance of scoring. If you attack slowly and try to work the ball into the box you will end up with 3 or 4 attackers against 8 or 9 defenders, poor chance of scoring. Trust me, after LvG I know this well.
