I was going to start a thread in a similar vein, but since we have this one, I'll just post my thoughts here.
For me, it's about time the attackers started getting some heat. For a while now, we have had largely the same issue, which is breaking down teams who set-up in a low-block. Under Solskjaer, we developed into a very effective counter-attacking side, but it was often noted that we relied on moments of magic, luck or penalties to beat sides we should really have been blowing away.
At the time, many blamed the midfield. Now, it's certainly true that McTominay and Fred don't move the ball effectively enough, so we're not really here to have that debate. However, do they move the ball SO ineffectively that we can't possibly expect any more from our attackers? Especially against weaker sides, were dominating the ball was/is never really an issue, and we often have 70% possession.
At the start of this season, Solskjaer took further steps to try and address our inability to regularly dispatch non-top six opposition. We moved the defensive line even higher, we asked the midfielders to go and press high, we asked the full backs to push on and make underlapping runs, we asked Maguire (especially) to step into midfield with the ball. All of this puts extra pressure on the defence but is aimed at helping the attackers. Again, we saw very little from them. In the end, Solskjaer's lack of tactical nous left us massively exposed, and we ended up with the worst of both Worlds - we still struggled to create chances and we were horribly exposed at the back.
Now, it's always been the case in football that attackers get away very lightly compared to defenders. This is not news. However, we were especially guilty of it on this forum and at United. A defender can be fantastic for 90-minutes, yet will get hammered because some know-nothing pundit or idiot on here thinks they could have been half a yard closer to someone or further up the pitch after we concede a goal.
In contrast, Rashford has stunk the place out week after week for 2/3 seasons, but some would defend him because he had a 1 in 3 goal-scoring records, or had a goal contribution every two games, or some nonsense. Martial wanders around the pitch like it's an effort for him, complains about not playing CF, then manages one goal in something like 20 league games. Fernandes is infuriatingly wasteful, and it's actually becoming debatable for me whether his chaotic approach to the game is worth the guaranteed goal contribution per game you admittedly do generally get with him. Pogba, for all his talent, doesn't really effect games. We all remember his four assists against Leeds, but take those out and how many goals/assists does he have over the last three seasons? I don't know the answer, but I know it's not that many for a £90m player in a team who regularly have most of the ball. Sancho has come in and fair enough, needs time to settle. Has also been much improved lately, and has unbelievable technique, but if he can't convert that into goals and assists, what good is it?
Add to this the fact that we haven't signed a striker under 29 in a decade, and you start to wonder - why on Earth were we ever really focusing on the defence, and even the midfield to some extent? We have Ronaldo and Cavani at 37 and 34 respectively as a CF options, and yet we wonder why we don't score many goals? Absolute legends of the game, don't get me wrong, but football is increasingly a young man's game. I honestly think defenders will be happy to face this current Ronaldo. No pace, not going to hurt you in-behind, not great on the ball, doesn't really work hard to press you...your only real big concern is his aerial prowess, and even that seems to have deserted him lately.
Why, at no point, when we have struggled to break down these teams over the years, has there been any serious heat on the forwards, or our lack of proper forwards? It makes a huge difference, to have that striker who can really scare defenders with pace, brute strength, running in-behind or great hold-up play. It also makes a huge difference to have that player who can nick a goal from a half-chance, or be in the right place at the right time to score a cheap goal, or take the one chance we do create in a half. The reality is, once you get that opening goal, you usually then go on to beat teams like Watford et al by three of four, because they have to open up a little and/or they lose some focus/determination.
The reality is, the CF position is yet another position the club have bafflingly neglected over the years. It's incredible that with all of the money we have spent, we haven't signed a proper CF. Even now, we're talking about signing more defenders. Forget signing more defenders, we have five international CBs and four good FBs already. Are they perfect? No. But we're not currently dropping points because we can't defend, we're dropping points (again) because we can't score goals when it matters in tight games. Yes, we scored four against a poor Leeds side, and three at home to bottom of the table Burnley, but it's the Wolves at home or Watford at home-type games that are really, really hurting us. That's five points dropped, at home, in recent weeks. We scored one solitary goal at home against Southampton, another two points dropped. In those three games, we conceded two goals. I don't think that's unreasonable, especially since the Wolves goal came after we had started throwing bodies forwards late-on.
Sure, we'd all like to see a few more clean sheets, and I think this will come in-time under Ralf (or any serious manager), but I really don't think the odd goal we are conceding currently is the big problem.
We absolutely must go out and get a proper CF (or two) now. As I said, forget defenders, forget wide-forwards, forget a GK (for now). All of these positions are not perfect, but I don't think they are THE problem. We need a CM, clearly, but we HAVE to find at least one CF, in their prime, of the quality required to really hurt teams. If we keep kidding ourselves that the likes of Rashford and a 37yo Ronaldo will deliver, because we've this romanticised view of them as players, then we'll get what we deserve
