We are not going to score enough goals

Think the idea of chipping in is overstated. I expect Bruno and Mount to get goals, plus Casemiro chipped in with a fair amount. The issue was our attacking players. This isn't 2003. Wide men contribute to scoring goals (like Rashford did last season). This season, we have more options and are planning to add to that. Amad is in the squad, Pellestri and Garnacho are a year older. And we have to set high expectations for Sancho and Antony. In addition, we plan to sign a striker, so that means Rashford can stay on the flanks.

Last season, we played a large chunk of it having to deal with issues of depth which affected our creativity at points in the season. We had to also deal with phasing out a striker and having to deal with a consistently injured striker. This forced us to rely on our wingers for goals, with only Rashford delivering. This isn't the same squad as the start of last season and if people are fond of youth development at United, they need to actually trust them.
 
Rashford scores, Bruno scores. We need Mount to score +10, Hojlund needs to hit the ground running and Antony just needs to stop hitting the advertising boards.

We’ll score more this season, whether it’s ‘enough’ we’ll have to wait and see.
 
If I had to point to a goal scorer in the United squad, I would chose Greenwood. But I doubt he will play again in United.
 
Absolutely, its the biggest problem in the team by far and I just don't see how it will be fixed by only adding Højlund. In my opinion we need a winger and two strikers but that's obviously unrealistic.

Other than Rashford is anyone really putting their money on any of our players scoring double figures in the PL? Bruno might do it due to penalties but I can't see anyone else.

The top scorers list for last season. City, Spurs, Arsenal, Newcastle, Liverpool and Leicester had two or more players in double figures in the PL. I'd bank on these teams having the same again except Leicester obviously.

Martial, Sancho and Antony are a far bigger problem than people would like to admit. This trio should be the source of the rest of our goals but I have faith in none of them. The most unreliable batch of attackers with fees over £200m combined. I think all three need to be binned off and replaced with better and more reliable scorers and creators.

Garnacho is a kid and while I think he has a big future, he just turned 19 and it will be the same if we sign Højlund. How much expectation can we put on them as kids.
 
Onana will be worth more team goals to us than a 20 goal striker will be (over and above the 38 games played by last seasons #9)

I think his signing will be transformative.
 
UnrelatedPsuedo said:
Onana will be worth more team goals to us than a 20 goal striker will be (over and above the 38 games played by last seasons #9)

I think his signing will be transformative.
Click to expand...
Agree in that the team plays 20 yards higher up the pitch, just can’t seeing is scoring more than 65 PL goals unless we add quality in the striking position
 
golden_blunder said:
Exactly if you look at the stats for goals scored it’s been a huge issue: which means moaning about Hojlund is barking up the wrong tree. It’s all about the formation/style and getting those chances
Click to expand...

We consistently had a poor structure set up to score plenty of goals. Now we have a better structure and should create more than we did last year (we created a decent amount though even last year), but need players to finish chances more. Bruno should be a bit better as he was quite poor in front of goal last year, Mount should score a decent amount, and having an actual threat in the center will help as well with Hojlund. Main thing is Antony needs to either create or score more, as he was poor at both last year. Otherwise he shouldn't be our locked in starting RW.
 
tjb said:
Think the idea of chipping in is overstated. I expect Bruno and Mount to get goals, plus Casemiro chipped in with a fair amount. The issue was our attacking players. This isn't 2003. Wide men contribute to scoring goals (like Rashford did last season). This season, we have more options and are planning to add to that. Amad is in the squad, Pellestri and Garnacho are a year older. And we have to set high expectations for Sancho and Antony. In addition, we plan to sign a striker, so that means Rashford can stay on the flanks.

Last season, we played a large chunk of it having to deal with issues of depth which affected our creativity at points in the season. We had to also deal with phasing out a striker and having to deal with a consistently injured striker. This forced us to rely on our wingers for goals, with only Rashford delivering. This isn't the same squad as the start of last season and if people are fond of youth development at United, they need to actually trust them.
Click to expand...

Agree with all of this. I really don't think people understand how fecked we were for a decent part of the season when having to start Weghorst up front. We essentially were playing with 10 men going forward for 20 straight games.
 
Valencia Shin Crosses said:
We consistently had a poor structure set up to score plenty of goals. Now we have a better structure and should create more than we did last year (we created a decent amount though even last year), but need players to finish chances more. Bruno should be a bit better as he was quite poor in front of goal last year, Mount should score a decent amount, and having an actual threat in the center will help as well with Hojlund. Main thing is Antony needs to either create or score more, as he was poor at both last year. Otherwise he shouldn't be our locked in starting RW.
Click to expand...
Anthony and Rashford don't create that much because they largely have no one to create for. Period.
 
Our team was a bit of a hodge podge of previous regimes and EtH brand of football, plus a few stop gap short term solutions. I’m sure with more of his players we’ll see a more cohesive brand of football and hence chances and goals.
 
Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber said:
Without reliable strikers who knit the attack together we will not score enough goals.
Click to expand...

It's baffling that a club the size of United hasn't got a striker. All that money pissed up the wall on deadbeats and here we are with a limited budget, nobody to stick the ball in the net, and half a dozen useless mouths to feed - metaphorically speaking.
 
A long time ago there was an amazing thread called where will the goals come from
 
UnrelatedPsuedo said:
Onana will be worth more team goals to us than a 20 goal striker will be (over and above the 38 games played by last seasons #9)

I think his signing will be transformative.
Click to expand...
I get the point you're trying to make but this is a pretty wild statement.

If we kept DDG and added a 20 goal striker who could actually hold the ball and win aerial duels like Toney we'd be a much better team, than by just adding Onana. It's not even comparable.

I'm happy we've chosen Onana over DDG but his addition leads to more control. This should lead to more chances created but with how wasteful our attackers are, the added control still might not lead to a significant rise in goals.
 
Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber said:
Anthony and Rashford don't create that much because they largely have no one to create for. Period.
Click to expand...
I mean that's just a load of crap. Bruno has largely been the most creative player in the world alongside KDB and he's hardly had a load of great options in front of him for much of his career with us.

They don't create much because they aren't creative players. For Rashford that's fine as he's actually a good goalscorer and improved his finishing tremendously last year. For Antony it's a huge issue as he isn't efficient at all in front of goal while shooting more than anyone else on the pitch not named Rashford.
 
El Jefe said:
I get the point you're trying to make but this is a pretty wild statement.

If we kept DDG and added a 20 goal striker who could actually hold the ball and win aerial duels like Toney we'd be a much better team, than by just adding Onana. It's not even comparable.

I'm happy we've chosen Onana over DDG but his addition leads to more control. This should lead to more chances created but with how wasteful our attackers are, the added control still might not lead to a significant rise in goals.
Click to expand...

I expressed it poorly. My point was, if all our number 9 across 38 games last year scored 10, adding one that scores 20 isn’t a huge swing.

I think Onana allows us to play in a manner that sees more players scores at least another 20 between them.
 
Syphon Wallet said:
A striker is not going to magically fix it, we dont create enough from the wingers, all the want to do is cut in and blast it.
Click to expand...


It's amazing how do many united fans don't realise this.

Our wingers create so little it's shocking. It makes no difference who we have up front if we can't create a chance for them to take.
 
It’s definitely a concern. We struggled to convert attacks in to goals last season and there’s nothing changed on that front so far. I’m also not convinced a young unproven striker will be the difference.
 
Goal scoring is a real concern. Hojlund will help for sure, and a fully fit Martial as a rotation option is also key. But that’s like saying a unicorn would solve all our problems.

I think Mount will help, but ETH needs to figure out how to configure the team to make the most of him. Moving to a 6 with two 8/10 hybrids in front is the way to go, I believe, to allow Mount and Fernandes to contribute with goals from midfield. It’s self limiting if Mount sits deeper, and he’s not the player for that.

With time I think we’ll figure it out, but at the very least getting Hojlund in is essential. But I still think goals will be a struggle for us this season. Which makes our defence key to success. We’ll win a lot of games 1 or 2 nil unless we utilise Onana and Mount properly to make that transition to consistently playing higher up the pitch with more off the ball pressure.

We’ve also only played two proper pre season games. Important not to draw too many definitive conclusions so early. But agreed this is an area of concern to be watched closely.
 
There are huge amount of creative players in our squad but it's really about if ETH can get it to work: Sancho, Mount, Antony, Rashford, Martial, Bruno, Garnacho all have their own issues to various extents but we don't really have an ice cold finisher who plays centrally. Martial looked like he would be this but he's a crock.
 
simonhch said:
Goal scoring is a real concern. Hojlund will help for sure, and a fully fit Martial as a rotation option is also key. But that’s like saying a unicorn would solve all our problems.

I think Mount will help, but ETH needs to figure out how to configure the team to make the most of him. Moving to a 6 with two 8/10 hybrids in front is the way to go, I believe, to allow Mount and Fernandes to contribute with goals from midfield. It’s self limiting if Mount sits deeper, and he’s not the player for that.

With time I think we’ll figure it out, but at the very least getting Hojlund in is essential. But I still think goals will be a struggle for us this season. Which makes our defence key to success. We’ll win a lot of games 1 or 2 nil unless we utilise Onana and Mount properly to make that transition to consistently playing higher up the pitch with more off the ball pressure.

We’ve also only played two proper pre season games. Important not to draw too many definitive conclusions so early. But agreed this is an area of concern to be watched closely.
Click to expand...

I really hope ETH doesn't plan on using Mount in a double pivot.

But I agree with your points.
 
I agree with OP. Unless there is a miracle and everyone starts banging them in, I don't see where the goals will come from.
 
Hardly a hot take.

If we don't buy someone like Kane, we're depending on Højlund who has just turned 20 and never played in the Prem, Rashford to have another massive season, and Antony to seriously start hitting the target. On top of that, we need Bruno to get back his scoring form from 20/21 as well as contributions from the likes of Mount, Garnacho, Sancho, and Martial.

It is really hard to see us getting enough goals to be serious contenders.
 
This wasn’t meant to be a doom and gloom thread by the way, I’m actually optimistic about this season and what ETH is doing

But unlike other top sides we don’t tend to get goals from midfield and so the focus is put much more on having prolific forwards
 
Absolutely, this thread is spot on... we have never replaced the quality, presence of Zlatan... Lukaku started the demise with his nonsense and we have never managed anything since. I do think we will score more, simply because the squad know that we need to... Mount, Bruno, Rashford.. they carry real goalscoring threats. But I just don't think it will be enough.

That no 9 signing is so very important. Doesn't Sancho want to score goals? Antony? Martial? None of them seem like they actually really, really want to step up.

Rashford did. You could see it, his whole game and approach. It changed. But i don't see that in our other forwards.. just some neat and tidy football with the occasional flash of something. That will not trouble the better teams in the Premiership (which is going to be incredibly competitive this season...)
 
Signing someone like Osimhen would help us a lot, we have a lot of creators in Antony, Bruno and Sancho, but no lethal finishers. Partly why I'd rather we didn't sign Mount (who doesn't really offer much of an upgrade on anything) and just spent big on a striker.

The other issue we've had for about ten years - probably since Nani starting declining, is that we have few players out wide that can beat a man. Rashford can do it occasionally, but Antony and Sancho almost never do. If we want to challenge, we will need to eventually address this. Arsenal have Saka that can consistently run past players, Liverpool had Mane and Salah who could do it, City don't do it quite so much but Foden, Mahrez and Grealish are all capable of getting past their man. It's not needed so much in the modern Pep style game but it's a useful tool to have still.

I don't know when we started making shit so complicated - the blueprint of fast, dribbling wide players and a technical finishing striker saw SAF dominate 20 years straight. As soon as he left, we started signing players that don't fit that blueprint - the likes of Depay (can't dribble), Martial (as a striker), Sancho (no acceleration), Antony (no acceleration), Lukaku (lump). Our best two attackers arguably in the post SAF period have been two academy prospects in Rashford and Greenwood. As bad as the Glazers have been, the scouts and Woody and the manager picks have been dog turd. Hojlund will very likely continue that trend.
 
careca07 said:
This wasn’t meant to be a doom and gloom thread by the way, I’m actually optimistic about this season and what ETH is doing

But unlike other top sides we don’t tend to get goals from midfield and so the focus is put much more on having prolific forwards
Click to expand...
I think you're making some good points.

Hard to understand how anyone see it as a doom and gloom thread when it's such an obvious issue. Then again, some people will always complain.
 
careca07 said:
There’s just no chance we are mounting a title challenge currently and while Onana helps the playing style, it’s the amount of goals that City, Arsenal and Liverpool score that makes the difference.
Click to expand...
Kag said:
This has been our overhwhelming issue for ten years now.
Click to expand...
MonkeysMagic said:
It's not only the striker position, but we have been lacking goals collectively from the team.
Click to expand...
Red 142 said:
I agree - I think this will remain Utd's biggest issue next season, even if Hojlund is signed.
Click to expand...
SER19 said:
We scored far too little last season
Click to expand...
Someone said:
It's a real concern and I kinda agree that signing a 20 years old striker won't be enough.
Click to expand...
El Jefe said:
Absolutely, its the biggest problem in the team by far and I just don't see how it will be fixed by only adding Højlund.
Click to expand...
Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber said:
Without reliable strikers who knit the attack together we will not score enough goals.
Click to expand...
VeevaVee said:
We struggled to convert attacks in to goals last season and there’s nothing changed on that front so far.
Click to expand...
Chip said:
It is really hard to see us getting enough goals to be serious contenders.
Click to expand...
simonhch said:
Goal scoring is a real concern.
Click to expand...
RedDevil@84 said:
Unless there is a miracle and everyone starts banging them in, I don't see where the goals will come from.
Click to expand...
Hard to disagree with any of this. Last nights game is a great example, but we had it last season too. We dominated possession, controlled large parts of the game but it’s always the final phase that lets us down. We have no focal point and until we do our low return for chances created will go on.
 
golden_blunder said:
Exactly if you look at the stats for goals scored it’s been a huge issue: which means moaning about Hojlund is barking up the wrong tree. It’s all about the formation/style and getting those chances
Click to expand...
Respectfully I disagree. We create great chances, both building from the back last season and on the counter/quick break away, but we don’t have a focal point to convert so last season our chances were falling to Weghorst and AWB.
 
Vidyoyo said:
We'd have to spunk over 100 million on a guaranteed rate of return with the likes of Kane, with almost that amount for a young player like Hojlund who might become that type of player. It's a complete risk and a pricey one at that.
Click to expand...
It’s completely insane that this wasn’t the first thing we addressed. It’s a far bigger concern than the GK or Mason fecking Mount. :wenger:
 
Plant0x84 said:
Respectfully I disagree. We create great chances, both building from the back last season and on the counter/quick break away, but we don’t have a focal point to convert so last season our chances were falling to Weghorst and AWB.
Click to expand...
xG was worse than Newcastle, Brighton, Liverpool and the ones we'd suspect - Arsenal and City.

So that's not really tallying up with great creation when the goal is to get to the top of the table. It wasn't too bad but far from the top end. Having a focal point to find could help but I think as things stand it's a bit of stretch to suggest our creation is right where it should be.
 
AFC NimbleThumb said:
We’d go a long way to scoring more goals if we had re-integrated our no.11
Click to expand...
Howl said:
This is what makes me almost certain MG is going to play for us this season. He's arguably the best finisher in the squad and since he's already a United player the glazers don't need to spend any money bringing him in.
Click to expand...
Hester_manc said:
If I had to point to a goal scorer in the United squad, I would chose Greenwood. But I doubt he will play again in United.
Click to expand...
Lads, he isn’t the answer and he won’t be the player he once was after his enforced sabbatical.
Nor should he be the answer, he doesn’t deserve to wear our shirt again, and we are a big enough club that we should be able to afford and attract the very best strikers.
Feck the glazers and feck MG.
 
We need a striker to play off. While it won't fix everything it will certainly help to have an actual focal point, not just to play off and around but to target - just fix of how many chances Weghorst wasted in his 6 months.

But a couple major issues is that we spent big money on Sancho and Antony and neither are great as it relates to creating chances often and goalscoring. The thing with Snacho is that he's a good finisher but doesn't get into promising positions enough or when he does, he's weirdly shot shy. With Antony, he gets into decent positions but is very wasteful.

Ideally we'd have a RW that's either super creative or a big goalscoring threat and I don't think our options there (Antony + Sancho) are either.
 
Abraxas said:
xG was worse than Newcastle, Brighton, Liverpool and the ones we'd suspect - Arsenal and City.

So that's not really tallying up with great creation when the goal is to get to the top of the table. It wasn't too bad but far from the top end. Having a focal point to find could help but I think as things stand it's a bit of stretch to suggest our creation is right where it should be.
Click to expand...
Not what I said, and I agree creation can be better, but for me xG is about chance conversion not chance creation. We’re getting into goal scoring situations and then not scoring goals. We need someone clinical.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.