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Lack of goals still an issue

Mile End Wanderer

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Do we think Lage can find the right formula to get us shooting and scoring more goals soon??

The past 2 games seem like a throwback to the end of last season which is concerning
 

Derbywolf85

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Do we think Lage can find the right formula to get us shooting and scoring more goals soon??

The past 2 games seem like a throwback to the end of last season which is concerning
We’re not playing with a striker at the moment.

Let’s at least wait until we are to decide if it’s an issue.

We scored plenty in Pre-season when we had one fit and playing.
 

Metal Wolf89

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It isn't Lages fault that our players are not taking the chances we're creating! If Neto and Dendonker scored their chances yesterday there wouldn't be a problem..
 

Narfolk Wolf

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I thought Villas second yesterday, highlighted what good off the ball movement does. We tend to be to static allowing defenders to reset.
Do we think Lage can find the right formula to get us shooting and scoring more goals soon??

The past 2 games seem like a throwback to the end of last season which is concerning
 

jrpb-3

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We’re not playing with a striker at the moment.
We're not counting Hwang as striker then, that's where he was supposed to by playing yesterday ?
I know he sometimes plays as more of a wide forward

Combination of things end of last season start of this

Link up /speed of play from midfield to forwards not good enough

lack out out and out forward/ or not one in form anyway

poor finishing from other forwards when chances do come

Almost continual string of injuries to one or other of the forward players, when was the last time all were available to play/ be on bench at the same time for more than a couple of games in a row.


Yes we could do with real out and out goal scorer /real competition for Raul

but we ought to be getting more from what we currently have at the club hopefully when Guedes settles in he will offer something more and at some time one or more of Podence/Neto/Hwang/Jimenez has to hit a bit of form
 

northnorfolkwolf

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We're not counting Hwang as striker then, that's where he was supposed to by playing yesterday ?
I know he sometimes plays as more of a wide forward

Combination of things end of last season start of this

Link up /speed of play from midfield to forwards not good enough

lack out out and out forward/ or not one in form anyway

poor finishing from other forwards when chances do come

Almost continual string of injuries to one or other of the forward players, when was the last time all were available to play/ be on bench at the same time for more than a couple of games in a row.


Yes we could do with real out and out goal scorer /real competition for Raul

but we ought to be getting more from what we currently have at the club hopefully when Guedes settles in he will offer something more and at some time one or more of Podence/Neto/Hwang/Jimenez has to hit a bit of form
We need a 15 goal a season striker (Guedes who knows?) and the other 4 you mentioned will struggle to get 15 goals between them.
 

JOSWolf

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Until we add a striker, goal scoring central midfield player and our attacking players improve their goal scoring this will be an ever recurring theme.
 

MontyR

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I didn't get to watch the game yesterday, but one thing I noticed last year and still noticed last week was how reliant we are on 1v1s which just ends up in lost possession or fouls.

There was a moment last year (maybe the first 3 games?) where we had excellent one touch play. It seems lately our strategy is to pass it to a winger and see how far they can get it. Maybe a striker can solve this, but maybe our front 3 in Neto, Podence and MGW need to dribble less and work together to move the ball forward and into good positions to shoot?

Interestingly this is how we rank in the league at the moment:
  • Shots per Game - 11 (14th in league)
  • Shots on-target per Game - 3.5 (13th in league)
  • Dribbles per game - 14 (2nd in league)
  • Fouled per game - 13.5 (1st in league)
  • Rating per game - 6.7 (7th in league)
 

Contrarian

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We need a 15 goal a season striker (Guedes who knows?) and the other 4 you mentioned will struggle to get 15 goals between them.

Not even sure we need be that extravagant! A 10 goal a season striker would be a huge improvement. Especially if it was one who could create for a few others too. Jota didn't get 10 a season in the PL, did he? Yet his overall contribution was immense and I still don't think we've come anywhere near replacing it and that's our main problem.

If Raul can get a bit closer to pre-injury form, that will help. A big "if" though and we need that supporting role similar to what Jota provided anyway. Only Neto is anywhere close to it and has only just got back to full speed and looked decent so far. He's being greedy, but I can understand that when you look at what's going on around him. Might as well keep going and score yourself as more often than not, we're outnumbered in the box so crossing is pointless.
 

VancouverWolf

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If we want back in Europa, we need to be aiming for 60 goals a season. Yes it can be done with less but 60 should be the target because, to progress in any significant way in Europe, we need to score goals.
 

tonto

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Looking back at my youth I never knew how lucky I was to see a player like Kenny Hibbit never seen any player work so hard and goals were always in his game plus setting them up for other exciting moments when he let one rip just over even breaking the goal post
Hope you younger people get some of that excitement soon you deserve it, not this boring no chance of scoring football
 

Contrarian

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I didn't get to watch the game yesterday, but one thing I noticed last year and still noticed last week was how reliant we are on 1v1s which just ends up in lost possession or fouls.

There was a moment last year (maybe the first 3 games?) where we had excellent one touch play. It seems lately our strategy is to pass it to a winger and see how far they can get it. Maybe a striker can solve this, but maybe our front 3 in Neto, Podence and MGW need to dribble less and work together to move the ball forward and into good positions to shoot?

Interestingly this is how we rank in the league at the moment:
  • Shots per Game - 11 (14th in league)
  • Shots on-target per Game - 3.5 (13th in league)
  • Dribbles per game - 14 (2nd in league)
  • Fouled per game - 13.5 (1st in league)
  • Rating per game - 6.7 (7th in league)

Interesting on the fouls, because at the time, it seemed every time we had a clear space to run into, Fulham fouled us to break it up. That incident at the end by Mitrovic on MGW was typical example, but they were doing it the whole match. The co-commentator, an ex-Fulham player, was chortling several times about how Fulham were much more "streetwise" this time around, as they shirt-pulled, or tripped one of our players who was past them. Praising them for their tactical fouls, sneaky blocking of runners at corners and so on.

A bit of nous on our side, and we could have got one of their players sent off. Yes, it's not nice, but it's the modern game, I'm afraid. Instead, MGW lost his cool, precisely because of the continual tactical fouling, and it was him who could have walked.

Anyway, those stats kind of back up what I think most of us are seeing, which is that most of our game is OK. Good, even. But the closer we get to the opponents goal, the more it all falls down.
 

tonto

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If we want back in Europa, we need to be aiming for 60 goals a season. Yes it can be done with less but 60 should be the target because, to progress in any significant way in Europe, we need to score goals.
True but more players need to contribute more goals from midfield,or as I would say in Olde English from your inside forwards and your half backs maybe one or two from your centre half and your full backs.I would let the goalie off I think
 

Contrarian

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If we want back in Europa, we need to be aiming for 60 goals a season. Yes it can be done with less but 60 should be the target because, to progress in any significant way in Europe, we need to score goals.

Based on the typical returns of our forwards at this level, we have several 5 a season players. Add in a few from the defenders at set pieces. 3 or 4 each from Neves and Moutinho. I make it Raul needs to score at least 30. Easy.
 

Fenrir_

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Put simply, we're not creating enough chances for the forwards. It's fine complaining about missing chances here or there but our players are getting one a game if they're lucky, if you're only getting one chance a game it's unlikely you're going to be ice cool with your finish when the opportunity comes, more likely to be a little panicky. Lewandowski got 35 goals last season from 161 shots, Haaland got 22 from 80, these are two of the best goalscorers in the world and need four chances to get a goal. Stands to reason that when our forwards get their chance they tend to snatch at it
 

Jack Russell

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There was an occasion yesterday when Neto got down the left and put in a cross which eluded the only Wolves player in the box which I think was Podence. There was nobody else near to cause any problems. Has Charles Hughes concept of the Position of maximum opportunity (POMO) been forgotten or just ignored. We often fail too get enough players in or around the box during attacks and, for my money, this is our biggest problem. Also we seem to be ill equipped to execute the fast break that, at one time, we were so good at.

It seems to me that the rot set in when Nuno tried to change the priorities and Bruno seems to be stuck in no man's land with sorting out what he wants from the team.

We were playing excellent football in our first two seasons back in the Prem. Nuno screwed it up and Bruno needs to address the situation or go! We will have to see where we are at the end of the transfer window, If Fosun are still serious about their objectives then it should be obvious what needs to be done.
 

northnorfolkwolf

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Whilst I agree we are in desperate need of a striker we really need our other forwards to step up and contribute.
They won't! Neto, MGW, Hwang, Podence - 15 goals between them if we're lucky. None of them are natural goal scorers; they're in the team to make goals, only they don't do that either at the moment. I think if we had that goal scorer hanging around the 18yd/6 yd box our game would come alive. How Wolves can't see that is beyond me. I only hope they are not waiting for Jimenez to return and putting all their faith in him.
 

The Wolf In The North

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Interesting comment from Pep yesterday in the MOTD interview, talking about the moment Foden blasted one wide instead of looking for Haaland in the box. He said his players were used to not having someone right there, on the spot - because of the fluid approach they've had in recent seasons - but that now they don't even have to worry about it, because Haaland will be there, every time.

Pure strikers who live in that penalty box, craving goals like scooby snacks, they're the meat of the game. Put pace down the flanks with Neto, RAN and Guedes, thread the odd ball through from Podence, MGW and Moutinho, it means nothing if there's no one in there willing to stomp their own grandmother to stick studs on the ball and put it in the net.

No one's suggesting an established top talent like Haaland, but if we could just find one of those box hounds, we have enough forwards to keep rattling that ball into them.
 

Fifty Niner

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Interesting comment from Pep yesterday in the MOTD interview, talking about the moment Foden blasted one wide instead of looking for Haaland in the box. He said his players were used to not having someone right there, on the spot - because of the fluid approach they've had in recent seasons - but that now they don't even have to worry about it, because Haaland will be there, every time.

Pure strikers who live in that penalty box, craving goals like scooby snacks, they're the meat of the game. Put pace down the flanks with Neto, RAN and Guedes, thread the odd ball through from Podence, MGW and Moutinho, it means nothing if there's no one in there willing to stomp their own grandmother to stick studs on the ball and put it in the net.

No one's suggesting an established top talent like Haaland, but if we could just find one of those box hounds, we have enough forwards to keep rattling that ball into them.
Unlike City we don’t have players other than the striker who can score goals.
 

northnorfolkwolf

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Unlike City we don’t have players other than the striker who can score goals.
That's exactly the reason we need to buy one!!!!! I just don't get how Wolves don't see that. We can't wait for and then rely on Jimenez anymore. Instinctive strikers must be out there, even if it means looking at the Champs. We need a guy to stay put around the 18yd/6 yd box and with the wide players we have you have to think he will get us the 15 goals a season we need.
 

Fifty Niner

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That's exactly the reason we need to buy one!!!!! I just don't get how Wolves don't see that. We can't wait for and then rely on Jimenez anymore. Instinctive strikers must be out there, even if it means looking at the Champs. We need a guy to stay put around the 18yd/6 yd box and with the wide players we have you have to think he will get us the 15 goals a season we need.
If the other forwards and midfield aren’t contributing then we’re still stuffed, particularly if said striker gets injured. As so many predicted when we relied on Raul so much.
 

Contrarian

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If the other forwards and midfield aren’t contributing then we’re still stuffed, particularly if said striker gets injured. As so many predicted when we relied on Raul so much.

So don't buy a striker, because he might get inured and you won't be able to score? We're not talking Haaland here, what we need is to have more than one player capable of scoring more than 6 goals in a season. Because we haven't had that since we sold Jota and Doc.
 

Golden Oldie

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It isn't Lages fault that our players are not taking the chances we're creating! If Neto and Dendonker scored their chances yesterday there wouldn't be a problem..
And even less of a problem if the miss of the game by MGW had hit the back of the net, as it should even in a schoolboy game. If that howler doesn't haunt him for many a day to come it certainly should.
 

lets all have a disco

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Interesting comment from Pep yesterday in the MOTD interview, talking about the moment Foden blasted one wide instead of looking for Haaland in the box. He said his players were used to not having someone right there, on the spot - because of the fluid approach they've had in recent seasons - but that now they don't even have to worry about it, because Haaland will be there, every time.

Pure strikers who live in that penalty box, craving goals like scooby snacks, they're the meat of the game. Put pace down the flanks with Neto, RAN and Guedes, thread the odd ball through from Podence, MGW and Moutinho, it means nothing if there's no one in there willing to stomp their own grandmother to stick studs on the ball and put it in the net.

No one's suggesting an established top talent like Haaland, but if we could just find one of those box hounds, we have enough forwards to keep rattling that ball into them.
That's why we need Andre Silva...50 goals in Germany in the last 2 seasons all from inside the box.....
 

Fenrir_

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To add to forwards getting chances

Some of these players have been here a while, all the forwards had more shots per game under the previous manager, including in the Covid season, even Fabio Silva when he should have been doing a paper round was getting over twice as many chances as he was last season and nobody can argue he wasn't a better player in 21/22

There is a fundamental issue with the way we're set up to attack, whether we're just reluctant to make the final pass or take the shot on or need to walk it in, whatever it is (I'm a fan, not a coach!), fix the issue, take a risk if need be, create more chances and these players will score more goals
 

KBWWFC

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There is a fundamental issue with the way we're set up to attack, whether we're just reluctant to make the final pass or take the shot on or need to walk it in, whatever it is (I'm a fan, not a coach!), fix the issue, take a risk if need be, create more chances and these players will score more goals

This.
The players, who make up the bulk of the squad, had it repeatedly drilled into them for four years to not take risks, set traps, and defend from the front. That mentality carried on into last season, where we repeatedly saw Coady screaming for the safe ball at every opportunity even when there were relatively low risk forward passes on.

Unfortunately most of the squad has degraded over time, Neves isn't as mobile as he used to be, Moutinho too, Donck is scared of his own shadow (and has never been a "ball player"), Jonny, Neto, and Raul have had massive layoffs and there are still question marks over whether they can come back to the same level as before.

For me, Neves can't play in a 2 in the Premier League, he's too slow. Dendoncker shouldn't be anywhere near a premier League midfield as he doesn't offer anything, and Moutinho should be a sub option. The fact that those are our only midfield choices is a sign of such poor recruitment.

Nobody is getting a tune out of the current squad because it is completely imbalanced, we lack options and the ability to properly play through the middle of the park.
 

jrpb-3

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Since we've been in the Prem this time round we've not been a particularly high scoring team, but with a solid defense that doesn't concede too many that's been more than enough, we have relied on a large proportion of the goals coming from the main striker or set up by them, so it's no surprise that with Raul out for so long then not on best of form when back that the goals have dried up. We now have plenty of options for Defense, and for the wide/front players but we still have no one as a direct replacement/competition for Raul, this has to be the main issue. There are other areas we could also improve, movement and speed of passing from midfield to attack and between the front players, and also getting more players in and around the box when attacking.

First priority is to make sure we score from a higher percentage of the chances we create (new striker).
Second is to look at out play and how to create more chances. If we don't manage to bring someone in this window then thes second part become the priority
 

Contrarian

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Put simply, we're not creating enough chances for the forwards. It's fine complaining about missing chances here or there but our players are getting one a game if they're lucky, if you're only getting one chance a game it's unlikely you're going to be ice cool with your finish when the opportunity comes, more likely to be a little panicky. Lewandowski got 35 goals last season from 161 shots, Haaland got 22 from 80, these are two of the best goalscorers in the world and need four chances to get a goal. Stands to reason that when our forwards get their chance they tend to snatch at it

Who creates the chances for Lewandoski and Haaland? I don't know about them, but recall that when Liverpool score for fun, the forwards create a lot of chances for each other. Also Alexander-Arnold chips in with loads of assists from wingback. Son often assists for Kane. Looking at the list, Vardy has 9 assists last season. Fernandes and DeBruyne also get loads of assists (and goals) as attacking midfielders.

OK, DeBruyne is unique, but we have not had anybody in that attacking midfield role since promotion. So that's one source of goals gone. The current wing-backs are not creative enough. Another source gone. And forwards themselves are also creating goals at higher rates than ours do. They can't be let off the hook that easily, because while midfield does contribute to creating chances, a significant amount are also created by other forwards. And our forwards have been neither creating nor scoring. So there you go, we don't have the 3 main sources of goals. And our set pieces have been below average for this league for ages, so that's gone, too.

Put it all together and you can see why we have this chronic goal scoring problem. Whether the current players are capable of changing if a new manager arrived and overhauled the tactics and training? Who knows? They've been like it for 2 consecutive managers.
 

Fifty Niner

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So don't buy a striker, because he might get inured and you won't be able to score? We're not talking Haaland here, what we need is to have more than one player capable of scoring more than 6 goals in a season. Because we haven't had that since we sold Jota and Doc.
My point is a striker alone won’t solve our problems. City have goals throughout their team and whilst we are not on their level we don’t. Not since Jota and Doc left. So, absolutely we need a striker who can get 15 goals but where are the rest coming from?
 

Jonzy54

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I am fed up waiting for a striker.It was an issue last season when we failed to score in 17 league games .We then got told to wait because the window had only just opened ,then it was the International window ,then it was there is still plenty of time ,then it was the season hasn’t started yet and now it’s we have to be patient and wait .
In the meantime we have scored 1 goal so I just hope something is bubbling because there will be no excuses when the window closes and we haven’t got one in .Yes we have Raul to come back but as we know he was far from prolific last season .
I don’t want to be a doom and gloom merchant but unless we sort this issue out now I just can’t see where our goals will come from ?
 

Supadavewolf

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That's exactly the reason we need to buy one!!!!! I just don't get how Wolves don't see that. We can't wait for and then rely on Jimenez anymore. Instinctive strikers must be out there, even if it means looking at the Champs. We need a guy to stay put around the 18yd/6 yd box and with the wide players we have you have to think he will get us the 15 goals a season we need.
How realistic is it to buy a "guaranteed" 15 a season scorer? From memory there were about 8 in the PL last season.

More realistic to look for a central striker who will potentially score 8 - 10 and look to the other forwards.
 

WolfLing

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Since we've been in the Prem this time round we've not been a particularly high scoring team, but with a solid defense that doesn't concede too many that's been more than enough, we have relied on a large proportion of the goals coming from the main striker or set up by them, so it's no surprise that with Raul out for so long then not on best of form when back that the goals have dried up. We now have plenty of options for Defense, and for the wide/front players but we still have no one as a direct replacement/competition for Raul, this has to be the main issue. There are other areas we could also improve, movement and speed of passing from midfield to attack and between the front players, and also getting more players in and around the box when attacking.

First priority is to make sure we score from a higher percentage of the chances we create (new striker).
Second is to look at out play and how to create more chances. If we don't manage to bring someone in this window then thes second part become the priority

Agree with this.

If you look at the stats, it backs it up too.

Goals - actual.jpg

We've never averaged more than 1.34 goals per game, dipping to 1 and below for the past 2 seasons!

It's the expected goals that are slightly more worrying for me.

Like or loathe expected goal stats, they are generally a decent enough way of assessing the amount and quality of chances a team is creating. They are certainly a good way of benchmarking the same team over a period of time.

Goals - expected.jpg

Jose Sa was lauded last season for conceding so few compared to our expected goals against. Great for him individually, but not so good for the team as it just masked some of our inefficiencies.

Although last season we actually scored slightly more per game and conceded fewer than Nuno's last season, the expected goals for and against tell a different story, as we were expected to score fewer goals and concede more goals than Nuno's last season.

Add to that the fact we had fewer games where we had expected goals higher than the opposition, more games with expected goals less than 1 and fewer games with expected goals of 1.5-2.0 and 2.0+ and it's not looking too promising, as all of the expected goals stats show that we are actually creating fewer and lower quality chances than Nuno's last season!

This season's stats look terrible so far, but as others have said, I think we need to see how they look after a few months with a proper striker and settling in to playing with a back 4. Whether that's Raul or someone new we will see.
 

northnorfolkwolf

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Reading al this it's strange to me that as fans we can all see where the problems lie but the Club repeatedly do nothing about it. Strikers of all levels do become available from Keiffer Moore to Haarland, through Danny Ings and Callum Wilson. I bet there are many more that I can't recall but the Club just don't seem to recognise the need. Whether they feel stung by the Silva deal or are waiting for Jimenez to return the delay in action could see us down the bottom come the WC.
 
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