The Striker Issue...

[Welford Wolf]

At the start of last season we all thought we needed another striker, but the goals kept coming. Bonatini did his job in the first half of the season, then stopped unfortunately, but Afobe came in and helped us get over the line. But everyone (Ruddy apart) scored.

This season we have had goals from Neves, Jimenez, Boly, Costa and Bonatini (League Cup) Traore, Moutinho, Cavaliero and Otto. That's 9 different goalscorers by the end of September. Add to which we have missed loads that should have gone in.

Too often teams rely solely on a key man to bag the goals, we didn't last season, and we ran away with it, why should we change now? OK more goals and less missed chances are going to improve things, but things are pretty good so far.

Opposition teams don't know where our goals are going to come from which makes us much harder to play and defend against. So long as it continues as we are I'm happy.

 

[Deleted at request of member 4337]

In other words there is no elephant in the room.

 

[MolineuxMixer]

In other words there is no elephant in the room.

Where has Moxey gone?

 

[wolvesaywe]

Seeing as our last goal was a wingback setting up our other wingback attacking the near post then God help the opposition

 

[oldgolded]

I have been very impressed with Jimenez this season. He may only have scored two goals so far, but he has led the line well and got himself into a lot of goalscoring positions. Hopefully the more he becomes acclimatised to the English game and settles down a bit, the more chances he will be able to convert.

 

[Peszkywolf]

Jiminez wasn't able to control or hold up the play v Southampton as well as he has. But I like him, I've told everyone he's the 7th best striker in England, so need him to add a few more goals to his game to prove my point

 

[SingYourHeartsOut]

Just by the by I love these pass maps which point out our unique style.

 

[North West Wanderer]

There’s no striker issue at all.

 

[Deleted member LP 3925]

So, we're not suffering from Elephantiasis.


Although some think our strikers are!

 

[Werewolf of Wombourne]

Can anyone think of a striker in the Prem currently who can link play with the skill of Jiminez and Bonatini and also score 30 goals? unfortunately it tends to be a case of either/or.

 

[QB Wolf]

There may not be an issue, but I still fully expect us to sign another central forward within the next 10 months.

 

[WolfLing]

There may not be an issue, but I still fully expect us to sign another central forward within the next 10 months.

And I reckon we will sign 10 more strikers within the next 10 years.

 

[MattyWWFC]

It’s very difficult to score more than 15 goals a season at this level. We don’t have a striker problem. Liverpool are coping fine without an out and out striker??

 

[WonderWolf]

I think there is a striker issue. I'm certain Nuno like the fans would have expected/liked us to have progressed in the EFL cup.

He will know what he needs to attempt to address in Jan or the summer window.

 

[jrpb-3]

I think there is a striker issue. I'm certain Nuno like the fans would have expected/liked us to have progressed in the EFL cup.

He will know what he needs to attempt to address in Jan or the summer window.

I felt the bigger issue in the cup was midfield we were missing Neves and Mouthnio, we don't really have any other similar options in their positions

 

[WonderWolf]

I felt the bigger issue in the cup was midfield we were missing Neves and Mouthnio, we don't really have any other similar options in their positions

True.

We were though a lot better in the centre in the second half. Even then we had zero impact up front IMO.

 

[Deleted member 4456]

Can anyone think of a striker in the Prem currently who can link play with the skill of Jiminez and Bonatini and also score 30 goals? unfortunately it tends to be a case of either/or.

The way Bonatini ambles around the pitch aimlessly is truly a sight to behold. We need better. Hopefully the recruitment team has someone in mind.

 

[jrpb-3]

True.

We were though a lot better in the centre in the second half. Even then we had zero impact up front IMO.

yes unless bonatini manages to get back to close to the form he was in first half of last season (which so far he doesn't look like doing) then he is the weak link there and in Jan we really need to look at a replacement, Jimenez is fine as one of the options up front,. with Cav coming back we at least now have the option of playing cav or Jota down the middle as a second option with the other out wide with either costa or traore on the other side

 

[AlexWolvesHD]

I wouldn’t say we had a striker issue but more so we have a composure issue in front of goal this season we have been very wasteful at finishing our chances and that’s not solely directed at our strikers that’s most of the squad.

 

[WolfoftheWrekin]

I think there's more of a front 3 issue if an issue at all? Jimenez and Leo link play extremely well, they also get goals (Not prolific) and give assists. Jota and Costa are not scoring at the moment and in the case of Jota not even assisting? They will come good again, soon I hope for Jota as he may become the next Leo for certain fans?

 

[Direwolf]

What issue ? - There is no Issue

 

[kennyB]

yes unless bonatini manages to get back to close to the form he was in first half of last season (which so far he doesn't look like doing) then he is the weak link there and in Jan we really need to look at a replacement, Jimenez is fine as one of the options up front,. with Cav coming back we at least now have the option of playing cav or Jota down the middle as a second option with the other out wide with either costa or traore on the other side

Jimenez ain't too bad due mostly to his hold up play, but not the greatest, Bonatini doesn't do it for me (sorry Nuno!) and needs replacing. Not sure who would do the job for us though and not a lot of choice. Any decent Portuguese strikers available?

 

[paulhick]

I am totally of the train of thought that believes you need big strong strikers but watching how we play week in week out I can see how my thoughts are getting outdated. We play like a five a side team with everyone breaking forward and nobody scared to shoot.

 

[Alex Rae The Substitute]

Been very impressed by Jiminez so far. He may not be the desired ‘20 goal a season man’ but anyone with Jiminez’s clear attributes and also able to get that many goals will be out of our price range for the foreseeable future.

 

[Black Country Wanderer]

What issue ? - There is no Issue

Bless you

 

[St.Simon.]

Bless you

Good one BCW.

 

[Deleted member 8455jwf]

Rome wasn't built in a day, with the Financial Fair Play handcuffs in place we had to target our investment and STs are at an absolute premium. Silva looks like he would have been worth the gamble, but aside from that I would need names of a viable target we missed out on. This is the project, it is a 3-5 year deal and we are building. We all crave success but trust the process.

 

[The Professional]

There isn't necessarily an issue, but if we get a couple of injuries, there might be. The other thing is, we want to improve further and progress as a top flight club- therefore if we can get someone in that is better than Bonatini or Jiminez, we will get better overall. If the rumours were true about nearly signing Origi from Liver****- then Nuno thinks this also.

 

[Jamwolf]

Jimenez is great.
I’d rather give Benny Ashley Seal a chance off the bench than Bonatini.

 

[QB Wolf]

And I reckon we will sign 10 more strikers within the next 10 years.

Good one.

 

[WolvTown]

Premier League top scorers 2017-18: Mohamed Salah wins Golden Boot ahead of Harry Kane | Goal.com

Scroll down to the table, interesting only four over 20 goals

 

[wolvesaywe]

It's bizarre this is still up for discussion

 

[Golden Oldie]

It's bizarre this is still up for discussion

Could it be it is that rare manifestation called Afobeism. If so, it could run for longer than The Mousetrap which is in it's 66th year. Clearly this thread could be one for our great-great grandchildren.

 

[wwbug]

I do think we still need a striker. But the way Jimenez set up Cavaleiro against Southampton shows to me his great strength, we just need cover for injury, competition and tiredness.

Some of Jimenez's shots on goal have been sheer quality.

 

[wolfgar]

It only becomes an issue if we get an injury or one of our current forward options continues to struggle indefinitely. Bonatini will be replaced in time I'm sure, but lets see how Costa, Jota, Traore and Cav continue to adapt to things over the coming months. Would you put it past Jota to start banging a few in quite soon, or perhaps Jiminez to get on a little scoring run? I certainly wouldn't?

In time though, I would imagine we will look to bring in someone who is better than most, if not all of our current options. It will be the same in central midfield, at wing back and in central defence.

 

[Black Country Wanderer]

I guess you only have to look at last season in the Prem to answer this
Only 4 players scored 20 or more
Only 6 scored 15 or more 2 of those were Man City players
Burnley finished 7th with 39 goals scored,several other teams averaged slightly more to finish mid table and better
So does anyone need the fabled 20 goal a season striker?
Probably if you want to finish top 4,even then not necessarily
Would anyone bet against Jiminez not scoring 10-15 goals this season?
Would anyone bet against Jota scoring a similar amount?
We have several others who will chime in with half a dozen or more im sure ,and you always have the 10 plus goals a season from defenders
So it doesnt take a Maths teacher to add that up to 40/50 plus goals this season,and given we dont concede that many either we will accumulate plenty of points,and thats what matters,drama? no drama.

 

[QB Wolf]

It's bizarre this is still up for discussion

Not sure it’s that bizarre, we have four wide forwards to cover two positions and two senior central forwards to cover one position. I think that’s a bit of a risky strategy personally, especially with so many people moaning about one of the centre forwards.

 

[Deleted member 4152]

We don't play with a 'striker'. We play with an interchanging front three.

Jimenez is very good in it, Jota, Cav, Costa are very good in it. Traore is getting there

We have moved on from looking at the likes of Austin and Mccormack.

I fully expect Nuno to sign another 'forward player'

 

[Wagstaffe Was Magic]

As the ‘Elephant’ was trying to say we are not ‘clinical’ and too many chances are spurned

 

[WonderWolf]

We don't play with a 'striker'. We play with an interchanging front three.

Jimenez is very good in it, Jota, Cav, Costa are very good in it. Traore is getting there

We have moved on from looking at the likes of Austin and Mccormack.

I fully expect Nuno to sign another 'forward player'

The thing is that these 'forwards' have to be able to strike adequately and find the net regularly. If you want make it to the top 6 and stay there it's goal power that is going to deliver it.

We are still talking each forward being good enough to score around 12+ goals each. This is very much like how Liverpool do it with their forward 3.