Where are the goals coming from?

[cannockwolves]

So where are the goals going to come from this season - last year we scored a grand total of 36. Only Burnley and the three relegated teams scored less, we only scored one more than the Albion.

On the plus side

• We have Jiminez back
• At some point in the season Neto may make a return.
• I think it's also fair to say young Fabio looks a little stronger
• RAN may chip in with a couple
• Trincao should chip in with a few
• A fit Podence should be scoring more goals than he does

On the hand

• It's likely we will lose Neves and Adama's contribution (goals and assists)
• Jiminez might be back, but will get be steaming in on those 50/50 headers like he did?
• Young Fabio looks to have put a bit of meat on which is good, and I expect him to improve on his four goals from last season but I would be surprised if he gets more than seven
• If we replace Neves will his replacement get more than four or five

I know it's hard to say when we don't know the departures, arrivals, and Bruno's style. If we are more expansive, should we expect to ship more goals? If that is the case we need to dramatically improve on last season's goals output.

I have a real worry about where all the goals are going to come from, any ideas?

 

[JOSWolf]

I have the same concerns. Have to hope Trincao steps up along with Podence, Traore and Silva. If Cutrone goes we simply have to sign another striker as well. The goal input from central midfield also has to improve along with full backs.

 

[Scallywolf]

I just hope Raul gets back to his best.

Currently there is no one else in the squad who will score goals on a regular basis. Absolutely no one!

 

[Bostin]

One thing I’ve noticed from the pre season games is the amount of times central midfield players get in the box. Therefore I would expect more goals from whoever starts in midfield, possibly MGW.

 

[Stoichkov]

well it'll help that the whole team presses high

this should help. i suspect keeping them out will be the biggest concern.....

 

[Macman]

Worryingly at the moment, the answer to the OP is 'the opposition'.

 

[V Wolf]

In an article last week it’s mentioned that Trincao is likely to drift inside and score goals. As has been said in this thread as well, it looks as though the higher positioning of players in general should see the goals spread out more through the team. In the last game they came from a midfielder and a wingback, I think we should expect to see more of that.

 

[Wagstaffe Was Magic]

Good question

 

[Boon2]

Most will come from Wolves players but there will also be a few own-goals by opposition players.

 

[TheConcourse]

You’ve probably answered your own question. When that front line clicks the potential is scary.

Grab an attacking CM and we’ll be fine.

The focus has to be on keeping them out.

 

[Halesowen wwfc]

I have the same concerns. Have to hope Trincao steps up along with Podence, Traore and Silva. If Cutrone goes we simply have to sign another striker as well. The goal input from central midfield also has to improve along with full backs.

How much was cutrones goal contribution for the last 2 years. I dont think we will miss his goals. Midfield is key as you say. Get greater contribution from there. 1 goal from moutinho last year.

 

[Mile End Wanderer]

Well Neves and Moutinho scored what 6 between them last season? I think Gibbs-White could get 7/8 goals Lingard type player

 

[WolfInSheep'sClothing]

Raul is back. Fabio is older. Cutrone is in and around the squad.

 

[RosehillWolf]

It's as plain as the nose on your face that we have a problem up top. Even in the friendlies you can see we are woefully short of what we need

 

[sedgwolf1980]

If Raul is one of the best strikers in the world, Traore is ‘worth’ 50m, Neto is one of the best forwards in the league and Trincao is a superb signing, I would suggest we don’t need to worry who will score the goals, we need to worry about giving them a platform to have a chance of scoring some goals.

 

[WolfInSheep'sClothing]

Well Neves and Moutinho scored what 6 between them last season? I think Gibbs-White could get 7/8 goals Lingard type player

Moutinho and dendonker got 2 goals between them.
Which for me wouldn't be a problem if they dominated games in the centre of the park but they just didn't.

 

[Big Saft Kid]

So where are the goals going to come from this season - last year we scored a grand total of 36. Only Burnley and the three relegated teams scored less, we only scored one more than the Albion.

On the plus side

• We have Jiminez back
• At some point in the season Neto may make a return.
• I think it's also fair to say young Fabio looks a little stronger
• RAN may chip in with a couple
• Trincao should chip in with a few
• A fit Podence should be scoring more goals than he does

On the hand

• It's likely we will lose Neves and Adama's contribution (goals and assists)
• Jiminez might be back, but will get be steaming in on those 50/50 headers like he did?
• Young Fabio looks to have put a bit of meat on which is good, and I expect him to improve on his four goals from last season but I would be surprised if he gets more than seven
• If we replace Neves will his replacement get more than four or five

I know it's hard to say when we don't know the departures, arrivals, and Bruno's style. If we are more expansive, should we expect to ship more goals? If that is the case we need to dramatically improve on last season's goals output.

I have a real worry about where all the goals are going to come from, any ideas?

If you take all the ifs and buts out of that post, there's nothing left. Relax

 

[SuperGran]

Maybe wait to the end of the transfer window seeing who’s gone and who’s come in before deciding who’s going to get the goals

 

[WalsallWolf]

What i find most disturbing about the OP is, Burnley are one of the only remaining PL side to have scored less than us - yet 6 of those goals came directly against us!

With goals for, it is a concern. Our style and personnel over the last couple of years hasnt lend itself to one that scores many goals. Pre-season only I know, but so far, even with a more high pressing and fluid setup, we don't look like a team that has goals in.

We cannot keep relying on Raul to score the goals and IMHO we still haven't replaced the output that Doherty and Jota gave us.

 

[Sketchead]

If Raul stays fit he'll score at least 15. Then we hope four or five other players can chip in.

We need a bit more, especially with Neto out for at least the first two full months of the season, Podence always being injured, Adama's lack of goals and assists [I love him and would not sell him - squad game and we're weak]... but we need something more.

Prediction:

Jimenez - 15
Fabio - 8
Neto - 6
Adama - 5
Trincao - 4
Podence - 4
Ait-Nouri - 3
Semedo - 2

The rest?

If they're all still here, Neves, Moutinho and Dendoncker might get 10 between them?

 

[SingYourHeartsOut]

So apart from the defence, the midfield and the attack, we're OK right?

 

[Hoganstolemywife]

I'm not that fussed about where the goals are going to come from.

We have excellent attacking talent; one imagines that they will flourish in a more attacking formation.

It's the defensive lapses and the inability to deal with set pieces that may hinder is

 

[WickedWolfie]

You’ve probably answered your own question. When that front line clicks the potential is scary.

Grab an attacking CM and we’ll be fine.

The focus has to be on keeping them out.

I fear that we will leak for fun. I certainly don't see us consistently outscoring teams.

 

[WickedWolfie]

What i find most disturbing about the OP is, Burnley are one of the only remaining PL side to have scored less than us - yet 6 of those goals came directly against us!

With goals for, it is a concern. Our style and personnel over the last couple of years hasnt lend itself to one that scores many goals. Pre-season only I know, but so far, even with a more high pressing and fluid setup, we don't look like a team that has goals in.

We cannot keep relying on Raul to score the goals and IMHO we still haven't replaced the output that Doherty and Jota gave us.

As things stand l wouldn't disagree much of this.

 

[Halesowen wwfc]

So apart from the defence, the midfield and the attack, we're OK right?

Downgraded on gk as well. We are doomed i tell ya, doomed

 

[Scallywolf]

Raul is back. Fabio is older. Cutrone is in and around the squad.

Raul is back but not firing. Fabio hasn’t scored yet. Cutrone is being sold.

Not great atm is it with 2 weeks to go!

 

[WolfInSheep'sClothing]

Raul is back but not firing. Fabio hasn’t scored yet. Cutrone is being sold.

Not great atm is it with 2 weeks to go!

It's pre-season. Literally noone cares in the history of football about pre-season.

 

[Hoganstolemywife]

Raul is back but not firing. Fabio hasn’t scored yet. Cutrone is being sold.

Not great atm is it with 2 weeks to go!

He literally fired in a penalty last week! As the poster below states, pre season is not a barometer by which to judge players seriously! If it was, Eddie Nketiah would be in the England squad and Noah dicko wouldn't have been sold

 

[Stee]

It really hinges on Raul I think. If he hits the ground running this season and stays injury free then he has 15-20 goals in him.

After that it really remains to be seen. The honest truth is I’ve only caught bits and pieces of pre-season but I don’t feel like I’ve noticed much chemistry yet between the front players that will be starting the season.

The opening few games are really tough anyway, what we really need is to make sure we are in top gear from game week 4 so we can take 4-5 wins in as many games.

I’d be surprised if we had many goals in us in the opening few games as it currently stands...but I hope to god I’m proved completely wrong

 

[Scallywolf]

It's pre-season. Literally noone cares in the history of football about pre-season.

I do agree but there are no positive signs atm.

Obviously Bruno is getting his way of playing across and all the squad (with the exception of the injured players) should now be together after the Euro’s.

We have 3 friendlies to play before the new season starts and surely the starting 11 v Leicester will play in one of them.

I really hope Bruno has got his strike force sorted for 14th August. I’m not yet convinced with Fabio at all and Cutrone will be gone. That leaves Raul who cannot carry the burden on his own. Neto is out till October, Podence hasn’t played in any friendlies yet, Adama blows hot and cold and Trincao hasn’t impressed at all yet.

So many ifs and buts atm WSC and I haven’t mentioned our defence or midfield yet!

 

[KBWWFC]

To be fair, we'll lose Neves' goal contribution anyway, as Raul will be taking penalties again.

We saw the start of attacking patterns in the UDLP game, and I think whilst defensively we have a lot to learn and we've got to learn it fast, attacking we should be alright:

Emphasis on maintaining width and late runs into the box:
Adama loves a deep cross, our "go to" move seems to revolve around keeping LB/RB wide and free, overloading the ball side and then firing in a looped cross for RAN/Hoever to take advantage of in the box.
Most of last season we either had nobody in the box as they were recovering from tracking back, or we had Willian in the box inexplicably running away from the ball.

Strikers playing with back to goal encouraging runners in behind:
Cutrone/Silva would come short, receive a pass then look to find players running past them. Both Raul and Silva have the vision to pull this off.

Bringing midfield into the game:
We're now asking the midfielders to run in and advance past the strikers and get shots away in and around the box, so you'd expect chances to be created through this.

Generally Moutinho/Neves would sit back last season and wouldn't offer much more than recycling the ball. If anybody suggested this 2 weeks ago I'd have probably launched into a full 5 page rant but right now I'm coming round to the idea that maybe Neves and Moutinho will hold this system back, and if we were to sell Neves, would we get a Neves-lite replacement or would we go for a completely different style of midfielder?
Yes, his passing range is second to none, but the style seems more about small, quick passed to overwhelm the defence with runners rather than sweeping crossfield balls to start counter attacks.

The Traore conundrum:
I've touched on the deep crossed earlier, but in the second half of the UDLP game Cutrone started holding the ball out wide and asking Hoever to run inside into the box, this isn't something we've seen since the Doherty days, but it seems that if we do play Traore he'd be the player maintaining the width, so we could see Semedo/Hoever making those direct runs inside a lot more and becoming a nuisance in the opposition box.

Scoring goals isn't really worrying me at the minute, it's the midfield that rolls over when you run at them and the defensive line all at sea that's giving me PTSD.

 

[Fifty Niner]

I have the same concerns. Have to hope Trincao steps up along with Podence, Traore and Silva. If Cutrone goes we simply have to sign another striker as well. The goal input from central midfield also has to improve along with full backs.

If Bruno continues with the Neves/Mourinho combo there won’t be much coming from midfield. Unless, of course, Bruno gets them playing a more attacking style. And assuming Neves is still here which is doubtful.

We’ve had 4 pre-season workouts so far, including the Arab game, and the pattern of performances has generally been the same as last season: we are yet to score a first half goal and we mostly played a much better second half with the odd exception. And we are yet to score more than 2.

None of this matters, of course, come kick off at Leicester. But I am hoping we see something emerging during our final pre-season games.

 

[Shergar]

Jimenez.

 

[WickedWolfie]

He literally fired in a penalty last week! As the poster below states, pre season is not a barometer by which to judge players seriously! If it was, Eddie Nketiah would be in the England squad and Noah dicko wouldn't have been sold

Noah???

 

[Deleted member 8455jwf]

Noah???

We'd have sailed up the league with him.

 

[WickedWolfie]

We'd have sailed up the league with him.

The goals would have come two by two...

 

[Deleted member 8455jwf]

Midfield is the key area to upgrade for me with defence narrowly second. Our problem is our system was so unbelievably defensive that we stifled attacking talent. I'd keep Cutrone short of an offer above £10M and just get 3 key players at CB and CM in.

 

[Alex Rae The Substitute]

Lage is supposedly a much more attacking minded coach which will mean we’ll likely concede more, but thankfully we’ve got lots of goals in this team.

We’ve got lots of natural goal scorers in this team, right?

 

[TheConcourse]

I fear that we will leak for fun. I certainly don't see us consistently outscoring teams.

Yep. Very concerned about us defensively.

Semedo and RAN feel more comfortable higher up the pitch. Most of our CBs fill me with fear defensively and our CM lacks any sort of pace to recover.

Any decent team will pick us off if the press doesn’t work.

We’ll discover how ready we are on day one. Leicester are probably up there with the best in terms of counter attacking teams. It could get pretty ugly pretty quick.

 

[Manic88]

If Raul stays fit he'll score at least 15. Then we hope four or five other players can chip in.

We need a bit more, especially with Neto out for at least the first two full months of the season, Podence always being injured, Adama's lack of goals and assists [I love him and would not sell him - squad game and we're weak]... but we need something more.

Prediction:

Jimenez - 15
Fabio - 8
Neto - 6
Adama - 5
Trincao - 4
Podence - 4
Ait-Nouri - 3
Semedo - 2

The rest?

If they're all still here, Neves, Moutinho and Dendoncker might get 10 between them?

if Adama gets 5 goals we must be all out attack for 80 mins per game? Wowza