"40 chances but just two goals" -

[Working class pride]

I was interested to see Oscar's observation. That was exactly the problem last year as numerous threads from last year will show. A wasteful forward line costs us and will be interesting top see what Oscar does to try and sort this out.

 

[Gwylan]

I was interested to see Oscar's observation. That was exactly the problem last year as numerous threads from last year will show. A wasteful forward line costs us and will be interesting top see what Oscar does to try and sort this out.

Not sure it's exactly the same. I'd have said our problem last year was a massive amount of possession but relatively few chances. I'm sure that I read a stat that said we had one of the best shots/goals ratios in the division.
I do remember games where we created little - I still remember the binfest on here after the Bristol City away game when we didn't have a single shot on goal.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

I'd love to know what CMS stats were for shots/goals. It seemed to me that every shot he took was straight at the keeper.

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

Not sure it's exactly the same. I'd have said our problem last year was a massive amount of possession but relatively few chances. I'm sure that I read a stat that said we had one of the best shots/goals ratios in the division.
I do remember games where we created little - I still remember the binfest on here after the Bristol City away game when we didn't have a single shot on goal.

I was at that game. A promotion chasing side against relegation fodder and not one shot. Showed the limitations of our management team at the time. Conservative, cautious, possession driven - but you still have to be offensive and we were simply passive. I don't doubt that will change this year.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

I was at that game. A promotion chasing side against relegation fodder and not one shot. Showed the limitations of our management team at the time. Conservative, cautious, possession driven - but you still have to be offensive and we were simply passive. I don't doubt that will change this year.

I was also at that game. Barnes was taken ill just a couple of hours before the game, and CMS ruptured his achilles during it. Both strikers out, so not much chance of creating anything. City were also on a mini revival at that point having been unbeaten at home for a few matches.

 

[El Turi]

I'd love to know what CMS stats were for shots/goals. It seemed to me that every shot he took was straight at the keeper.

The same CMS who was out top scorer last season despite missing the last 3 months through injury. Everyone in our side is guilty of being wasteful in front of goal.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

The same CMS who was out top scorer last season despite missing the last 3 months through injury. Everyone in our side is guilty of being wasteful in front of goal.

I agree. I was just wondering about that particular stat. Maybe Acker79 can give us a breakdown.

 

[Spun Cuppa]

OG made the point that we had ten chances on Tuesday, and converted one, while they had four chances and popped in three. Last season saw lots of toil from us in games, with little product, while the oppo seemed to have little trouble putting away their few chances with embarrassing ease when they presented themselves.

They say scoring goals becomes a habit, but by the same token, missing chances also becomes a habit. This deffo needs addressing or we will struggle...

 

[albie_noobs]

I'd imagine a sizeable chunk of our "enhanced" playing budget will be spent on a quality striker.

 

[Shammo]

Our problem is we go 1-0 up or even 2-1 up on numerous occasions and don't get that 2 goal cushion to effectively kill the game off!

 

[El Turi]

Although he has missed a few chances, Ulloa is a good finisher and should score a lot of goals this season. Orlandi and Lopez did score quite a few last season and Buckley is capable of getting into double figures. We just seemed to have got into the habit of missing a lot of chances over the last two seasons.

 

[OzMike]

When close in on goal, I have noticed that the most successful players are the ones that nod the ball to the ground, the direction of the ball and bounce fool the goalie.
Teams like Real Madrid, Barcelona etc always do that when heading at goal, we just seem to head straight at the goalie and hope he moves out of the way!

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

I was also at that game. Barnes was taken ill just a couple of hours before the game, and CMS ruptured his achilles during it. Both strikers out, so not much chance of creating anything. City were also on a mini revival at that point having been unbeaten at home for a few matches.

I too was at that game, Ulloa came on for CMS so we certainly weren't short of a striker. Poyet left Kaz on the bench for the entire match even though we desperately needed an outlet as Buckley was already shot to pieces.

 

[nevergoagain]

I'd imagine a sizeable chunk of our "enhanced" playing budget will be spent on a quality striker.

I just can't see that happening. Oscar has pretty much said he plays 1 up front which is Ulloa. I can't see us spending big on a striker who will be backup or played out of position as we already have Barnes for that. I'd prefer spread it around, other than the much needed full back positions, another winger to put pressure on Kaz/Buckley and another playmaking midfielder if the budget will go that far.

 

[upthealbion1970]

Not sure it's exactly the same. I'd have said our problem last year was a massive amount of possession but relatively few chances. I'm sure that I read a stat that said we had one of the best shots/goals ratios in the division.
I do remember games where we created little - I still remember the binfest on here after the Bristol City away game when we didn't have a single shot on goal.

Numerous home games last season when we battered teams for the first 15 mins missing sitter after sitter, then going defensive and conceding

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

When close in on goal, I have noticed that the most successful players are the ones that nod the ball to the ground, the direction of the ball and bounce fool the goalie.
Teams like Real Madrid, Barcelona etc always do that when heading at goal, we just seem to head straight at the goalie and hope he moves out of the way!

I don't know whether it's just me,, but as a kid I was always taught to head the ball down when shooting. I think it's one of the basic principles but, as you say, we can't get it right.

 

[Icy Gull]

The fact that Oscar apparently played three up front on Tuesday (from the radio commentary) even though we were down to 10 suggests that we'll be seeing a far more attacking style this season. Some high scoring wins and defeats to come I imagine.

 

[Mo Gosfield]

Numerous home games last season when we battered teams for the first 15 mins missing sitter after sitter, then going defensive and conceding

Gus's achilles heel.....he never had the courage of his convictions to keep going for it....." thats it lads....you've had a good go....we need a point out of this......etc etc "
He could never throw off his innate caution. It always kicked in and resulted in safety first. Well safety first means that you draw a lot of games and miss the opportunity of nicking those two or three wins that would make the difference, come the end of the season.
With Oscar, we will not see so many draws ( lets just hope that the win ratio is maintained! )

 

[Gwylan]

Numerous home games last season when we battered teams for the first 15 mins missing sitter after sitter, then going defensive and conceding

We battered teams but did we miss sitter after sitter? That's not my recollection at all - happened sometimes (Leeds and Bolton spring to mind) but what happened more often is that we played pretty football with nothing to show for it

 

[OzMike]

Maybe the thought of scoring scares them s**tless and makes them panic instead of being cool, calm and collected, much like the Newport bloke that went round the goalie.