Goals from wide

[Stevosevic]

BR made it pretty clear last summer that he wanted more players chipping in with goals from the wide positions.

 

I would say he hasn't been to enthused by the returns from Barnes, Gray et al.

 

I would not be surprised if this is our main target area for improving this summer - I hope it is too.

 

Money from Chilwell will hopefully allow us to add more quality up top without impacting our strong defence too much.

[Gamble92]

Chances created from the positions behind Vardy were the exact reason we were 2nd and then 3rd for so long. 

 

All this stuff about teams dropping more deep and cutting out Vardy is the same line that gets brought out every season when we dont perform in games. There's more to it than that.

 

Teams were dropping deep but they quite simply couldn't deal with Perez, Maddison and Barnes plus the threat of Vardy. Once they became the pale imitations of their earlier season form, we then yet again only had Vardy and we become much easier to play against.

 

[smudger63]

1 hour ago, Stevosevic said:

BR made it pretty clear last summer that he wanted more players chipping in with goals from the wide positions.

 

I would say he hasn't been to enthused by the returns from Barnes, Gray et al.

 

I would not be surprised if this is our main target area for improving this summer - I hope it is too.

 

Money from Chilwell will hopefully allow us to add more quality up top without impacting our strong defence too much.

Well going on this season, anyone thinking signing Sarr from Watford would be the answer, may be disappointed, Sarr scored 6 goals with 4 assists, while Perez scored 8 with 4 assists, and Barnes scored 7 with 8 assists, even Gray scored 3 with 5 assists, in alot less minutes on the pitch.

 

[Nicolo Barella]

I've had a look around the Top 5 leagues and Championship. The only "obvious" answers that maybe would sign for us and could provide goals from wide for us are left-sided, which is a problem because our only current forward that looks like he might eventually fit the mould Rodgers wants is Barnes, who always plays on the left. Rashica, Oyarzabal, Benrahma, Zaha, even players that aren't really "guaranteed goals" like Boga, Ikoné and Neres, the vast majority of players we could potentially pick up are left sided wingers. The extent of wide right players that I think we could plausibly sign are players like Sabitzer at the very best, who probably would not come here because he is playing CL with RB Leipzig right now. 

 

I think the scouts will have to do a great job, because there are no obvious answers out there this time. Extremely depressing that Spurs signed Bergwijn when they did.

[Miquel The Work Geordie]

I'm a big fan of Harvey who is our best winger by a considerable margin, but I dread to think how many goals for us he should really have to his name. He's a threat though and I think we're a better side with him in it.

 

The rest are just so bloody pedestrian - Gray is crap, Ayoze isn't a winger (I'm not sure what he is, tbh), and Albrighton doesn't take enough care with the ball for the way we play. Not a single one of those three can sway a game (I'm taking into account Gray's quarterly decent sub cameo).

 

It was a glaring weakness in January and we didn't seem to fancy rolling the dice - as if we were waiting until the summer to sign targets that were only realistic once the Gazprom was confirmed. 

 

Now there's no Gazprom for anyone

 

 

[Marshall Cockney Fox]

Vards has laid on so many gilt edged chances this season. Between Barnes, Gray and Madders they have missed a bag full. The attacking & wide lads have been very poor in front of goal.

[Marshall Cockney Fox]

Oh and Ayoze has missed a few as well.

[AKCJ]

I think it's important that we get a wide player that is capable of assisting to be honest.

 

Would sooner have a winger that will get 8 goals and 8 assists than one that will get 16 goals and no assists.

[Ric Flair]

5 hours ago, Nicolo Barella said:

I've had a look around the Top 5 leagues and Championship. The only "obvious" answers that maybe would sign for us and could provide goals from wide for us are left-sided, which is a problem because our only current forward that looks like he might eventually fit the mould Rodgers wants is Barnes, who always plays on the left. Rashica, Oyarzabal, Benrahma, Zaha, even players that aren't really "guaranteed goals" like Boga, Ikoné and Neres, the vast majority of players we could potentially pick up are left sided wingers. The extent of wide right players that I think we could plausibly sign are players like Sabitzer at the very best, who probably would not come here because he is playing CL with RB Leipzig right now. 

 

I think the scouts will have to do a great job, because there are no obvious answers out there this time. Extremely depressing that Spurs signed Bergwijn when they did.

Nico, me old son do you want me to compile a list of left footed right wingers? There's plenty!!

[Ric Flair]

4 minutes ago, AKCJ said:

I think it's important that we get a wide player that is capable of assisting to be honest.

 

Would sooner have a winger that will get 8 goals and 8 assists than one that will get 16 goals and no assists.

Barnes was 2 goals shy of meeting your criteria, he got the assists number for you bob on.

 

Benrahma looks to have the mix of both being able to score and get in scoring positions himself and create chances for other, sadly he is a LW but i'd still get him in to compete with Barnes and get a RW in too.

[Nick]

1 minute ago, Ric Flair said:

Nico, me old son do you want me to compile a list of left footed right wingers? There's plenty!!

 

 

Yes.

[AKCJ]

Just now, Ric Flair said:

Barnes was 2 goals shy of meeting your criteria, he got the assists number for you bob on.

 

Benrahma looks to have the mix of both being able to score and get in scoring positions himself and create chances for other, sadly he is a LW but i'd still get him in to compete with Barnes and get a RW in too.

Yeah I really rate Barnes as well.

 

As soon as he gets that composure in front of goal he'll be in the England team and I say that during the Sterling/Rashford/Sancho era.

[Leicester_Loyal]

Barnes is class, his finishing will obviously improve over time as he gets more experienced and he'll become a much better player for it. 6 goals and 8 assists in your first full EPL season is unreal, especially when he's missed about 10 1vs1s He'll be a starter in our side for years to come, and rightly so.

[Ric Flair]

Just now, AKCJ said:

Yeah I really rate Barnes as well.

 

As soon as he gets that composure in front of goal he'll be in the England team and I say that during the Sterling/Rashford/Sancho era.

I joked yesterday but I really think he needs to exaggerate his shooting to try and hit it wider of the goal, a bit like a golfer with a hook needs to try and hit a vicious fade to eventually get the feeling of being able to swing the club more on line. If Barnes could deliberately try and hit it wide then whilst his normal technique sees him hit it down the middle of the goal almost every shot (except the ones he skies over the bar) then it might actually see him hit the corners of the net and from there hone his technique back to a more natural way. I've never known anything like what we've seen this season from him, it's like the middle of the goal is a magnet whatever position he finds himself in.

[Nicolo Barella]

17 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

Nico, me old son do you want me to compile a list of left footed right wingers? There's plenty!!

Yes please habibi!

[Ric Flair]

Just now, Nicolo Barella said:

Yes please habibi!

Calvin Stengs

Victor Tsygankov

Tete

Matheus Pereira

Takefusa Kubo

Samuel Chukwuese

Riccardo Orsolini

David Brooks

Brais Mendes

Maxwel Cornet

Bryan Mbuemo

Dennis Man (rough diamond in the making)

Alex Collado (just watched some highlights of high - PHWOOOAAR)

[Nick]

17 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

 

Alex Collado (just watched some highlights of high - PHWOOOAAR)

 

He'd be a ridiculous signing as he plays both in midfield and on right wing. There are a couple of schools of thought on this one though - the first being he wouldn't come, the second being would Barcelona be more likely to bleed him in than sell him due to their financial position?

[dmayne7]

13 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

Calvin Stengs

Victor Tsygankov

Tete

Matheus Pereira

Takefusa Kubo

Samuel Chukwuese

Riccardo Orsolini

David Brooks

Brais Mendes

Maxwel Cornet

Bryan Mbuemo

Dennis Man (rough diamond in the making)

Alex Collado (just watched some highlights of high - PHWOOOAAR)

As a RW? I saw him play for Steaua v Cluj a couple of years back (not that was an experience, selling buckets of popcorn at a football match) and he was really underwhelming. Certainly did not have the pace then to play wide in the Prem.

 

Of course, given he's only young and it was a couple of years ago, plenty could have changed for him and he might have gained the yard of pace needed. I know he plays RW for them but he was playing as a 10 when I saw him, and I'd think that's where he'd be better suited in Top Level European football.

 

The standard in that match was pretty dire to the point that a 37 year old, no cap, Portuguese player was bossing the game. Man didn't show the slightest glimpse of anything. 

[Ric Flair]

4 minutes ago, Nick said:

He'd be a ridiculous signing as he plays both in midfield and on right wing. There are a couple of schools of thought on this one though - the first being he wouldn't come, the second being would Barcelona be more likely to bleed him in than sell him due to their financial position?

Contract up next season, playing for Barcelona B still. Feels very much like Deulofeu when they let him go, we'd easily get him on loan with a possible view to a permanent deal.

[Ric Flair]

3 minutes ago, dmayne7 said:

As a RW? I saw him play for Steaua v Cluj a couple of years back (not that was an experience, selling buckets of popcorn at a football match) and he was really underwhelming. Certainly did not have the pace then to play wide in the Prem.

 

Of course, given he's only young and it was a couple of years ago, plenty could have changed for him and he might have gained the yard of pace needed. I know he plays RW for them but he was playing as a 10 when I saw him, and I'd think that's where he'd be better suited in Top Level European football.

 

The standard in that match was pretty dire to the point that a 37 year old, no cap, Portuguese player was bossing the game. Man didn't show the slightest glimpse of anything. 

He's had his best season yet playing a fair amount on the RW. Got that blend of being fairly quick but ridiculous skill that trumps rapid pace and erratic brain.

[Nick]

3 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

Contract up next season, playing for Barcelona B still. Feels very much like Deulofeu when they let him go, we'd easily get him on loan with a possible view to a permanent deal.

Wow - just do it

 

[Ricey]

9 hours ago, Gamble92 said:

Chances created from the positions behind Vardy were the exact reason we were 2nd and then 3rd for so long. 

 

All this stuff about teams dropping more deep and cutting out Vardy is the same line that gets brought out every season when we dont perform in games. There's more to it than that.

 

Teams were dropping deep but they quite simply couldn't deal with Perez, Maddison and Barnes plus the threat of Vardy. Once they became the pale imitations of their earlier season form, we then yet again only had Vardy and we become much easier to play against.

 

It wasn't just teams dropping deeper, it was teams becoming narrower and flooding the middle the pitch, once they realised that our threat was Maddison & Tielemans and that our wide players aren't the most dangerous or clinical.

 

It's so obvious that teams force us to pass to Chilwell and then back off him as they know he can't cross or beat a man.

[Ric Flair]

40 minutes ago, Nick said:

Wow - just do it

 

Barca regularly flog their academy players, they're definitely a club you can recruit from quite modestly too.

 

Munir went for peanuts

Perez going Roma for less than £10m

Cucurella to Getafe for less than £10m

Tello to Betis for £4m

Bartra to Dortmund for £7m

Sandro Ramierez let go on a free

Bojan £2m

 

[Captain...]

59 minutes ago, Ricey said:

It wasn't just teams dropping deeper, it was teams becoming narrower and flooding the middle the pitch, once they realised that our threat was Maddison & Tielemans and that our wide players aren't the most dangerous or clinical.

 

It's so obvious that teams force us to pass to Chilwell and then back off him as they know he can't cross or beat a man.

It doesn't matter if Chilwell could beat a man and whip a mean cross in, by the time he's in that position the defence is set and, unless it is a perfect cross, will beat any of our forwards to the ball.

 

I agree though, the biggest issue since restart has been our lack of invention through the middle. Maddison against Everton is probably the exception he was playing lovely one twos with Nacho and bursting into the box creating chances and Vardy against Sheffield United. The rest of the time we're just playing into their hands. We have plenty of possession but letting the opposition dictate what we do with it.

 

 

[Guest SO1]

2 hours ago, Ric Flair said:

I joked yesterday but I really think he needs to exaggerate his shooting to try and hit it wider of the goal, a bit like a golfer with a hook needs to try and hit a vicious fade to eventually get the feeling of being able to swing the club more on line. If Barnes could deliberately try and hit it wide then whilst his normal technique sees him hit it down the middle of the goal almost every shot (except the ones he skies over the bar) then it might actually see him hit the corners of the net and from there hone his technique back to a more natural way. I've never known anything like what we've seen this season from him, it's like the middle of the goal is a magnet whatever position he finds himself in.

Jesus. Golf tips for a footballer. Give the poor boy a break. Before you know it he'll be shanking everything into the stands. I appreciate your creativity though.

Edited 29 July 2020 by SO1