Cab for Kaba !!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Keyser Soze

That is a strike ratio of under 0.2 goals per game or 1 in 5. Let’s be blunt - that is absolutely guff. But it looks heroic next to Meite’s goals per game ratio which is 0.05 (1 in 20). Even for a winger that is just shite. I would expect central midfielders or defenders to get that sort of ratio, not a striker / winger.

Wingers and wide forwards should be looking for 1 in 4 or 1 in 3 if they are exceptional, in a 4-3-3. A good striker ought to be looking at 1 in 2, and a minimum of 1 in 3 (1 in 3 as long as other wingers or an attacking midfielder / 10 are contributing similarly). Meite’s statistics alone are a reason we need to cut him loose on a free.

Strikers are paid to score goals - pure and simple. Chris Pike’s skills were terrible but he was “right place, right time” and consitently knew where the net was. Regardless of how it is done, goals win games. Arguing that he is poor because he can’t do other stuff is like sacking your carpenter for not being good at
plumbing.

---

Sadly that's the modern game. Strikers are expected to do more than score goals - it's almost as if scoring goals is secondary to putting in a shift.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Eric the Half a Bee

Sadly that's the modern game. Strikers are expected to do more than score goals - it's almost as if scoring goals is secondary to putting in a shift.

---

At the upper end of the game, sure. But at clubs where we have less ability with transfer fees, and coaches who do not have that level of tactical acumen and play more simple systems (as we have) the requirements are more basic.

In our case if we play 4-3-3 and the midfielders aren’t scoring much, and the front 3 don’t score
much, then having a Sory Kaba who can bang in 10, or a Kieffer Moore banging 15, is far more valuable in terms of “goals scored” than Meite, who cannot hold it up, cannot beat a man, assists are low and cannot score.

Having a Firmino, a Rashford, or a Jesus who bang in only 10 is acceptable because they also register a high level of key passes and assists. It is also more tolerable because Mane and Salah (the other 2 in the front 3) were banging in 10-20. With Arsenal, Saka and Martinelli will chip in with somewhere around 8-12 goals and also register assists and key passes. United had Bruno Fernandez at 10 chipping in with 10-15, Mc Tominay 5-7, the Brazilian guy with a few and Hoijlund chipping in 5-10.

In our case Karlan Grant scored less than 5. Meite scored 2. Tanner - 2/3? So now you see the problem. At 10 we had the Scottish dude who barely scored and the centre mids contributed a fraction of a chuff as well. I think our centre halves scored more than the midfield and Meite!

So in our case, if the midfield and wide men are not putting a shift in for scoring, and we don’t have the budget, or a top manager, to play a highly technical system (like Leeds or Ipswich) , then we need to get realistic and agree that we don’t live in a perfect world like Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal. So we have to box clever and operate within our budgetary, squad, technical and tactical limitations. Or in military parlance, “We can only piss with the cock we’ve got.” Therefore it is more sensible and pragmatic to have two 9s that are capable of hitting 10-20 goals to compensate for a lack of output elsewhere - unless anyone seriously believes that Bulut will pull rabbits out of a hat in the transfer market and get us playing like Pep Guardiola.