Eddie Howe

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, SUPERTOON said:

Agreed, we have only really created clear cut ones against Liverpool and city as well as they have been wide open. We hardly created much in the games against the likes of Palace and Bournemouth and the games we have coming up are going to be similar to these sides.

 

We had 7 shots on target and 2/3s possession at Bournemouth, West Ham was disappointing given the start we had, Palace away we had another 7 shots on target and 60% possession. That's way above average for an away team in the PL.

[SUPERTOON]

Just now, Optimistic Nut said:

 

We had 7 shots on target and 2/3s possession at Bournemouth, West Ham was disappointing given the start we had, Palace away we had another 7 shots on target and 60% possession. That's way above average for an away team in the PL.

Shots on target doesn’t always mean it’s a clear chance, I don’t know the stats but I don’t remember many big chances created in the palace and Bournemouth games.

[The College Dropout]

Our system of creating chances in open play is not working as well as it did. That Miggy and Trippier combo.  That also creates chances for midfielders rather than forwards by nature. 
 

We handed out a few beatings. But we never a team to slice opposition open with incisive passes. We don’t have those players.

[The College Dropout]

Bournemouth we were lucky to get a point. 

[54]

1 minute ago, SUPERTOON said:

Shots on target doesn’t always mean it’s a clear chance, I don’t know the stats but I don’t remember many big chances created in the palace and Bournemouth games.

According to FotMob, the stats for "Big Chances" over the last run of form are:

 

Palace = 2

West Ham = 3

Bournemouth = 3

Liverpool = 3

Man City = 1

[Slim]

 

[HaydnNUFC]

5 goals from an xG of almost 13 ffs.

[joeyt]

1 hour ago, Optimistic Nut said:

 

We had 7 shots on target and 2/3s possession at Bournemouth, West Ham was disappointing given the start we had, Palace away we had another 7 shots on target and 60% possession. That's way above average for an away team in the PL.

 

Were any of those chances created by Almiron?

 

I'm struggling to think of any. And he missed a sitter to put us in the lead against Liverpool

[The Prophet]

1 hour ago, Barnes23 said:

Honestly think the narrative that our poor form is purely due to chances being missed is overblown, on here and elsewhere.

 

It's a significant factor no doubt, but truthfully our play has declined post world cup on many registers. The intensity of the press isn't there to the same extent, our attacking play is pretty pedestrian and very predictable, with the ball worked to the right for the same passing routines to be used etc. There's a major structural issue with creativity which is observable every time we face a low block team. 

 

Looking at chances missed also ignores the quality of chances, the context of those chances in terms of the progression of play etc. 

 

It's become a bit of a cop out IMO. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The data says differently, but even if you break it down with the eye test:

 

Leicester 0-3 - Pressed well, controlled the game, created plenty of chances.

Newcastle 0-0 Leeds - Pressed well, controlled the game, created plenty of chances.

Arsenal 0-0 Newcastle - Deployed a mid-block to spoil the game, created limited chances.

Newcastle 1-0 Fulham - Pressed well, controlled the game, created plenty of chances.

Palace 0-0 - Newcastle - Pressed well, controlled the game, created limited chances.

Newcastle 1-1 West Ham - Disjointed press, spells of control, created enough chances to win the game.

Bournemouth 1-1 Newcastle - Disjointed press, spells of control, limited chances.

Newcastle 0-2 Liverpool - Pressed well, decent control for ten men, created chances.

Man City 2-0 Newcastle - Pressed well, spells of control, created chances.

[Kid Icarus]

2 hours ago, joeyt said:

 

I don't get the notion that we're creating a boatload of chances that our attackers are missing

 

Wilson selectionis getting a lot of criticism and rightly. We're creating some chances but certainly not loads. And part of the problem is Almiron

 

We're 5th in the league for xG and 15th for xG conversion rate. It's clear as day when you watch us imo.

[Lush Vlad]

3 hours ago, Barnes23 said:

Honestly think the narrative that our poor form is purely due to chances being missed is overblown, on here and elsewhere.

 

It's a significant factor no doubt, but truthfully our play has declined post world cup on many registers. The intensity of the press isn't there to the same extent, our attacking play is pretty pedestrian and very predictable, with the ball worked to the right for the same passing routines to be used etc. There's a major structural issue with creativity which is observable every time we face a low block team. 

 

Looking at chances missed also ignores the quality of chances, the context of those chances in terms of the progression of play etc. 

 

It's become a bit of a cop out IMO. 

 

 

 

 

 

I do feel like it is being used as an excuse to a point. As we have dropped off this year in a few areas. Which is understandable, for a number of reasons. 
 

However, using xG isn’t ignoring the quality of chances, is it? So based on that, we should be scoring a lot more and we were scoring a lot more from

similar quality chances, pre-WC.

[STM]

Just play Maxi and Isak for an extended period and we will start scoring again.

[Guest]

7 hours ago, joeyt said:

I'm trying to think if we've ever had such a one footed player

 

Solano. Some of the stuff he'd do with the outside of his right-foot to avoid having to use his left was majestic though.

[Kid Icarus]

I seem to remember Glass being extremely one-footed but not sure if I'm picking that from a dormant memory or from my arse.

[Kid Icarus]

Santon as well 

[Guest]

You can get away with being one-footed I think if you're a winger playing on the side of your strong foot.

[Super Duper Branko Strupar]

6 hours ago, joeyt said:

Murphy and Willock put in more dangerous balls yesterday than Almiron has for ages

 

He hasnt really put many dangerous balls in all season, he usually gives it back to Trippier for that. 

[Sean]

7 hours ago, joeyt said:

I'm trying to think if we've ever had such a one footed player

Lauren Robert. Although what a left foot he had man.

[huss9]

got a bit of a stubborn streak, has wor Eddie.

not always a good thing.

[Ronaldo]

39 minutes ago, Sean said:

Lauren Robert. Although what a left foot he had man.

Scored goals with his right too, so he shouldn’t be mentioned. Just his left foot was the best in history.

[Conjo]

15,000 corners hitting the first defender and 22,500 shots killing innocent birds while making their annual trek to warmer climates says he didn't have the best left foot in history.

 

When he hit the ball right though it was pure joy watching.

[Gallowgate Toon]

Hoping he might take some inspiration from Klopp about how to get goalscorers on the pitch together. Nunez as a fluid wide forward has been very effective recently.

[The Prophet]

7 minutes ago, Gallowgate Toon said:

Hoping he might take some inspiration from Klopp about how to get goalscorers on the pitch together. Nunez as a fluid wide forward has been very effective recently.

 

It does help when you have £150 million worth of forward on the pitch and £70 million worth of forward on the bench.

[The Prophet]

Granted Liverpool have far greater strength and depth that us, but Edward could learn from Klopp and how he's readjusted Liverpool's front three.

 

Gakpo, traditionally a wide man has dropped into a false nine position. This gives them another man in the middle of the park, whilst simultaneously giving opposition defenders a bit of a headache. As we saw against us, this can draw the centre backs out into areas of the pitch they shouldn't be, allowing Salah and the absolute unpredictable chaos that is Nunez to run beyond him into the gaps this creates.

 

I'm not asking Howe to replicate this system, as Gakpo and Nunez have bags of ability and will often interchange to utilise Nunez's physicality. I also appreciate that it's taken Klopp over six months and two transfer windows of spending circa £130 million on forwards to find this system. The point is that Klopp chopped and changed his front three and wasn't afraid to experiment with different attacking patterns until he stumbled across something that improved Liverpool's attacking numbers. 

 

Now obviously we're far more limited in the forward department, but we could try swapping ASM and Almiron, we could try Isak instead of Wilson, we could try Isak and Wilson, with the former on the left or in behind.  We could try Gordon or Murphy instead of Almiron. There are options. 

 

We are still creating chances and I do believe that variance dictates that the goal draught will end organically, but that doesn't mean that we can't add new weapons to our arsenal to increase the chances of that happening quickly, while making us less predictable going into the rest of the season. 

 

 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

I think the contribution of our midfield is currently very poor too, albeit with injuries, suspensions and hard fixtures. To get the most out of the forwards we need more precision and control in midfield. May need signings to achieve.