Depends who’s playing. Even with Cavani in there we have trouble fashioning really good chances for him as the build play isn’t very good, and neither is the delivery. Doesn’t help that we don’t get enough men in the box either.

Martial’s movement may be poor, but he’s averaging about two shots a game in the league. He’s having his own issues on an individual level, but the way this team plays makes life difficult for the striker. Even last season when he scored quite a lot the majority of his goals were difficult chances. It’s been a similar story for most of our strikers. I don’t believe these players are so stupid that they don’t know how to get into dangerous positions, they just don’t have a team that make good enough chances for them on a regular basis.

comment by Shola The Ameobi Shoretire (U10026)
posted 8 hours, 51 minutes ago
Martial’s movement may be poor, but he’s averaging about two shots a game in the league. He’s having his own issues on an individual level, but the way this team plays makes life difficult for the striker. Even last season when he scored quite a lot the majority of his goals were difficult chances. It’s been a similar story for most of our strikers. I don’t believe these players are so stupid that they don’t know how to get into dangerous positions, they just don’t have a team that make good enough chances for them on a regular basis.
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As I’ve said, both delivery from wide and getting on the end of and finishing chances are issues; but we’ve already seen Cavani scoring two flashing headers on the edge of the six yard box against Soton (the second one with a classic CF’s run across his CB to the near post), two other headers in the same kind of space where he’s lost his defender (one central, one at the back post from Shaw and Rashford crosses), and a scrappy tap in of a spill from a keeper. Five of the kind of goals we’re talking about, all from balls in from wide.

Martial, and Greenwood and Rashford when playing centrally, just very, very rarely score these kind of goals. Cavani has five of them (of his six in total) in a measly 850 mins of PL football.

We’ve all spent (literally) years shouting at Martial and Rashford to bust a gut to get across their defenders or drop off to the back post whilst watching both of them curb their runs to wait in the same space, both inaccessible, somewhere behind the penalty spot. They aren’t stupid players, but they don’t display the natural instincts of a predatory nine.

Rashford’s movement in his running off the ball has improved significantly in the last few years, but his work across the defensive line, finding pockets between the lines, and, particularly, off the shoulder is where those improvements have come; not in his movement in the box. The less said about Martial’s movement in the area, the better. Three successive managers and their coaching staffs have managed to squeeze next to nothing out of him on that front. I just don’t know if it’s in him.

I’m actually finding myself saying, more than very occasionally now, “oooh, good ball,” with deliveries from Shaw, Rashford, Telles, and sometimes McT and AWB from wide. We’re better than we were in terms of the quality of the deliveries aerially, and from the left at getting in behind having worked a combination or rotation with Shaw and Rashford.

Improvement still required, yes, of course. But put a fully fit Cavani in there every week and I reckon we’d be scoring a goal from out wide every second or third game, he makes that much of a difference versus Martial or Greenwood.

comment by Shola The Ameobi Shoretire (U10026)
posted 9 hours, 25 minutes ago
Martial’s movement may be poor, but he’s averaging about two shots a game in the league. He’s having his own issues on an individual level, but the way this team plays makes life difficult for the striker. Even last season when he scored quite a lot the majority of his goals were difficult chances. It’s been a similar story for most of our strikers. I don’t believe these players are so stupid that they don’t know how to get into dangerous positions, they just don’t have a team that make good enough chances for them on a regular basis.
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I’d bet that at the very least 1.5 of those 2 will be accounted for by strikes from the edge (or thereabouts) of the area him having either carried the ball, received it in close quarters from central combination play, or counterattacks.

And that’s because our service from wide is crap. Especially from the right side. It’s a much bigger problem for us than the movement of the cf, as we’ve struggled to create for Cavani as well. The quality of our chances isn’t very good, we just have players that are very good at scoring difficult chances.

The build up play isn’t good enough either. Which makes it harder to provide good service from wide. But it’s still a major problem with the team. Our right hand side is one of the worst in the league going forward.

comment by Shola The Ameobi Shoretire (U10026)
posted 45 minutes ago
And that’s because our service from wide is crap. Especially from the right side. It’s a much bigger problem for us than the movement of the cf, as we’ve struggled to create for Cavani as well. The quality of our chances isn’t very good, we just have players that are very good at scoring difficult chances.

The build up play isn’t good enough either. Which makes it harder to provide good service from wide. But it’s still a major problem with the team. Our right hand side is one of the worst in the league going forward.
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I’d argue that it’s just as much because Martial, Rashford and Greenwood’s movement in the box is shiiiit.

I mean, how often do we see Shaw and AWB get to the touchline and whip a ball across the face for it to be cleared by a CB on the corner of the six yard box. Every single facking game. It drives me nuts. You have to have a runner there.

You’ll see one of Martial, Rashford and Greenwood on the edge of the area and another other one on the penalty spot shaking his head and pointing at his feet despite the fact that there were two players between him and the crosser. Make the facking runs you belllends: one to the near post, one to the back post. It’s stuff you teach twelve year olds.

Shaw is fourth in the league so far this season in key passes from crosses (27), Bruno is 14th (17). As a team we have 68 key passes from crosses in total, and six goals from inside the six yard box. Six.

Everton have 17 goals from inside the six yard box from 57 key passes from crosses.

Now there are all manner of different ways to interpret that, of course, but to me it’s amazing what we’ve seen since Cavani has come into the PL side. He’s in a different league in the box to the other three, and that’s why he has five goals from in and around the six yard box in eight games’ worth of minutes.

Not very often actually, that’s the issue. They don’t get the ball in dangerous enough areas consistently to provide easy deliveries. And even when they do it’s not a grate delivery, particularly from AWB. And it’s not just the full backs either. When our forwards are wide their balls into the box isn’t that good, Rashford is the only one that is respectable. Greenwood and Dan James are shiiiiit at creating chances.

Everton score so many from that area as they are brilliant at set pieces. Digne’s crossing from deep is also among the best in the league. DLC has good movement in the box, but I highly doubt he’d score all the shiiiiit goals he does for Everton in this United team, particularly from open play - our delivery from set pieces has improved in fairness, hence Shaw’s big increase in chances created and key passes.

Cavani has the best movement in the box I’ve ever seen. But we’re still finding it hard to create for him on a consistent basis. You can point to some of the goals he’s scored, but look at the ones he doesn’t because of poor service into those areas.

I agree movement is a problem, but it’s just not as big an issue as the quality of the service, for me. Our cowardly set up doesn’t allow for enough players in the box either.

These issues are also easier to solve as we just need two players on the right hand side that can significantly increase the quality of the service, and a new manager that doesn’t play such cowardly football.

“Our cowardly set up doesn’t allow for enough players in the box either.”

This is certainly a problem too.

It has been good to see McT get up in and around the action more in recent weeks, but there are games in which we really should be seeing both him and Maguire in the box when we get the ball in wide areas during open play IMO.

Maguire’s movement in the opposition’s box is probably better than Martial’s

It’s probably the biggest issue of all. I mean yeah, AWB is an incredibly shiiiit footballer, but I have some sympathy when he’s expected to pick out one man in the box up against four or five players. Though that sympathy promptly disappears when he smacks it against the defenders legs.

comment by Shola The Ameobi Shoretire (U10026)
posted 46 minutes ago
It’s probably the biggest issue of all. I mean yeah, AWB is an incredibly shiiiit footballer, but I have some sympathy when he’s expected to pick out one man in the box up against four or five players. Though that sympathy promptly disappears when he smacks it against the defenders legs.
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I mean, just

It’s healthy to keep laughing.

He’s entertaining for all the wrong reasons. Kind of miss Fellaini for similar entertainment. I genuinely used to laugh at loud whenever he scored.

It’s giraffe on an ice rink stuff with AWB.

With Fellaini it was more 70’s mirkin on a totem pole.

Both hilarious at times.

I think we might look back in our old age at the days of Depay’s Roller, LVG’s touchline dives, Fellaini’s dribbling, Rojo’s tackling, Jones’s sea-level headers, etc. and realise we at least enjoyed ourselves in moments.

Don't forget Valencia's smashing the ball into the shins of the first defender. Good times.

It amazes me he made it in Palace’s academy as a winger. Their academy must be facking shiiiiiiit nowadays.