[CONFIRMED] WE NEED A GOAL SCORER

I would sell all the forwards and play with a false 9.

 

Step forward the mighty Ettiene Capoue.

 

Well he's already mastered the role of a false defensive midfielder.

 

Sounds like an FM legend. Up there with Cherno Samba.

 

Whenever I see this thread title I get a little headache.

 

Looking at what West Ham did with Arnautovic, I hope we're at least trying to turn Richarlison into a lone striker, but I fear we could be doing what Stoke did to Arnautovic instead.

 

Whenever I think of Capoue, for some reason Stylax fom Plebs pops into my head.

 

Nugent ? Too slow and old.

 

While we need a proven goalscorer, I don’t think that is or should be our main priority.

We have scored 42 goals this season, only the top 6 and Leicester have scored more. However we have let in 60 goals. Only Stoke have let in more.

For me, defence is a must upgrade first. We have dropped 21 points from winning positions to date so far this season. If there was a table, I’m sure we would be in the top 3. We have to sort this area out first.

 

Need a defence and a striker, probably got enough midfield

I won’t slag Deeney off as I think he has done well for Watford but he doesn’t work in the current formation (and hasn’t for a long time), we either need two upfront or someone fast and strong as a loan striker.

Would love to see Vydra back , why did he never get a shot in the prem - was it a falling out with QSF ?

Edit: just had a look at Vydra stats -not actually that impressive.

 

He got a shot in the Premier with West Brom and kept misfiring.

 

How much of a shot did he really get though? He was mainly a late sub, being on the pitch for a total number of minutes equivalent to less than seven and half games but still scored three goals. Not that bad a return, really.

 

L O L

Every Premier League club wants more goals. EVERY club - all of whom have deeper pockets than a Championship club - have had years too look over Vydra and every one of them has passed on him. Yet somehow he's the answer for us. Evidently because he had a good year for us back sometime around the Napoleonic era.

 

I'm not saying he's the answer for us, just that he wasn't given much of a chance in the Premier League by West Brom. Two different things.

 

Benteke.

Sorry!

 

Every year he played for us was a good year. Every year he played for somebody else hadn't been, until this season.

The moral of this story is that he's a second striker who needs to be used properly. Not a lone striker, not a winger, not a supersub. He needs somebody like D....y to play alongside.

 

Even in his first season at Derby, Vydra wasn't firing at all because he was deployed as a wide forward/winger or a lone striker upfront; he's even spoken about this himself. It was only when Rowett came in and moved him to a non-creative No.10/second striker position that he started scoring goals again as he is now. So bringing him in again would solve little, and leave us with the exact same arguments over playing 2 up-top as we have now.

Are we really saying that he's a more suitable player to have there than Pereyra or Hughes? Seems unlikely, and he'd be useless if we wanted to, say, switch to a 4-3-3. Great.

 

We are left with the front 2 we have now plus the man mountain who's name escapes me on loan in Belgium, plus Gray. Realistically we will never get MV back now, for a start he would probably cost £15m+ now, but for the last 3 seasons we have missed a quality pacey goalscorer who can stretch defences and finish. Gray was supposed to be the answer. I just hope this summer we buy such a player and don't elect to get by with what we've got to save ££££s.

 

You might not slag Deeney off but he will slag you off at the drop of a hat mate.

 

most natural goal scorer ever to wear yellow!

 

Close 2nd to Bobby Svarc

 

To play up front on your own you need pace, movement, strength and a goalscorer's instinct. We will have to splash the cash to get all 4.

 

We need a left back

 

We need 2 left backs.

 

I think we can reasonably expect that we will either strengthen the defence or the attack but not both.

Personally I don’t believe the club will call it quits on Gray just yet. I think Okaka will leave and obviously Carrillo. Penaranda will likely replace one of these depending on where we choose to play him. Who knows what is going on with Success. But given what Okaka and Carrillo have offered, I have no problem with Success and Penaranda taking their places.

I hope we can strengthen both up front and at the back. But if the money only allows for one, it’s time to invest in the defence and give a no-nonsense chat to the strikers about what is expected of them.

 

If the attack did their job properly it would take the CONSTANT pressure off the defence and things would improve at the back.

Ideally we should strengthen in both areas, but if a choice has to be made where our priority is we should invest in strikers that can actually score goals.

 

Even in his best season for us in 2012/13, Vydra went 13 games without scoring between February and the play-off semi.

 

Penaranda and Success would just waste 2 squad places. Neither are currently good enough to play for the first team. Strengthening the front and back are not mutually exclusive. 2-3 signings could do both.

 

I know, they would be nothing more than squad players. I’m not talking of them coming into the starting XI - more that they would be taking the place of Okaka and Carrillo - so it’s no real drop in ability. And I’m not ready to cut losses on the pair of them just yet.

And again, I know they aren’t mutually exclusive. But good signings cost money. And from the financial report that came out no so long ago, money seems to be quite tight. So I’m just saying I’m not sure Gino will be prepared to bin off Gray just yet. 2 or 3 signings that will improve the first XI in the necessary areas may be financially beyond us. Perhaps they won’t but I’m just tempering expectations!

 

I expect they would just spend the season hitting the Baileys though. Much better I thinking to get them playing somewhere where they will actually get a game (rather than playing with someone who's on the game !!). Question is where. And with the ability to recall them and send them somewhere else if they are benched.

 

Possibly. But how many times do we do that? I think it’s more sensible to get them through the door and say ‘now or never’. No more loans to prove yourself. Force your way into the squad now or it’s curtains for you at the club.

 

If we loaned them to Ajax they would find it easier to procure their leisure pursuits!

 

And he also scored 10 in 6 games at one point. He's a striker who goes on scoring streaks and then droughts. Maybe that's why a Premier League club hasn't taken a chance on him - when he's in a drought perhaps his overall contribution to the team isn't considered enough.

Still, despite that, and the poor seasons he's had, he's now scored 75 goals in English football at a goal every 182 minutes. Not too shabby, is it?

 

It’s got to be said, we got most praise we’ve had in the PL in the season where we played two upfront. And our best strikers under the Pozzo’s have been Vydra, Deeney and Ighalo and all produced their best in a 2. Are we trying to be too much like the rest of the PL with our 4-2-3-1 when it doesn’t really suit us? And do we play it just so we can shoehorn a few flair midfielders into the team?

Just seems mad that we have Deeney and Gray who are both better in partnerships and we refuse to try it. We have 2 strikers there who can’t play the lone role but could do much better in a different formation. And we refuse to do it. It’s tactically inept.

 

Personally I think the wingers are the most important players in the attack, if you can't get a decent ball to your strikers you won't score. Our best team ever had two of the best wingers in the league in Barnes and Callaghan. We will probably lose Richarlison, Success is crap, Carillo will be off back to Portugal and Deulofeu will be off back to Barca. That's 4 squad places to fill. As for a striker we could sell Okaka and replace him with Cucho Hernandez job done.