Goalscoring

[Nicholas91]

The clubs were very careful in their selection and had cause to be optimistic.

Nketiah still holds the record for England U21 goals. And Elliott was the standout player at the last England U21 tournament (which we won).

Every young player has to be a passenger, to some extent, when they play in the first XI. But not f*****g up also means attaining a standard whereby they do not look out of place in that illustrious company.

On any Moneyball assessment, both should be pulling up the trees. Why neither are can be attributed to a number of factors e.g. spending their whole career from age 9 playing one way and the new club making them play another. Who knows? Thus, perhaps Elliott needs more time to settle, but Villa cannot afford him that while they chase a title. He could still come good if given time.

Yep, I believe this to be true as well.

Hence with Gallagher, he came in firing on all cylinders, knowing he had to adapt and perform.

I believe with the likes of Nketiah and Elliott, the transition to a new style of play and expected contribution can put them on the back foot. The onus is therefore upon them to step up/adapt and contribute with new/unfamiliar expectations.

Conor did, Nketiah and Elliott will have to as well if they want to 'make it'.

 

[dreamwaverider]

Which means we retain 5th place, for now at least

I really want to beat Leeds and beat KuPS first

Why can't we just always beat everyone!?

(this is a tongue in cheek and slightly rhetorical question given the thread)
(also quite drunk, but I've had neat gin since and it's brought things back into focus)
(except my eyes)

Well if our strikers eyes and reactions are as good as your spelling and punctuation considering your condition when writing, we are going to be just fine.
I am loving being a top 6 team. Long may it continue.
We are getting plenty of chances in all recent games and our misses are nearly always really close. Hitting the woodwork etc. which makes for exciting games.
If we end the season as we have performed up until now I will be well happy.

 

[park the bus]

Between 5th place, (currently us) and 10th place (Brighton) there's only 3 points difference - one win, one loss and it's all change. A mere 6 points away in 15th place are Brentford, things could turn quite easily during the Xmas schedule so perhaps Santa will deliver some brand spanking new shooting boots Christmas Eve for our lacklustre forward line. Here's hoping!

 

[Lanzo-Ad]

IMO Nketiah is a good finisher, but unfortunately it seems there are no Owens, AJs, etc in the modern game, I cant really understand why we bought him, for me he is a player out of his time.

 

[MrRobbo]

Yep, I believe this to be true as well.

Hence with Gallagher, he came in firing on all cylinders, knowing he had to adapt and perform.

I believe with the likes of Nketiah and Elliott, the transition to a new style of play and expected contribution can put them on the back foot. The onus is therefore upon them to step up/adapt and contribute with new/unfamiliar expectations.

Conor did, Nketiah and Elliott will have to as well if they want to 'make it'.

Love his as I do, I do think that with Connor it was a perfect role for him to come into.

We were a low block team, minimal possession and played him as a no 10. His role was to start the press and then get himself in the box at every opportunity.

IMO he'd be useless in this current team, nowhere near good enough with he ball and not disciplined enough.

As Lanzo said, Nketiah would have thrived in the big man little man era.

 

[Canterbury Palace]

Between 5th place, (currently us) and 10th place (Brighton) there's only 3 points difference - one win, one loss and it's all change. A mere 6 points away in 15th place are Brentford, things could turn quite easily during the Xmas schedule so perhaps Santa will deliver some brand spanking new shooting boots Christmas Eve for our lacklustre forward line. Here's hoping!

Very true. Our lofty position shouldn't be taken as a given for the rest of the season.

We're away to Leeds on Sunday who are improving, plus we have injuries, plus we never win after Europe. So we could easily lose that.

Below us, United are away to Villa (tough), Liverpool are away to Spurs (very winnable), Sunderland are away to Brighton (either team could go ahead if they win), Everton have Arsenal (tough but Arsenal shaky).

I'd say by the end of the weekend we'll likely be 8th or lower, and then suddenly we're within reach of Spurs, Newcastle, Bournemouth too.

Our next run of league games is Spurs, Fulham, Newcastle, Villa, Sunderland, Chelsea, Forest and Brighton before we reach an easier looking run.

I think we're good enough now that those teams will view us as a tough fixture too, but unless we have luck with injuries, start converting chances and get new signings in really quick, this season could revert into a mid table campaign very quickly again.

The only real positive here is that with 26 points already, we're not going down bar one of the worst downturns in form in PL history.

 

[Palacesince64]

There’s no denying that our front three are lacking that clinical edge in front of goal but I do wonder if the fact they are pretty much guaranteed a start regardless is a factor. In most teams they would have been dropped for a bit to give someone else a chance. Ollie won’t drop them because he’s all about the system and they stick to the plan. Given our league position it’s hard to argue with that approach but our poor goals to xG ratio is perhaps an inevitable consequence of that.

 

[PatrickA]

Love his as I do, I do think that with Connor it was a perfect role for him to come into.

We were a low block team, minimal possession and played him as a no 10. His role was to start the press and then get himself in the box at every opportunity.

IMO he'd be useless in this current team, nowhere near good enough with he ball and not disciplined enough.

As Lanzo said, Nketiah would have thrived in the big man little man era.

I hope we get the opportunity to see if Gallagher would thrive under Glasner as I would really like him to join in January, even on loan.

I believe your description of his attributes are accurate and believe this would suit the number 10 position under Glasner i.e pressing and getting in the box.

He has the tenacity, energy and is a decent finisher.
Furthermore, our Number 10s spend most of their time in midfield anyway , only real pushing forward in transition.
Pino, Kamada, Wharton, Hughes and Lerma show no or little inclination or appetite to break into the box; that cannot be said of Gallagher.
Some of this reluctance of our current players to break into the box may well be system driven and tactical , but it’s not their strength any way whereas it is a major strength of Gallagher and what’s more he doesn’t freeze when in front of goal.

You can never have too many good players, so it’s a yes from me for Gallagher as unlikely as it that he will join.

 

[CrazyBadger]

Very true. Our lofty position shouldn't be taken as a given for the rest of the season.

We're away to Leeds on Sunday who are improving, plus we have injuries, plus we never win after Europe. So we could easily lose that.

Below us, United are away to Villa (tough), Liverpool are away to Spurs (very winnable), Sunderland are away to Brighton (either team could go ahead if they win), Everton have Arsenal (tough but Arsenal shaky).

I'd say by the end of the weekend we'll likely be 8th or lower, and then suddenly we're within reach of Spurs, Newcastle, Bournemouth too.

Our next run of league games is Spurs, Fulham, Newcastle, Villa, Sunderland, Chelsea, Forest and Brighton before we reach an easier looking run.

I think we're good enough now that those teams will view us as a tough fixture too, but unless we have luck with injuries, start converting chances and get new signings in really quick, this season could revert into a mid table campaign very quickly again.

The only real positive here is that with 26 points already, we're not going down bar one of the worst downturns in form in PL history.

I haven't checked this, but my Sunderland supporting Mate reckon they have 4 of their 1st 11 at AFCON. They are unsurprisingly worried about the upcoming month....

 

[doombear]

I haven't checked this, but my Sunderland supporting Mate reckon they have 4 of their 1st 11 at AFCON. They are unsurprisingly worried about the upcoming month....

They have the most players at Afcon - 6 in all so your mate is probably right a) re their 1st XI absentees and b) re their upcoming fixtures without them.

 

[Glazier#1]

It's noteworthy that 3 formerly highly rated youngsters at Arsenal - Nketiah, Smith Rowe and Nelson- have not pulled up trees since leaving Arsenal.
A few years ago they were seen as the foundation of the club's future.

It's also evident that the highly rated Harvey Elliott has really struggled for game time since leaving Liverpool for Villa, with Villa now purportedly looking to cancel the loan.

It perhaps highlights the risks of going for young players who in a sense are 'over hyped' because they are at a big club when their achievements don't warrant the hype.

There are exceptions (e.g Gallagher's loan to us was the making of him), but in general terms I think it's preferable to try and get undiscovered gems from the Championship (or overseas) than disappointed youngsters from top clubs.

We have benefitted, though, benefitted from some 'under-hyped' players from big clubs; notably Chelsea.

As you wrote, Gallagher is one but there is also Guehi and Chalobah(on loan, I know, but we trained him up properly like Chelsea couldn't then they took him back haha).

Maybe top table fringe youngsters, on loan, would seem a good option come January.