striker

Well 3 pts is 3 pts. Boufal saved us ass today, outside of that we were pretty pedestrian. Middlesbrough is not a good squad.

So in summary to this, I think losing Mane was the issue. Redmond isn't close, Tadic is ok, and Boufal is ok, but Mane scored 11 goals and created more chances.

This is why I hesitate when people just see we don't score goals and say "we have to get a striker". Austin has been scoring fine, Long has showed he can score just last year, and Jay Rod has shown he can score when healthy. Forwards make runs to get open and need to score when they get service on those runs. If the midfield is not hitting them, supporting them, or attacking at all, the strikers are isolated and can't do anything. Its a team game and everyone has a role. I think our issue is more the offensive side of the midfield game.

Is Charlie out for a while?

Well that is just it right? When all we have is Austin to score then the defense knows to target him. A PL defense can shut down any one player. You need multiple threats to attack consistently.

Austin replacing Pelle has been the only thing that has worked. THe production is the same, and in fact Austin should likely surpass Pelle's goal total. They are the same type of player. Its the rest of the "ins and outs" that haven't worked

We have our CB's playing striker now

VVD is our best forward with Austin out

Does anyone else get nervous when the ball is played back to Forster now?

Pretty soon here a goal for us won't matter. It will become much more important to keep Be'er Sheva from scoring.

I think Austin will be ok. Probably just popped it out. Snap it back in and give it a day or two

I don't see us playing with a central striker. I see three guys upfront who rotate around. Austin and Redmond are outside as much as inside. I don't see why Long can't be upfront with Austin and Tadic (for example)

Our offense is weak so far, and thats because its too dependant on only Austin. According to the PL as of today, only Dafoe from Sunderland is a higher % of a his teams offense than Austin (and we all know how good Sunderland is doing). The current list is like this: Dafoe - 53% of his teams scoring Austin - 46% Zlatan - 42% Lukaku - 41% Costa - 34% Aguero - 33% Sanchez - 32% Kane - 30% I don't think its a coincidence that the two guys on here close to 50% of their teams offense, have teams that are struggling offensively. One player in the PL can not score enough to support a team, and its easy for a good defense to shut down any one player. To fix this the answer isn't benching Austin, thats cutting off your nose to spite your face (so to speak). The answer is 1) getting and keeping Long on the pitch with Austin -we need his 10 goals desperately, so we must do everything possible to get him going 2) keep attacking mids on the field - some scoring needs to come from here, and also they need to create easier opportunities for the forwards When I watch the matches it seems to me that we are playing defensively, and just continue to loft balls into Austin once he gets into position. I am a big Austin fan and believe he brings a necessary component to our ream, however this isn't a sustainable offense on its own.

Agree also. People saying all Austin offers are goals have not been watching. What he does not have is a lot of pace, so if we are playing one up late in the game Long is a much better fit. But other than that he is scoring something like 46% of our goals (highest % in the PL), holding the ball up, and making good runs.

I'm thinking this is close, with Austin/Boufal/Redmond sitting first on the bench, coming on early in the 2nd if there is trouble.

I was just trying to do an Apples to apples comparison, because once you get into other games the teams played an uneven amount. If we include all games Austin has 9 already, Boufal has 1, and REdmond I believe has 4 (but I'd need to check)e

I thought Forster was at fault for the second goal too. It seems from the replays that the players were waiting for him to come get the ball.

With out current state of goal scoring, I don't see how you can take off Austin. He has twice as many goals as anyone else on the team, and is on track for 15+ goals. There are certainly other things he doesn't do as well as others, but if you are trying to get more scoring removing the only guy who is scoring as he should isn't the way I would approach it. Its not like when he is out we score goals all the time.

In Long's case I absolutely agree with this. At some point put Long and Austin out there and just leave them alone. If we need goals that's where they are going to come from upfront. If Long picks it up we should be fine, but he needs to be on the pitch. The others will pitch in as they can.

I'm repeating myself from the other thread, but the difference really is Long. He had 10 goals last year and 0 so far this one. Austin is ahead of Pelle's pace and should get to 15 or so, and Redmond/Boufal are more or less on Mane's pace. We really need to get Long going because I don't see any other way (through other current players or acquisition) to cover his goals. I'd play Long/Austin/Redmond up front exclusively and let them go, hopefully with extended time with those guys Long can get in form. Put Boufal in at midfield and pray for goals.

If you compare the goals to last season, the top scorers look like: Pelle - 11 Mane - 11 Long - 10 So far we have: Austin - 6 (PL only) Redmond - 3 Long - 0 So if we just take 1-for-1 replacements, Austin looks like he should beat Pelle's production hopefully getting 15+ goals (they are roughly the same type of player) Redmond is falling behind Mane's production, although he's still within striking distance. Long is way off. So overall the issue is where do Long's 10 goals come from? I think we need to play Long and get him going, because I see no other outlet for that many goals. I think Boufal will add some, but that will make up for the rest of the midfield's lack of scoring. I also think Austin getting to 15 or so will make up for Redmonds Mane production gap. I would play Long, Austin, and Redmond upfront, and always keep Boufal in the midfield somewhere. To me Boufal is the Mane replacement, due to his ability to create and I do expect him to score some. A midfield of Tadic, Boufal, Romeu, and Davis/ Hojberg works for me and should add some attacking. Then we have Sims, McQueen, JWP, and others to fill in.

Or Leicester

I have no issue bringing Long on, I just would have left my goal scores on too (Boufal and Austin). JWP and Redmond don't show any interest in scoring

I don't get it. He takes off Boufal and Austin, yet leaves on JWP and Redmond. Plus Davis is still on the bench.

JWP is really having a hard day