I would counter this by saying we outplayed a below par Liverpool side last night and did have 2/3 good opportunities to score. Mateta clearly lacking confidence in front of goal.

I don't say you're right or you're wrong, but it does seem that the inability of Mateta - and to much the same extent, Edouard - to score is increasingly being put down to lack of confidence. He missed a great chance to score from, I'd say, about seven yards. Yes, he hit the bar, but he missed. He didn't appear to be lacking confidence when he struck the ball. He simply missed.

I rather think that in Mateta's case it's because of his lack of speed, especially in controlling the ball. He misses many of his chances because his shots are blocked or he is quickly surrounded by defenders. That is the main problem of players who perform well in other European leagues and move to the PL. Only a few can handle the higher tempo. Also, as a striker you have more chances in one game in the other leagues than in five in the PL.

Yep. The numbers support it. We have the two most fouled players in the Premier League this season. Zaha and Ayew. Eze and Olise are 16th and 18th. Having 4 in the top 18 is ridiculous, law of averages says we should have 1.

In terms of successful dribbles, Zaha is 4th. Eze is 3rd. Ayew is 15th, behind Olise in 11th.

Firstly, if we have 4 players in the top 15, we aren't moving the ball fast enough. Dribbling is going to slow us down and allow the opposition to get set. Arsenal and Newcastle are the only teams with 2 players in the top 15 so we are a huge outlier. Numbers are here: [Link]

Secondly, Ayew gets fouled way too many times for the number of dribbles he completes. Reason? He wants to be fouled. Doesn't have the confidence to take a player on, would rather slow the game down, create some friction, buy a foul.

We need more one touch, quick passing. We need less dribbling and looking for fouls against a defence we've allowed to get set.

26th January 2010 - Enter Administration
2nd May 2010 - D-Day 1 - Survival at Hillsborough
1st June 2010 - D-Day 2 - Survival at Lloyds
7th June 2010 - CPFC2010 exchange contracts.

"A successful dribble means the player beats the defender while retaining possession, unsuccessful ones are where the dribbler is tackled."

Whilst we're beating one player with a dribble, others are beating far more with a pass.

26th January 2010 - Enter Administration
2nd May 2010 - D-Day 1 - Survival at Hillsborough
1st June 2010 - D-Day 2 - Survival at Lloyds
7th June 2010 - CPFC2010 exchange contracts.

In our last 3 Home games we have only registered 2 attempts on target.
1 of those was the Tomkins goal against Brighton, presented to him on a plate.
This was the only goal in our last 3 home matches.

The possession in our last 3 home games is 36%, 25% and 39%.

The above games were against Liverpool, Brighton and Newcastle and there will be those who will be of the opinion that 3 draws against these teams are creditable results.

Edited by Willo (26 Feb 2023 11.52pm)