Goals from outside the box

[AngryOfTuebrook]

5 points clear at the top of the league and half the active threads on here are trying to find something to worry about.

 

We've got an interesting collective psychology.

[Joey8FrogsLegs]

Henderson hit one against Chelsea a couple of years ago, so statistically, based on the quality and frequency of his shooting, he’s due his next in 2032.

 

I don’t think it’s the most important ability to have in the squad, but still of course valuable to have at least a couple of players capable of hitting one from long range.

 

Of the midfielders currently only Fabinho looks remotely capable. In addition I’d say Shaqiri and TAA, but I’m not on the edge of my seat every time they get the ball 30 yards from goal.

 

Would be good if Harry Wilson was able to make the step to the first team, he’s scored more from distance this season than our entire first team squad have in their careers it seems.

[Babb'sBurstNad]

I've no doubt statistically it makes more sense to hold onto the ball and look for a better shooting opportunity. However, it makes us predictable.

 

An inside forward, for instance, has to try beating a fullback on the outside a couple of times to mix things up and plant a seed of doubt. You can tell the ones who'll only ever cut inside, and they are easily shut out.

 

We shouldn't just be Coutinhoing shots into shins at every opportunity, but we do pass up the chance whenever there's a clear sight of goal from distance. Defenders drop off and just shuffle from side to side, like it's Space Invaders.

 

It doesn't have to fly into the top corner to be effective either. It creates space when defenders are drawn out. Plus, we've got some of the quickest forwards in the league, both in terms of ground covered and mental sharpness, who are capable of reacting first to anything that comes back off the keeper.

 

Most defences that nullify us are made up of less mobile slab heads who're slow to react to the unexpected. Origi following in VVD's up and under being one notable example. They didn't expect Pickford's mistake, but watch Origi, he was moving as soon as it was hit.

 

Tldr: mix it up a bit.

[Pidge]

50 minutes ago, aRdja said:

I think long shots are a good weapon against deep-lying defences.

When you get an opening, yes.  But when you have 3/4 defenders in position blocking the goal in front of you it's usually a complete waste of time.  We don't move off the ball fast enough, in enough numbers, to pull the defence out of position and create many clear chances to shoot from any kind of distance. When we do make a move it either leads to a player being clean through or on the end of a cross, so we score closer to goal.

 

When Mo turns in for a longer shot he gets grabbed/kicked and, if he goes down off those fouls, he gets lambasted for diving for weeks on end by embittered Geordie fucks.

 

I'd quite like to see Robbo improve his shooting, we need more of a threat off the weak-side of our attacks and the midfielders definitely aren't going to provide it.  Trent can do it, Robbo usually shanks it.

 

edit: the thing with Coutinho is that his feet were so good he'd be moving the ball forward, before even shaping (McManaman and Gerrard were great at this too, Collymore as well - before he turned shite).  It puts the defenders on their heels and they worry more about getting done than blocking a shot.  Watch how Mane and Shaq usually start at a standstill when they go for one, the whole defence is in position and well-balanced to react. 

[VladimirIlyich]

53 minutes ago, Numero Veinticinco said:

Yeah, I think the idea is to compliment out current goa tally with more goals that come from outside the box. 

Very well summed up.

When we were a very successful side we had the ability to put teams under pressure through many different ways of scoring and teams who came away from Anfield with a point or more often had their keeper to thank due to a string of fine saves,this also made them less likely to camp outside their own penalty are en masse. Against Leicester for example,other than Schmeichel's save shortly after our goal I hardly remember him being tested other than a few scrambles inside the area. This gives teams a game plan that has a chance of working and can rob us of vital points. It's an area where I think we can improve greatly in and all it needs is a more positive attitude from the players to do it.

[aRdja]

14 minutes ago, Babb'sBurstNad said:

I've no doubt statistically it makes more sense to hold onto the ball and look for a better shooting opportunity. However, it makes us predictable.

 

An inside forward, for instance, has to try beating a fullback on the outside a couple of times to mix things up and plant a seed of doubt. You can tell the ones who'll only ever cut inside, and they are easily shut out.

 

We shouldn't just be Coutinhoing shots into shins at every opportunity, but we do pass up the chance whenever there's a clear sight of goal from distance. Defenders drop off and just shuffle from side to side, like it's Space Invaders.

 

It doesn't have to fly into the top corner to be effective either. It creates space when defenders are drawn out. Plus, we've got some of the quickest forwards in the league, both in terms of ground covered and mental sharpness, who are capable of reacting first to anything that comes back off the keeper.

 

Most defences that nullify us are made up of less mobile slab heads who're slow to react to the unexpected. Origi following in VVD's up and under being one notable example. They didn't expect Pickford's mistake, but watch Origi, he was moving as soon as it was hit.

 

Tldr: mix it up a bit.

Every single post should have a tl:dr.

 

also Coutinho and Robben are two exceptions to the rule in that they almost always cut in, but defenders just can’t seem to stop them.

[Red_or_Dead]

Harry Wilson is pretty good at them...

[Paulie Dangerously]

Was thinking this when reading the latest on Harry Wilson.  I'm not overly concerned though, how many do City score from inside the box?  It'd be a nice option to have when the cloggers come and set up shop outside their own box though. 

[Aventus]

Using the Leicester game as an example, we had about 75% possession, and more than double the passes, with just 3 shots on target. 

 

Possession play wasn't working for us but we kept trying to play it around their box.

A couple of decent pot shots to keep the keeper busy and potentially score/cause it to be parried into the path of one of our players might have done us some favours. 

[aRdja]

Just now, Aventus said:

Using the Leicester game as an example, we had about 75% possession, and more than double the passes, with just 3 shots on target. 

 

Possession play wasn't working for us but we kept trying to play it around their box.

A couple of decent pot shots to keep the keeper busy and potentially score/cause it to be parried into the path of one of our players might have done us some favours. 

Two avenues against deep defences that we don’t currently have; long shots and aerial threat from open play.

[Bjornebye]

Sign Chilavert 

[an tha]

Having someone with a decent dig on them in team and chipping in with a handful from outside the box a season and as said by someone above keeping a keeper busy/maybe we'd be able to knock in some parried shot is no bad thing.

 

I don't see why wishing we had this and being generally happy with how many goals we actually score have to be mutually exclusive.

[Anny Road]

Our lad on loan at Derby can bang them in. Hopefully he’s back next year.

[VladimirIlyich]

Shaqiri and Trent can bang them in but seem reluctant to.

[an tha]

Here are the numbers for this season so far:

1.Tottenham Hotspur 10

2.Arsenal 9

3.Manchester City 9

4.Southampton 7

5.Watford 7

6.Everton 6

7.Manchester United 6

8.Chelsea 5

9.West Ham United 5

10.Crystal Palace 4

11.Huddersfield Town 4

12.Leicester City 4

13.Liverpool 4

14.Cardiff City 3

15.Fulham 3

16.AFC Bournemouth 2

17.Wolverhampton Wanderers 2

[VladimirIlyich]

3 minutes ago, an tha said:

Here are the numbers for this season so far:

1.Tottenham Hotspur 10

2.Arsenal 9

3.Manchester City 9

4.Southampton 7

5.Watford 7

6.Everton 6

7.Manchester United 6

8.Chelsea 5

9.West Ham United 5

10.Crystal Palace 4

11.Huddersfield Town 4

12.Leicester City 4

13.Liverpool 4

14.Cardiff City 3

15.Fulham 3

16.AFC Bournemouth 2

17.Wolverhampton Wanderers 2

That's significant. Imagine if we could have banged in four or five more,which would most likely lead to about 4-6 points more at least.

[aws]

Harry Wilson 7.  

[KMD7]

10 hours ago, Bjornebye said:

Sign Chilavert 

Or Peter Lorimer

[niallers]

Spurs have 3 players that can score from long range and it's no surprise that their top of that list. Most of theirs are from open play too. We've had one free and a shaq deflection included in our 4! The others were Milner at Burnley and Sturridge at the bridge. 

That's quite poor in fairness. 

I know we wanted to drift away from the "give it to Phil and he'll have a pop" way but we do miss his ability from distance.

[aRdja]

8 hours ago, an tha said:

Here are the numbers for this season so far:

1.Tottenham Hotspur 10

2.Arsenal 9

3.Manchester City 9

4.Southampton 7

5.Watford 7

6.Everton 6

7.Manchester United 6

8.Chelsea 5

9.West Ham United 5

10.Crystal Palace 4

11.Huddersfield Town 4

12.Leicester City 4

13.Liverpool 4

14.Cardiff City 3

15.Fulham 3

16.AFC Bournemouth 2

17.Wolverhampton Wanderers 2

This could be decisive IMO. This coupled with no aerial threat from open play means teams could set-up deep comfortably against us. 

[Trumo]

I'm surprised that City's is that high to be honest. It seems as though unless De Bruyne or Mahrez have a pop from range, every goal of theirs is a tap-in after a low cross along the six yard box.

[Red74]

This is where we’ve missed AOC. Wasn’t scared to have a shot from distance nor run beyond our front 3 to create panic. 

 

He was superb in getting us to Kiev, especially the city away game.

[Nolongerathletic]

We really want Wijnaldum, Henderson et al taking pot shots from outside the box...what about crowd safety! 

[Anny Road]

Have we got stats for goals inside the box?

[Trumo]

7 minutes ago, Anny Road said:

Have we got stats for goals inside the box?

 

All our goals minus 4.