Our main strikers

We used to get goals for fun with Stendel
Our main strikers were always getting goals
Under Struber we have dried up and he is to blame for Woodrows decline

 

To be fair Helen ever one who had any connection with the reds knew we needed an old head at the back to help out including the previous manager.
Struber managed to bring to the club what we all were asking.
He did ok with what we had.
I think any coach could have achieved what he did.
My concerns are what's happened to our strikers under him.
They were both scoring goals.
Were all screaming out for a new striker.
However we had 2 decent strikers at the start of 2019 season.
What's happened to their form.

 

I'm not sure I agree with the view that we are awful to watch, nor would I put the lack of goals all down to tactics. Luton aside we've created chances in every match I've seen this season. Woodrow himself missed one or two good opportunities against Coventry. Looking back to last season we also created plenty in those last run of games. Yes we needed a late goal against forest, but we hammered em that first half from my recollection. With brown guilty of missing clear opportunities in that game. Similarly, we had numerous chances against leeds and Luton. I don't think the tactics are the issue, I think it's the lack of quality in front of goal. We're never going to be a consistently brilliant watch but we try to play good football and more often than not we create chances. Stendel was brilliant, but it's not as though every game we played under him was attacking free-flowing football. I can remember several drab affairs in both league one and championship.

 

For seasons in the Championship we have been trying to get a balance of being sound defensively without it taking away from our attacking threat, we are still trying to get those scales to balance.

Stendel went for it attacking wise yet we had gaping holes in midfield and little cover for the defence, now Struber has put that cover in front of the defence yet it takes away from our attacking.

 

goals for fun in a lower league.

 

The championship last year was the same level as the championship this year. People seem to have forgotten that we scored quite a few under Stendel last year and are misremembering mowatts attacking skills, Woodrow's, browns etc as being in league one when they were all fairly prolific in the championship in reality

 

The stats seem to say that we get loads of chances but don't score with them.

I find it hard to blame Struber if our footballers are incapable of finishing properly. That the player's deficiency, not Strubers

Strubers job is to have us play so that chances are created. Whilst stopping the other team from scoring (which we've improved considerably at)

Our attack is simply substandard, whether it be by virtue of the players' talent or form. They get chances, but don't finish.

 

Interesting point. What tactics does he need to change that would get the best from the existing strikers while maintaining the defensive levels we have right now.

 

I get misty-eyed just thinking about Stendel mate, absolutely gutted when he left. I wouldn't feel anywhere near the same if Strubes departed. Stendel's football was a wonder to behold, thoroughly enjoyable, and as you say we scored for fun until the Championship when all the new young uns were acquired and the board didnt back him or listen.

 

Precisely. I think the suggestion we don't create chances under Struber is a myth. When in reality it's the fact that we don't finish them off. Luton is the only game I can think of recently where we haven't created chances. But even then Frieser missed a sitter.

 

League 32 shots 5 on target
Cup 35shots 17 on target

Chelsea game 14 shots 9 on target

according to BBC STATS

 

They were not really shots, more desperation. I think the main strikers are that desperate to score, they snatch at anything.
They do not seem to look for or play to anyone in a better position. Then again they are really not able to get in positions for some reason

 

Didn't really create much against Coventry either.

 

We weren't great but I think Woodrow still had two or three chances, mowatt had an opportunity and Simoes also should've probably scored. Some were also suggesting Frieser should've scored. Not sure I agreed on that one though. I'm not saying we look brilliant, but I think the main issue is the fact that we aren't putting chances away as opposed to not creating them.

 

I also loved the way we played under Daniel in League 1. The only point I'm trying to make is that it was easier to score goals in the lower division. The defences weren't as good and we could be more cavalier. The difference between League 1 and the Championship is big and the defences are much better.
Just had a quick look at Daniel's 11 games in the Championship vs Gerhard's first 11 games:
DS - Scored 9. Against 22.
GS - Scored 19. Against 17.

I do agree with you re Mowatt and Woodrow being less effective so far this season.

 

The club want to play a pressing game, and the board will look for a new coach who is comfortable with that way of playing. Having said that, our last two coaches have showed us that there are more ways than one of playing that way. Stendel was extremely attacking. He played with wingers (width) and was happy with the open spaces that this style of play generated. The system worked well in the lower league, because although the system is open, the opposition usually had strikers who were inferior to ours, and although both sides made chances, we took a higher proportion of ours. When we made the step up, we were bound to encounter better strikers in the higher league, and the situation was exacerbated when we sold Moore, our target man up front. Who knows what would have happened if we had kept Moore, and I am not going to speculate. The fact is that Moore was sold, he was not replaced with a like for like, and Stendel made no attempt to change the system in order to compensate for that loss.


I have always thought that Stendel’s reluctance to change was a key factor in his dismissal. Coaches must be flexible. The system that they use must take account of the way that the club wants to play, but it must also take account of the strengths and weaknesses of the available players, and that is especially true once the transfer window closes. What I liked about Struber was that he did not constantly moan about the players he had inherited. He looked at them and he assessed their strengths and weaknesses. He knew that the team lacked height up front, but he also knew that there was little prospect of being able to fix that situation. It was obvious that the team was conceding too many goals, and he knew that should be his starting point. How could he fix that situation?


Well the first thing to do is to reduce the space available to the opposition, and unfortunately, that meant there was no place in his team for wide midfield players. He needed a reader at the heart of midfield. Someone capable of covering the ground, but who could organise those around him. Mowatt was pivotal to our attacking play, but reducing the number of goals conceded was more important, and he moved him deeper. He has played 4-diamond-2 and 3-4-1-2. Both systems require a No10, and unfortunately, although Mowatt could do, and did do that job very well, he could not be in two places at once and no effective new No10 has emerged as yet.


Struber still had no target man, but he reasoned that he had a player who could win him the game in a different way. He was a player whose role wide right was made redundant by his decision to narrow the game, but who had terrific energy and good pace. He knew he could use this player in a different way, to win the ball back early. Jacob Brown was the key component in the success of Struber’s plan, and when Brown left, Struber was back to the drawing board. So far, Struber has not found a solution, as our last home game (v Coventry) illustrated. Even so, Woodrow should have done better with the chances he got in that game, and Woodrow’s lack of form will continue to be a problem, no matter who is brought in to fix the system based problem.

 

100 % correct

 

we'll try and nick a 0-1 defeat