The Final Third...

[AnOldBrownie]

So, which of the coaching staff is mostly responsible for coaching our attack?    I mean, we hold the ball pretty well against most sides, but I don't think we get the number of shots on goal we should be getting considering how much possession we have.

Is this Scott's main focus, or is it someone else in his coaching staff?

imo it's the main weakness of our side.

[The Rational Fan]

So, which of the coaching staff is mostly responsible for coaching our attack?    I mean, we hold the ball pretty well against most sides, but I don't think we get the number of shots on goal we should be getting considering how much possession we have.

Is this Scott's main focus, or is it someone else in his coaching staff? imo it's the main weakness of our side.

Spot on, I look at Knockaert and think he can do anything the coach tells him to do, as long as the coach doesn't ask him "to assess his options and pick the best one" cause they are the two things that he is pretty bad at (assessing options and picking the best one). Highly programmed coaching like Bielsa does would be good for Knockaert, because Knockaert is more a footballing machine than a visionary footballer.

Next season, Parker needs to focus on the final third of the field, especially against teams promoted from League One and those bottom of the Championship using low block defenses. If we had beaten Barnsley, Luton and Charlton twice this season, we'd be on 86 points with Leeds on 78 points.

[colinwhite]

Give it a rest ,that was a very impressive away victory of the type that premier league sides make. Be happy

[rebel]

The focus seemed to be on not losing the ball, against risk losing the ball to try and score a goal. But this has been the case all season. Most teams graft to get the ball into the opposition 'final third', we get the ball into the 'final third', then we are happy for it to go all the way back to our keeper.   

[FulhamStu]

The problem is largely one of style.  Because we are not at all direct, by the time we get to the final 3rd, the opposition have got many players behind the ball and there is no space.  We have many shots blocked because of this.  If we got to the final 3rd more quickly, there would be fewer defenders in the way and we would create far more scoring opportunities.   The other factor is getting you shot off quickly,  top strikers do this, shoot early before the defender and keeper are set.

[Sgt Fulham]

Give it a rest ,that was a very impressive away victory of the type that premier league sides make. Be happy

Strange post. Even in victory we can always improve (the best always do) and I wouldn't call this a negative post. It is just a critical observation.

[colcliff]

Why would coaches  coach players not to shoot
No matter what you are coached positional wise it's up to the individual if he thinks he has a chance to score
A lot come down to confidence you tend to find when someone finds the net they are more likely to try again
When you keep missing the confidence goes and you tend to pass the responsibility to others
Some players always feel that when they get the chance they will take it and that's why those players are worth hundreds of millions

[Statto]

Give it a rest ,that was a very impressive away victory of the type that premier league sides make. Be happy

Strange post. Even in victory we can always improve (the best always do) and I wouldn't call this a negative post. It is just a critical observation.

+1

[rebel]

The problem is largely one of style.  Because we are not at all direct, by the time we get to the final 3rd, the opposition have got many players behind the ball and there is no space.  We have many shots blocked because of this.  If we got to the final 3rd more quickly, there would be fewer defenders in the way and we would create far more scoring opportunities.   The other factor is getting you shot off quickly,  top strikers do this, shoot early before the defender and keeper are set.

Agree 100%

[rebel]

Give it a rest ,that was a very impressive away victory of the type that premier league sides make. Be happy

Strange post. Even in victory we can always improve (the best always do) and I wouldn't call this a negative post. It is just a critical observation.

Agree 100%, reminds me of Sunderland win / relegation from the Prem.

[rebel]

Why would coaches  coach players not to shoot
No matter what you are coached positional wise it's up to the individual if he thinks he has a chance to score
A lot come down to confidence you tend to find when someone finds the net they are more likely to try again
When you keep missing the confidence goes and you tend to pass the responsibility to others
Some players always feel that when they get the chance they will take it and that's why those players are worth hundreds of millions

Look at Cav, earlier in the season, he was cutting in and scoring for fun, everyone in the Championship knows what he is going to do. They stop him from doing that. He needs to find other ways, but I think he still tries to do the same. That's where there is no creativity. All the 'creativity and craft' has gone.

[filham]

Yes , our build up is slow and made up of a lot of short balls. We rarely get early balls out to our to our wide men but even when we do they are incapable of attacking the defender on the outside, probably because they are inside out players.

Parker's methods are not producing sufficient chances or goals and some changes are needed.

[colinwhite]

Look we stifled Forests  Counter attacking style perfectly against without arguably our 2 best players . We score with a strike from outside  the box.The team fought hard and got the victory . If we go up its the type of performance we will need to put in week in week out to stay up ,and Im the one writing the stränge post !

[The Cravenette]

Look we stifled Forests  Counter attacking style perfectly against without arguably our 2 best players . We score with a strike from outside  the box.The team fought hard and got the victory . If we go up its the type of performance we will need to put in week in week out to stay up ,and Im the one writing the stränge post !

It was a great performance against a good Forest team who were unbeaten since lockdown.  We should all be very pleased with that.

However the OP is correct; we simply don't shoot enough or have proper clear cut chances when you look at the forward players we have.  Something is lacking there.  We cannot rely on Arter to score from outside the box in every game.

[ALG01]

the performance v forrest was immense but if we are to improve further we have to be clear that in the last three games we have not made anywhere near enough chances inside the box. We cannot rely on great shots from distance because football does not work that way, The majority of goals, by and large, for all teams come from within the penalty area.

We are two slow getting the ball in the box and in parallel with that we do not get enough bodies in the box when advancing.... we have to correct this in short order. We are not missing chances because we are simply not making any, how many efforts did the forrest keeper have to deal with?

[rebel]

Yes , our build up is slow and made up of a lot of short balls. We rarely get early balls out to our to our wide men but even when we do they are incapable of attacking the defender on the outside, probably because they are inside out players.

Parker's methods are not producing sufficient chances or goals and some changes are needed.

Good post.

[rebel]

Look we stifled Forests  Counter attacking style perfectly against without arguably our 2 best players . We score with a strike from outside  the box.The team fought hard and got the victory . If we go up its the type of performance we will need to put in week in week out to stay up ,and Im the one writing the stränge post !

It reminds me of, first game of the season against Sunderland, we won, 1 - 0. I asked 'where was the performance?', he said 'the performance isn't important, we won etc', That season we got relegated from the Prem.   

Also agree with Cravenette and ALGO1.

[WindyCity]

Give it a rest ,that was a very impressive away victory of the type that premier league sides make. Be happy

Sure, nice away three point pickup.  BUT, nothing wrong with being frustrated with this teams' excessive possession advantage that produces very few if any real scoring opportunities.  It's been this way all season long.  Parker and staff (and players) need to figure out how to convert possession into scoring chances and ultimately goals scored.  Final third results still woefully lacking.

[Matt10]

It's not necessarily about our ball movement, it's when Knockaert and Cav get the ball in those advanced positions. Knockaert tends to do too much with tricks, while Cav runs into blind alleys. In addition, we have a tendency to pass one too many in attempt to combine multiple participants to attack. It makes it about the final ball, and most of the time it's lacking. There was a clear point to Knockaert yesterday choosing to protest handball in the box, when in fact he could have kept dribbling to reclaim the ball and pass it into a dangerous spot.

It wasn't much time, but what little was shown again was how StefJo can find players. He's someone I would be starting in general, but of course in this dynamic I would not know where to put him considering others' form. I think his penetrating passes and creativity would do wonders for moving the ball quicker and in threatening spots.

I am quite glad to see us shoot more though. BDR is getting closer, and if more teams know that Arter can score the way he does, the more that will pull defending players out of position to set up a pass. I know Knockaert likes to shoot as well, but if he were to try something different, he could take advantage of the same concept by sending a disguised pass instead. There was a time yesterday where his shot went straight at the keeper, he could've faked the shooting motion and passed it to BDR who was free in the box.