My worry with this squad is that there aren't enough players capable of getting goals, yesterday again we looked toothless, we had chances but we didn't take them. We have also lost players in the summer that were capable of getting goals.
These are our top scorers in the league last season and the number of Premiership goals they got:
Suarez.......11
Bellamy........6
Gerrard........5
OG..............5
Carroll..........4
Maxi............4
Adam, Henderson, Kuyt & Skrtel 2 each
Agger, Coates, Johnson & Shelvey 1 each
That's a total of 47 goals typically you will need at least 60 to make the top 4the loss of Bellamy, Maxi and Kuyt reduces that total by 12, Assaidi and Borini got 10 and 9 goals for their previous clubs last season so they should hopefully be able to cover for the goals that would have been provided by Maxi, Kuyt and Bellamy, Allan isn't going to chip in with anymore goals than the players he's replaced (Henderson/Adam).
You would hope that Gerrard and Suarez could get more goals than last year if they can stay fit, I'd hope to see Suarez hit 20 league goals but I'm not sure how likely that is, perhaps 15 is a more realistic target. Gerrard's total very much depends on what position he plays and how many penalties he takes but I would hope he could make ~12. Beyond those two though I'm not confident that anyone else will reach double figures, which is very worrying as an injury to one of those could leave us in real trouble.
These are what I would hope (optimistically that) players would get in terms of goals the values in brackets are what I think is probably more realistic
Suarez....20 (15)
Gerrard...12 (10)
Borini......10 (7)
Assaidi....10 (7)
Carroll......7 (5)
Downing...5 (3)
Allen/Lucas/Henderson/Shelvey...10 (6) between then
Johnson/Enrique/Agger/Skrtel...12 (6) between them
That optimistically gives a total of 86 and realistically* gives a total of 59 both assuming no injuries.
* realistic values still expect some players (Carroll and Downing) to improve on their form last season despite the fact they will probably play less
These are our top scorers in the league last season and the number of Premiership goals they got:
Suarez.......11
Bellamy........6
Gerrard........5
OG..............5
Carroll..........4
Maxi............4
Adam, Henderson, Kuyt & Skrtel 2 each
Agger, Coates, Johnson & Shelvey 1 each
That's a total of 47 goals typically you will need at least 60 to make the top 4the loss of Bellamy, Maxi and Kuyt reduces that total by 12, Assaidi and Borini got 10 and 9 goals for their previous clubs last season so they should hopefully be able to cover for the goals that would have been provided by Maxi, Kuyt and Bellamy, Allan isn't going to chip in with anymore goals than the players he's replaced (Henderson/Adam).
You would hope that Gerrard and Suarez could get more goals than last year if they can stay fit, I'd hope to see Suarez hit 20 league goals but I'm not sure how likely that is, perhaps 15 is a more realistic target. Gerrard's total very much depends on what position he plays and how many penalties he takes but I would hope he could make ~12. Beyond those two though I'm not confident that anyone else will reach double figures, which is very worrying as an injury to one of those could leave us in real trouble.
These are what I would hope (optimistically that) players would get in terms of goals the values in brackets are what I think is probably more realistic
Suarez....20 (15)
Gerrard...12 (10)
Borini......10 (7)
Assaidi....10 (7)
Carroll......7 (5)
Downing...5 (3)
Allen/Lucas/Henderson/Shelvey...10 (6) between then
Johnson/Enrique/Agger/Skrtel...12 (6) between them
That optimistically gives a total of 86 and realistically* gives a total of 59 both assuming no injuries.
* realistic values still expect some players (Carroll and Downing) to improve on their form last season despite the fact they will probably play less
I've been saying for a while Suarez should play one of the wide roles I think that would be the best way to get the most out of him in the English game, playing through the centre he gets crowded out and lumps kicked out of him by the centre backs, play him out wide and he should have more space to play in, if he beats his fullback he's in a good position to either shoot or pull more defenders away leaving space for others in the centre.
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