45 goals in 44 games last season if you take away the 4 at home to Swindon & the 4 at home to Lincoln. With no changes in personel in attacking areas, you can see us running into trouble. If Conor Grant gets injured, I've no idea who is going to create a goal or two. Edwards tends to score rather than assist. Seems to me the issue is around creating those opportunities, as I don't think we are creating enough clear cut chances for the strikers. We saw something rare today, Mayor broke through the centre on one occasion and by chance he managed to find himself in dangerous territory and played a brilliant ball through to Jephcott, who probably should have scored. It's these kinds of opportunities that we need to create more of. If you give Jephcott three of those chances a game, he will score. The thing is, we don't. We need something off the cuff rather than the predictable patterns of play between Mayor, Grant & the overlapping third centre back, or the standard balls into the channel for Hardie to chase. The strikers are usually with their backs to goal and not enough time spent facing the opposition goal.
Unfortunately, we don't have that type of player in our ranks. We don't have that mercurial talent or player who can run at defenders, turn, and ping a shot into the top corner. I think back to when we had Carey and Lameiras playing together. They would turn the game in the final third. A jinking dribble, a pass, a worldy of a strike, a cross. They didn't even need to have time on the ball, they could receive it and in one motion, they could twist and shoot or cross. They'd strike a ball into the top corner from 25 yards, no trouble. Those two had so much in their locker. Who in our team other than Grant can ping one into the top corner from 25 yards? Given Grant plays at LWB, we've no midfielder who can even do this. We've no midfielder who runs into the box and heads into the net either. It's all tippy tappy.
I thought Mayor played quite well today, and whilst he's a valuable team member, he's not the man to unlock opposing defences. I'm not sure if it's mental or if he's lost something, or if he never had it, but it's not there and it's not coming back at L1 level. We need another attacking option to unlock our play, although I've no idea where that kind of player would fit into our system, other than to replace Mayor, which Lowe is never going to do. This will be Lowe's conundrum. Isolate the threat of the wing-backs, and there's no supply for the strikers or variety in our attacking play. Could run into trouble.
