Originally Posted by
jloome
I think the statement "We have no problem getting the ball to dangerous players in good positions" is wildly inaccurate.
Until this last game, nearly all of our service had to come from either Insigne or Bernardeschi, as they're the only ones repeatedly on the ball in the offensive end. And neither of them even attempts service, most of the time. Fede is among the top 3 in shots taken in the league.
(And I'm not saying Owusu's movement is great; I'm saying it's irrelevant, because the ball is almost never served into the box with anything resembling accuracy.)
When Richie was with us at the start of last year? Sure, we got lots of service into the box. WE've had fuck all since then. And Herdman, if anyone hasn't noticed, NEVER criticizes either of his best players.
"There's not enough movement" isn't just a statement about them getting open, it's an excuse for us delivering fewer balls from open play into the box than any team in the league. Because it's the same as saying "if their movement isn't good, there's no one to cross to".
But they don't even put the ball into dangerous areas. This week was literally the first time this season that Bernardeschi has crossed the ball more than three times in a match. Yeah, occasionally there was a decent ball and no one on the end of it (I remember a particular cross in week two that was very dangerous, an outswinger from when he switched to the left).
But that's been far less common than us having three guys in the box and neither DP even ATTEMPTING to get it to them. They both pull the same exact attempted move eight out of 10 times downfield: get the ball somewhere near the box, try to get to the top corner and rip a diagonal shot.
And we saw some proof of that this week. The ball was put to the same exact spot, twice, and he scored, twice. What that indicates to me is that during the week off, they worked on where Prince likes to receive the ball. He didn't change his game at all, as both were taps ins from two feet away. But he was covered both times and still scored, so his 'movement' clearly wasn't the issue, the service was.
The one chance he had prior to that was a header, but it wasn't open. He was surrounded by defenders at the time and likely seeing it at the last second, because he had a defender between him and the delivery.
Nope, not buying it. He hasn't had even close to enough service yet to determine whether he's the issue. And again, I'd point to him scoring seven in his last nine in Germany; I posted those goals. None of them were tap-ins, but all of them required service, because he's a striker that requires service. And anyone who thinks the Bundesliga 2's defending is markedly weaker than MLS is kidding themselves.