Goalscorers II
 

Before last night's match, (and just before the thread was locked) I said:

It's yer bloody law of averages innit?

One thing that stands out for me is the very low number of shots at goal that we make compared with other teams.

Virtually none of our competitors score with every shot taken - we'd be shocked if they did - so they keep at it until some of them end up in the net.


Take today's Cup games as examples, showing shots/on target/goals per team:

Accrington 13/6/3 v Cheltenham 3/2/1

Halifax 13/2/1 v Wimbledon 17/5/3

Charlton 12/3/0 v Doncaster 12/5/2

Lincoln 15/5/3 v Carlisle 11/2/0

Maidstone 6/2/0 v Oldham 13/4/2

Peterboro' 15/6/2 v Bradford 8/4/2

Plymouth 17/2/1 v Oxford 9/3/2

Southend 8/2/2 v Barnsley 16/10/4

Walsall 9/4/1 v Sunderland 11/4/1



Almost without exception, teams with the highest number of shots won their games, even if only a relatively small number of those shots were on target.
Similarly, teams with the greater number of shots on target tended to win.

Criticisms of Wrexham's season so far have been 'wasted chances' with many shots off target, and, in some games, no shots at all.


The message is that more attempts at goal are needed - as the law of averages means that some of them will go in! Some players take shots at every opportunity and are called greedy when they don't score. One thing's for sure, if we don't shoot, we don't score, and if we don't score, we can't win.

Of course the above is blindingly obvious, as is the need to get the ball to a potential goalscorer - something else that we've been weak at doing. So let's stop pussyfooting around trying to walk the ball into the net: if we can find players who can see as far as the goal, and have the ability to hit the ball instead of scuffing it, standing on it, or tripping over let's get them shooting...

Re: Goalscorers II
 

For the record, the BBC's stats for last night's game are:

Wrexham 16/3/0 v Newport 11/1/0

Apart from our own performance in front of goal, it's necessary to consider the opposition's defence as well, and Newport's goalie had a vital part to play for them according to all accounts - that word 'worldie' cropping up again, just as it does for so many goalies that we face!

Obviously, NONE of the 13 off-target shots that we had stood a chance of scoring - including a header that hit the crossbar, but we had three shots saved - certain goals otherwise, while Newport managed only one shot on target.

Somehow, we need to learn from Barnsley's record yesterday: Same number of shots as us - 16 - but 10 of theirs were on target, and FOUR of those resulted in goals.


As someone else said, 'practice, practice, practice!' I wonder how much time (if any) we spend practicing and improving shots on target at the Nine Acre?

Re: Goalscorers II
 

Thx. Exactly the point I was making on the original thread. Great stats to have as well.

The 3 on target must be the first half save, goal line clearance and Day save from his own player.

More players need to be more comfortable in hitting the target. That's just a basic of football and I think practice is the key.

Improving this team will keep us in the play offs. We're down to 4th now with just 1 win against the top 8. Small improvements can make a huge difference.