Or is it?
Some would say it's actually quite simple because we're simply shite. It would be hard to argue with that considering how our season has gone and where we're at on the table but when taking a deeper dive into things, it isn't actually quite so simple.
We've known for a while that Ruben Amorim needs a striker and that United in general have had a massive problem when it comes to that final third. Poor finishing, terrible decision-making, lack of movement. The problems are endless.
Not to mention the fact that the team are pretty reliant on young players such as Rasmus Hojlund, Alejandro Garnacho, Kobbie Mainoo, Amad and new recruit Joshua Zirkzee to produce the goods as part of Amorim's front three. Then there is Bruno Fernandes, the skipper who once again tops the goal scoring charts. It seems that if he doesn't put the ball in the back of the net, no one does.
Other than the odd game like the crazy 5-4 against Lyon and the draw at Sociedad, it's very rare that United are scoring without the involvement of their influential captain who almost always scores and/or assists (or plays some part in the goal) particularly in this last three months.
Being dependent on such players who are sometimes injured or out of form is going to result in a lack of goals at some point.
That some point has been the entire season.
Contrast in goal scoring
Why I say it's not as simple as being shite is because in the Premier League, United have scored 39 goals in their 34 matches, a goal-per-game ratio of 1.1 whereas in the cups, we've scored 47 in 18 games which is a goal-per-game ratio of 2.6.
How is it that United are scoring more than double the amount of goals in the cups than the bread and butter of the league? Is it because we are a cup team? Are the teams in the cups worse than those in the PL?
Whatever the case is, this shows that we can score but it may depend on the opponent. For example, we've played Fulham three times, twice in the league, once in the FA Cup. United only managed 3 goals against them. It's a similar story against Spurs: three games played, 3 goals scored, 7 conceded.
Taking a look at our record against Leicester though, things are different. United faced the Foxes on four occasions scoring 13 and letting in just 3. This was against a side that has just been relegated.
Maybe that is United's level?
But when looking at those in Europe, would you say that Sociedad and Lyon are better than Leicester? Probably. They are also perhaps close to the quality of Fulham and Spurs as well yet we still scored a good amount of goals against them. In four matches against the Spanish and French clubs, MUFC scored 12 and conceded 8 half of which were let in during that wild 5-4 at Old Trafford.
Even Hojlund has more goals in the Europa League (5) than he has in the Premier League (4).
Very confusing, isn't it?
The Timing
Going even further, the amount of early goals scored compared to late is also a bit of a problem, to an extent.
Goals scored in the first 15 minutes - 6
Goals scored from the 80th minute and beyond - 23
90+ minute goals - 11
We've also taken the lead in 22 out of 52 games while conceding the opening goal on 27 occasions. The other three matches were 0-0s.
There's something about this team that don't switch on from the start but once they go behind or are in need of a late goal, they turn things around.
While it's great to know that we aren't out of a game, I'd rather we start off better and not have to rely on these late comebacks. My heart can't take it!
Shoot first ask questions later
Going into more depth, this is part of the reason as to why we may have a problem with scoring in the league compared to the cups.
As we know, Bruno is the top scorer in the league with 8 goals. The next best is Amad with 6. He has been injured for two months and has played 11 games fewer than Bruno and Garnacho, who is third on the list.
Man Utd's strikers?
4th and 5th. Hojlund with 4 goals and Zirkzee with 3. 7 goals between our two no 9s. Our midfielder captain has more than them combined. Just for context, De Ligt and Martinez both have 2 goals in the PL.
Our strikers not scoring is a problem in itself but one of the reasons for them and the team in general is the amount of shots taken by certain players, two specifically. I don't think I need to tell you which two.
In the Premier League, Bruno has a total of 86 shots with Garnacho on 81, the top two in this regard. The player with the third most shots is Amad with 40. The top two have taken more than double the amount of shots than one of the players of the season.
The strikers are once again 4th and 5th. Zirkzee has 28 shots (the same as Casemiro) with Hojlund on 25. Out of curiosity, Zirkzee's 28 shots ranks him joint-55th in the table for most shots taken by a forward. Hojlund is joint-62nd.
This was a problem we had last season and it looks like there has been no improvement this campaign.
Even more than that, the ratio of goals-per-shots for United players is dire. Bruno sits at 10.8 with Garnacho on 16.2. These two guys shoot more than anyone else yet fail to score most of the time. I'm not sure whether this is a habit or a tactic of the manager's but something ain't right.
Why do they shoot so often?
Amad's goal-per-shots ratio is 6.7. This is more like what we want to see from these attacking players. He also happens to be second with most assists with 6. Garnacho has 1. Just 1 assist in 33 PL games.
Signs of Improvement?
However, despite all of this sounding quite negative (because it is), when looking at the games since the draw in the first leg at Sociedad, there has been a stark contrast in terms of our attacks.
Prior to that first leg, United were more often than not out-shot by the opponent and didn't create as many chances as we have done since that draw in Spain.
We've had a total of 173 attempts at goal in these last 10 games excluding Newcaslte because we were absolutely terrible in that one. That is an improvement much like the playing style as there has been more than enough performances where I believe that we should've won but because of silly mistakes and not taking our chances, we've ended up falling short.
Speaking of which, one of those reasons could be because of the amount of shots on target and ultimately, goals scored.
Last 10 games (excluding Newcastle):
Shots on target - 52
Goals - 17
Out of the total shots (173), United have a ratio of 0.3 on target. Out of the total of 52 shots, the goal ratio is 0.3 as well.
It's not at the level required when playing at the highest level of football. This shows that the players are making the wrong decision and are wasting opportunities more oft than not resulting in games where we are left thinking 'what could've been?' A lot of these shots are probably from stupid angles and distances thanks to the likes of Bruno and Garnacho in particular.
Final Thoughts
Honestly, it's really difficult to judge with this United side because it's very confusing. The league suggests we're utterly crap but the cup competitions indicate that we're one of the better sides especially in Europe.
We still don't create enough chances, look to shoot more than we should, the strikers aren't involved enough and aren't clinical which is what you're going to get with young players.
There has been an improvement in overall play style and in the final third but we still aren't putting those chances away.
This could be the difference between winning a competition like the Europa League and giving us hope for next season and not.
What do you think is the cause of this conundrum in the attack?
Rasmus Hojlund has just 4 goals in 29 Premier League games | Creator: Carl Recine | Credit: Getty Images Copyright: 2024 Getty Images via Man Utd News