Manchester United Goalscorers and Assisters 07/08 [R]

[Dark Savante]

I'm actually quite disappointed by Vida's goal contribution this campaign. Considering last year, he was looking like a monster on corners and set pieces.

To be fair to him, when Nani is not on the field our set piece delivery is tepid. He got on the end of a Nani cross for his goal, IIRC and I think they'd be more chances for him with that kind of delivery.

Have been disappointed by Evra myself, as he's the one who often gets himself into goalscoring positions but often elects to chose the wrong option, hence his low assist-rate as well as score rate. He should be on about 5 goals by now.

[JamesA]

To be fair to him, when Nani is not on the field our set piece delivery is tepid. He got on the end of a Nani cross for his goal, IIRC and I think they'd be more chances for him with that kind of delivery.



Valid point. Giggs corner delivery has been atrocious in my eyes. I've caught myself yelling at his corners on a number of occasions, and even more so watching Nani this year.

Having a player such as Vida on set pieces is crucial in big games. I think back to some of his headers last year and the way they changed games and opened up the game.

Evra, is just a microcosm of our goal tally this year. Its like the complete opposite of last year. Take out Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez :eek:

[israbeckham]

I dont get Giggsy's corners. He just lofts it into the box with no pace or curve at all. Anyone who could kick a ball a dent distance can do that.

[Republic of Mancunia]

Gary McAllister used to hit them even slower and straighter , often aiming for the near post for flick ons or runners from a bit deeper and it worked for him quite often. Maybe it's the same kind of thinking? Vidic's goals have all tended to be from that area and when Rio has got his head on one it's generally been from around there too.

Not that I think Giggs' delivery is anything special from corners, and we've often struggled to score from them in recent years. There was a point in time about 4 years ago where we went on some huge long run without scoring any and the commentators would mention it whenever we were awarded one. I can't quite remember the figure but believe it was well over a hundred.

Nani seems to be doing ok with four assists from corners this season but as well as the delivery, I think our movement in the box could sometimes be better. Vidic attacking the near post was quality to see last season but doesn't seem to be as effective this term. Outside of Nani, Carrick seems to be decent at taking them to me although I'm not sure the stats will bear that out.

[billyireland]

Not that I think Giggs' delivery is anything special from corners, and we've often struggled to score from them in recent years. There was a point in time about 4 years ago where we went on some huge long run without scoring any and the commentators would mention it whenever we were awarded one. I can't quite remember the figure but believe it was well over a hundred.IIRC, that was ironically enough in the 02-03 season, ironic because it was Beckham's last here. We went the entire season without scoring off a corner iirc - I think the figure went up to 252 or 253 in a row with none scored. The first time I heard it mentioned was the last game of the season against Everton, in which... we scored from a corner. :D

[Achtung]

Didn't see it mentioned here, but I heard we've got the most goals off of free kicks in the PL this season as well. Can't find the stat though.

[israbeckham]

and you guys were saying we dont score from Giggs corners:rolleyes:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=9qn7CSjkrAA

[johno]

By the by, if Ronaldo continues to perfect his FK taking he can score as many as 12 goals from set pieces (fks and pks) a season from here on out.

He'll end up scoring a few fk's that he "shouldn't" score because noone knows where the ball is going and what it will do.

The FK today was another one of his direction changers. Its started to move Right to left and then broke to the right and dipped. Impossible unless you know the ball will do that. Factor in that he can also hit the ball in the traditional manner and curve it wickedly from R to L, Keepers will have to stay put longer to make sure of where the ball is going.

The kid is sick wit it.

[dannytoone]

“there have been a few players described as ‘The new George Best’ over the years, but this is the first time it has been a compliment to me.”

-George Best

I wish he was here today to see this.

[SirWayneRooney]

^^ I agree... Was watching the game with my old man, who only started to warm to Ronaldo this season... and he suddenly brought up that quote and said he wished Bestie was here to see it. reckons Ronaldo is the best since him... coming from him, that was quite something.

[Dark Savante]

Updated.

two parts.

1:

Tevez – 11 – Chelsea(H) Wigan Athletic(H) Middlesbroughx2(H) Derby County x2(H) Liverpool(A) Birmingham City(H) Newcastle United x2(H) Tottenham Hotspur(A)

Rooney - 8 - Wigan Athletic(H) Aston Villa x2(A) Middlesbrough(H) Sunderland(A) Reading(A) Newcastle United x2(A)

Saha – 5 – Sunderland(H), Chelsea[pk](H) Sunderland x2[1pk](A) Newcastle United(A)

Ferdinand - 2 - Aston Villa(A) Newcastle United(H)

Giggs - 2 - Aston Villa(A) Derby County(H)

OG - 2 - Arsenal(A) Fulham(A)

Nani – 2 – Spurs(H) Middlesbrough(H)

Carrick - 1 - Manchester City(H)

Park - 1 - Fulham(A)

Hargreaves - 1 - Fulham[fk](A)

Scholes – 1 – Portsmouth(A)

Vidic – 1 – Everton(A)

This is starting to look really bad. Ronaldo has as many goals as Tevez, Rooney and Saha combined! That really is not a good look for that collective because with the chances they've spurned between themselves (particularly the first two) they should be right up there challenging Ronaldo for goals. Another by-product of their profilgacy has been to negatively alter Ronaldo's assist tally. He's putting chances in the path of other players and they are blowing them. At the rate he is scoring and if we play enough games he could outscore as many as 6 of our attacking players combined. They should hang their heads if that happens.

2. Nothing but praise for Ronaldo himself. If we win the league this year it will be known as Ronaldo's campaign and even if we don't it should be seen as such given his penchant for carrying our attack this season. He broke Bestie's record in fantastic fashion last night with an absolutely brilliant all-round performance and the aims for him now must surely be to 1. try for 30 PL goals and 2. Go for Ruud's record. 3. Be the league top scorer

Rest and rotation will probably put paid to that, but he's got it in him and we're sure to see more doubles or maybe even a hattrick from him.

Barclays Premier League Top Scorers
Team TOT
Ronaldo Man Utd 24
Torres Liverpool 20
Adebayor Arsenal 19
Keane Tottenham 14
Berbatov Tottenham 13
Benjani Man City 13
Santa Cruz Blackburn 12
Yakubu Everton 12
Anelka Chelsea 11
Tevez Man Utd 11
Defoe Portsmouth 10
Gerrard Liverpool 10
Lampard Chelsea 10
Carew Aston Villa 9
Kitson Reading 9

hope he can keep Torres at bay.

---

Tevez, Rooney, Anderson, Nani, Park, Giggs, Scholes, Carrick, Evra, Vidic, Rio and O'Shea all need to up there productivity for me because all of them are below their own standard this season maybe barring Rio, but with the way he plays he too should have more.

What's amazing about this team is that we are top of the league's scoring chart , but could have about 20 goals extra or even more with the amount of chances we miss.

Give this team a year or two with them all staying here and we could well be in the midst of Fergie's 4th great team and perhaps his greatest ever one.

[Sapphire]

Tevez, Rooney, Anderson, Nani, Park, Giggs, Scholes, Carrick, Evra, Vidic, Rio and O'Shea all need to up there productivity for me because all of them are below their own standard this season maybe barring Rio, but with the way he plays he too should have more. Nice post, but one question. Why are you including Nani here? Considering the number of games he's played for us and his youth, I am very happy with 2 goals and 7 assists (plus assist leader!). Just curious.

I'm not really with you on Park either. Given his recent come back from a huge injury, he's doing all right. If he doesn't score another 2-3 goals this season, then, yes, I'd agree with your assessment.

Everyone else though, yeah. Rooney, Scholes, and Vidic have been particularly disappointing with their finishing (and Tevez too, but he's converted enough critical goals to earn only a parenthetical call-out). Where did Vidic's goalscoring prowess on corners disappear to this season, anyway?

[Dark Savante]

Nice post, but one question. Why are you including Nani here? Considering the number of games he's played for us and his youth, I am very happy with 2 goals and 7 assists (plus assist leader!). Just curious.

I'm not really with you on Park either. Given his recent come back from a huge injury, he's doing all right. If he doesn't score another 2-3 goals this season, then, yes, I'd agree with your assessment.

Everyone else though, yeah. Rooney, Scholes, and Vidic have been particularly disappointing with their finishing (and Tevez too, but he's converted enough critical goals to earn only a parenthetical call-out). Where did Vidic's goalscoring prowess on corners disappear to this season, anyway?

Nani: the sheer amount of shots he takes on and wastes should have told with a better conversion rate. His age factors into his indecision and poor choices, but once he elects to take a shot on, he's got to do better. I mean, if those 'stupid' shots he makes were hitting the target or even going in, 'all of a sudden' they'd be the smart or right thing to do. When he's ballooning them into orbit he 'suddenly' gets stick from his team-mates.

Park, as always, because he gets himself into marvellous positions to score. He can definitely give us a few goals when he gets into those positions. I think we've got to do better amongst those not named Ronaldo. All of them should be taking a look at themselves, they're better than they've shown in front of goal.

[Sapphire]

Fair enough. I guess they're both doing better than I expected considering what each has against him this season, which makes me happy. I see your point though, particularly with Nani -- it could be better.

[Dark Savante]

Updated.

Ronaldo chasing Sir Bobby's record for the season next...

He's 5 away from 30 league goals and he has 7 games (perhaps 4 or 5 that he'll play) to do it in...

Rooney into double assists for the season in total and is now our most productive assister in the league campaign, more importantly, all his assists are from open play.

Nice to see three different scorers on the sheet today, very promising.

[Dark Savante]

Fair enough. I guess they're both doing better than I expected considering what each has against him this season, which makes me happy. I see your point though, particularly with Nani -- it could be better.

Well, he's gone a long way to appeasing me today :D

[benni...]

He took is goal very well today.
Not just the good finish, but the touch into space to open up the shot.

[holytoledo]

That was my first thought too. When I saw the play developing, I thought Rooney would play the ball he did, and Nani would try to take it and move straight in on goal. Needless to say what he did was better. :D Helluva finish too.

[Joelzinho]

That was my first thought too. When I saw the play developing, I thought Rooney would play the ball he did, and Nani would try to take it and move straight in on goal. Needless to say what he did was better. :D Helluva finish too.

I almost cried celebrating.

[sdotsom]

Nani is a G. I love this kid. He's gonna be fire. He really took Fergie's hints when he was out of the side for that stretch, and he's answered in a great way. I think he's really close to making that LW spot his - if Giggsy was in form than it wouldn't be that close, but he's been average/good and Nani has managed to make contributions nearly every time he's stepped on the pitch recently.

FIYAHHHHH THE BOY IS FIYAHHH