New striker?

[lasereyes]

I'd be happy to agree with you if you can provide some stats to back it up.

Most people would (and this is entirely understandable, given the way they're talked about in the media) "expect" those players to be more clinical than Sterling, but that isn't the case.

And if you take out penalties, it's even more stark Kane's shots per goal shoots up to 6.3 and Ronaldo's Shots per goal shoots up to 8.7 - nearly double that of Sterling. If that's down to long shots I'd be very surprised.

Can't take out penalties - it's a big Achilles heel from us and has cost us in some very big games. if CL Final had gone to pens, I would have put us as a significant underdog.

 

[jimmybarnesblue]

I found the stats on whoscored. For the seasons I picked Sterling approx shot from 80% inside the box, Kane 70% and Ronaldo 60%. While it's a definite difference, it doesn't affect Sterling's position as the most clinical finisher.

At worst for Sterling (if you assume all the shots outside the box weren't scored), then Sterling would still have a better goals/shots ratio than Kane and a much better one than Ronaldo.

If Ronaldo or Kane were scoring from outside the box regularly, then Sterling's finishing looks even better in comparison.

If they aren't, then not only are they statistically poorer finishers than Sterling, but they also waste possession with pot shots much more regularly :)

Halo/Horns - People think Sterling is poor, so see the misses. With other players they only see the goals.

I love Sterling but stats can be misleading and can lead to outcomes that aren’t necessarily true. Sterling’s goals per shot maybe better than Ronaldo and Kane’s but noone truly believes he’s a better finisher than both? What will help Sterling here is his movement is WORLD CLASS and the way we create chances compared to Spurs and Juve. How many chances do we get right infront of goal or open goal tap ins because Pep had to figure out how to get to the 6 yard box because our finishing was bad? Sterling is brilliant but he’s not a world class finisher but he is a great goal scorer especially for us with the volume of chances we create and how good the chances are. We do need a number 9 for them half chances Aguero or if we got him Kane would take. Hoping Torres is the answer I’m just worried about them tight big games.

 

[bluenova]

Can't take out penalties - it's a big Achilles heel from us and has cost us in some very big games. if CL Final had gone to pens, I would have put us as a significant underdog.

You can if you are comparing a player who doesn't take them with one who does.

Even with their recent woes City have been scoring above 6 out of 10 penalties. Ronaldo and Kane score just over 8 out of 10, but then Gundogan and De Bruyne score 8 out of 10. (As an aside Ronaldo is not as good as Bruno, so if he insists on taking them, that's a bonus for City!)

So, you're comparing a chance with a scoring ratio of between 0.6 and 0.8 with their non-penalty scoring ratios of 0.11 (Ronaldo) and 0.21 (Sterling).

Clearly anyone taking penalties is going to push up their ratios. Having an extra good penalty taker would be useful, but if we leave it to Gundogan and De Bruyne, then any difference is likely to be minimal.

 

[bluenova]

I love Sterling but stats can be misleading and can lead to outcomes that aren’t necessarily true. Sterling’s goals per shot maybe better than Ronaldo and Kane’s but noone truly believes he’s a better finisher than both? What will help Sterling here is his movement is WORLD CLASS and the way we create chances compared to Spurs and Juve. How many chances do we get right infront of goal or open goal tap ins because Pep had to figure out how to get to the 6 yard box because our finishing was bad? Sterling is brilliant but he’s not a world class finisher but he is a great goal scorer especially for us with the volume of chances we create and how good the chances are. We do need a number 9 for them half chances Aguero or if we got him Kane would take. Hoping Torres is the answer I’m just worried about them tight big games.

Where do you think most players score? They're nearly all near the goal, even if some shot wastefully from further out more often :)

Stats can be misleading, but what they do show is that there isn't a player out there who is going to finish 100% of those half-chances, which is what a lot of people expect. They see the miss near goal, and assume a Kane or Ronaldo would have definitely scored.

As I've shown quite clearly, with stats over three whole seasons (including a "poor" one from Sterling, so no cherry picking), is that the "natural number 9"s miss a shed load of chances too. Even in big games :)

If they didn't then our "natural number 9" Sergio - one of the best of all time - would have been scoring 60 goals a season, and scoring in all our finals/semis etc., which wasn't the case.

 

[jimmybarnesblue]

Where do you think most players score? They're nearly all near the goal, even if some shot wastefully from further out more often :)

Stats can be misleading, but what they do show is that there isn't a player out there who is going to finish 100% of those half-chances, which is what a lot of people expect. They see the miss near goal, and assume a Kane or Ronaldo would have definitely scored.

As I've shown quite clearly, with stats over three whole seasons (including a "poor" one from Sterling, so no cherry picking), is that the "natural number 9"s miss a shed load of chances too. Even in big games :)

If they didn't then our "natural number 9" Sergio - one of the best of all time - would have been scoring 60 goals a season, and scoring in all our finals/semis etc., which wasn't the case.

Yeah that’s true, the players that miss the most ‘big chances’ are usually the ones considered the best finishers. And everyone does miss chances I just feel we need a killer like Kane is and Aguero was for them games (Liverpool 18/19 Sergs goal there only a true WC goal finisher would score). But overall I love Sterling and his contribution and im not slagging him off I just think having a true finisher in the squad would improve is.
Great stats and posts btw :)

 

[mattcity5]

I found the stats on whoscored. For the seasons I picked Sterling approx shot from 80% inside the box, Kane 70% and Ronaldo 60%. While it's a definite difference, it doesn't affect Sterling's position as the most clinical finisher.

At worst for Sterling (if you assume all the shots outside the box weren't scored), then Sterling would still have a better goals/shots ratio than Kane and a much better one than Ronaldo.

If Ronaldo or Kane were scoring from outside the box regularly, then Sterling's finishing looks even better in comparison.

If they aren't, then not only are they statistically poorer finishers than Sterling, but they also waste possession with pot shots much more regularly :)

Halo/Horns - People think Sterling is poor, so see the misses. With other players they only see the goals.

Oh I agree there's definitely some of that going on, but if you really think Sterling is as clinical as Kane, then why did we ever try so hard for him?

I do like Sterling, but he has a history of missing a fairly considerable amount of one on ones and even tap ins. I'm sure that Kane and Ronaldo also miss them, but not quite so often. Of course, Sterling has a lot of qualities where he is superior to either or them too.

Interested in seeing how Torres deleops upfront. Needs a bit more strength perhaps and more experience there, but he looks a more natural finisher so far. It'd be good to see him have 5 or 6 games on the run in the same position and see if this helps his confidence too.

 

[maurizio]

Watching an old City Spurs game and Aguero and Negredo are tearing it up. Proper old strikers. I wasn't that aware of Negredo when he arrived, but what a striker at that time he was. Mind you Navas looking world class as well (6-0 finished). Is there no overlooked gem like Negredo out there? Two strikers running into the box, different days.

 

[bluenova]

Oh I agree there's definitely some of that going on, but if you really think Sterling is as clinical as Kane, then why did we ever try so hard for him?

I do like Sterling, but he has a history of missing a fairly considerable amount of one on ones and even tap ins. I'm sure that Kane and Ronaldo also miss them, but not quite so often. Of course, Sterling has a lot of qualities where he is superior to either or them too.

Interested in seeing how Torres deleops upfront. Needs a bit more strength perhaps and more experience there, but he looks a more natural finisher so far. It'd be good to see him have 5 or 6 games on the run in the same position and see if this helps his confidence too.

I think Kane is great, and we also have to bear in mind that Sterling was potentially going to leave.

The point is not to say one is better, but that this theory that there is a "number 9" who can be the difference in the very few big games we lose each season, doesn't hold water. Even the best of these players need a few chances to score, and the likelihood they'd be the ones to make the breakthrough, rather than the combined goals of our other forwards, just doesn't hold up. As someone posted above, the players who miss the most "big chances" are often those players we consider the best natural finishers.

I'd like to see Torres' progress (I think Delap is too young/raw right now for more than cameos), but I also think that the longer we play without a "number 9" the better our other forwards will get. They're all clever players, and we saw with Gundogan, that if he's told to get in the box and score he can do it. Sterling has become one of the most productive forward players in the world in the last few years, and Pep is already suggesting that he thinks Grealish can emulate that. Exciting times.

 

[BlueMoonAcrossThePond]

Who should be our new striker?

Someone who's name is similar to Holiday!

 

[mccity]

Who should be our new striker?

Someone who's name is similar to Holiday!

Danny 'Holiday' Inn-gs.