By Melbcityguy - 10 Apr 2021 5:39 PM
Cough cough
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By Decentric 2 - 12 Apr 2021 12:23 PM
+x+x+x+xThis is why Maclaren will never make it overseas. McGowan & Wilkinson had him in their pocket all night. Only a mistake from Wilko gave MCFC any chance in the game despite the large amount of 2nd half posession they had. Maclaren had about 4-6 shots on goal from open play in the game, which is good for a central striker. Wilko and McGowan kept him quiet in the first half though. It was probably more a question of Nabbout not providing the usual service in the first half. He either had an off night or was injured. Atkinson also provides more going forwards than Galloway, although the latter played an incredible defence splitting, killer pass that found Maclaren in a dangerous position in the second half. Maclaren also provided some effective balls for teammates in dangerous positions, when he is not in a scoring position himself . Sometimes his dummy runs take defenders out of position, opening shooting opportunities for teammates. Statistically, City outplayed SFC in the second half. They had more shots on goal, more balls played into the box, more possossion and equal territory. At the end of the game overall City were slightly in front from shots at goal, shots on target, possession and territory. SFC lost their defensive shape In BPO late in the game, but earlier they were terrific pressing in BPO and very good whilst in Ball Possession too. Brattan played very well when SFC were in possession. Of those 4-6 shots, all were genuine goal scoring opportunities and all failed to test the keeper. The shots were all mis-kicks, scuffed soft shots. If he performs like that in Europe, next week he isn't playing. Which is why he's back running around in the A-League rather than Germany. Or even Scotland. If you watch Maclaren carefully you will see that he fails to strike the ball cleanly far more often than a striker should. Getting a clean strike is basically a strikers job. If you can't do reliably that then you're playing at the wrong end of the pitch.
I've seen a lot of games lately, but without having to watch the entire game again, I thought a number of Maclean's shots tested the keeper from positions in limited time and space?
I will watch out for what you describe as scuffs and mishits though in future games, Enzo.
I think Maclaren is an excellent striker. To date, in terms of scoring, he has the highest strike rate per game in the history of the A L.
His positions and runs are clever, often been being bent to avoid offside. Moreover, his first touches and the subsequent shot (two touch actions), or one touch shots, often involve Maclaren getting into an excellent body shape to execute the technique - very quickly. He shoots well with both feet, evidenced by his left foot clean strike in the second last game as he was running flat out towards goal under close marking pressure, and, has improved with his head. He is also creating more assists for teammates to shoot.
If Maclaren has a fault, he relies on service from players a bit. Borello, with Roar, and now Nabbout, with City, have often done wonderful build up work to create opportunities for Macca to score.
You imply that European leagues are homogeneous. They probably aren't in terms of evaluating strikers' success. Any one of the big five leagues, or the top clubs in Portugal, Belgium, Holland, Russia, Greece, Scotland, are going to have to have to pretty good strikers, but I have still seen many strikers fail to score goals from good positions in big European leagues.
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