Do we need a striker in January?

[HunterST_BFC]

Right footed right MF has to be the priority

[Vegas Claret]

yes we do, regardless of lack of supply we lack pace. On tonight's performance I expect a cheeky bid for Marcus Rashford to be lodged on January 1st.....

[Claret Toni]

Is Mbappé still unsettled at PSG.

Good age as well.

I'm really excited about the takeover.

[Stalbansclaret]

I dont think we need a new striker as a priority at all...signings wise we cold do with someone a bit quicker than Brady and , yes, a bit more creativity in centre midfield would be welcome but the single thing which would make the biggest difference, given the reality of our resources, is improving our crossing which has really declined this season.

McNeill's crossing has been pretty poor compared to the previous two seasons...remember that glorious cross for Wood's disallowed header v West Ham last season..that was one of the best crosses I've ever seen and was whipped in in Beckhamesque/Alexander-Arnold style. Charlie Taylor has also been very poor in terms of attacking and crossing and Brady's crossing is patchy at best.

Cross the ball with real intent and we will score (as we did twice at Villa Park last season as if to underline the point). Hope they are practising !

[Top Claret]

I can't see us bringing in anyone in the transfer window as long as the club is owned by the present lot.

Lets hope this takeover goes through if not we will more than likely have to stick with what we have got.

[jurek]

I think Dyche in his post match interview said he was happy with our 4 current strikers.
He tends to be loyal but that maybe a weakness.

All of our forwards are struggling to score but as many have
said they're not getting too many chances at present.
Barnes is a nuisance when he comes on but apart from that doesn't look
as if he can do much. Wood is feeding off scraps but looks the most likely to score.
Jayrod is also struggling.

Thankfully our defence has been at its best and if we look at our last 5 games
where we've won 2, drawn 3, scored 3 and conceded just one.
I think it's asking a bit too much for them to continue performing at that level
for the rest of the season.
Vydra is not likely to be given starts but Dyche may well have to
change things if we continue to be goalless
But we'd probably have to lose one of our current 4 if we were to bring in another forward.

Getting decent players in January will be difficult so I end up thinking Dyche
will stick with what we've got and hope one or two of them have a decent spell.
If not then we could still be in trouble and one defensive injury away from major problems.

Hats off to the defense at present but to survive we'll need wins and goals.

[MACCA]

McNeil literally did it twice in this match...

Oh and Brady created one of our best chances in recent memory by cutting inside at Arsenal to cross for Wood, who should have scored.

The obsession with people wanting wingers having to get to the byline to cross baffles me.

I must have nodded of for those, although Brady had delivered 2 excellent crosses in the last couple of games.

If we could make that nearer half a dozen per game we might get some better goal scoring opportunities.

Our crosses and dead balls have been rather poor in the last few games
( I know there are exceptions, but the bad balls should be the exeptions, not the good ones )

[FactualFrank]

Improve the midfield and you improve the attack.

[Sunny Cornwall]

Improving midfield doesn’t improve our forwards unless we have forwards who can hold the ball up and bring the midfield in to our attack. Our attack is not holding the ball up long enough for us to move forward so the midfield rarely get out of our half.

[FactualFrank]

Improving midfield doesn’t improve our forwards unless we have forwards who can hold the ball up and bring the midfield in to our attack. Our attack is not holding the ball up long enough for us to move forward so the midfield rarely get out of our half.

Disagree. If we bring someone into our midfield who can get the ball moving fast and better, we'll improve the attack.

[ashtonlongsider]

I think Dyche's post match interview last night hinted that January deals were not likely. Getting back on topic, we have the luxury of 4 good strikers, so for me it's not a priority. A creative midfielder for me has to be our main aim but i'm not holding my breath.

[Sunny Cornwall]

I don’t disagree Factual but unless we have forwards who can hang on to the ball we are always going to be faced with the ball coming back at us. Yes it will improve if we have better players in midfield but if all that happens when we play it forward is we lose the ball, as it is at the moment, then we are back in the back foot.

[tiger76]

I must have nodded of for those, although Brady had delivered 2 excellent crosses in the last couple of games.

If we could make that nearer half a dozen per game we might get some better goal scoring opportunities.

Our crosses and dead balls have been rather poor in the last few games
( I know there are exceptions, but the bad balls should be the exeptions, not the good ones )

Brady's delivery has improved in the last few matches, perhaps his goal against Everton has boosted his confidence, he certainly put that header on a plate for Wood at Arsenal which Wood inexplicably missed, as he did at West Brom in the air, these fluffed chances are uncharacteristic of big Chris and I'd still back him to be our top scorer, however Jay's lack of goals is a surprise given his purple patch in the 2nd half of last season.

The problem is our strikers are generally living on scraps, so any chances which do come their way need to be poached, unlike other teams they won't often get a second bite at the cherry 10/20 minutes later, fortunately we're keeping plenty of clean sheets now, so if we could just stick one chance away a game we'd have every chance of turning these draws into wins, and that would ease the pressure of our league postition.

I do agree our dead balls have been poor for the most part, Dunne's header at Leicester, and the OG at Arsenal apart we've been surprisingly unthreatening from set-pieces, and with the % game we play, set-pieces often offer us our best chance of netting, work on the training ground required in that area methinks.