Mancheser United's 44 goals last season were their lowest in the Premier League era. If they ignore the own goals, they have a better expected goals performance (11.5) than any other team, except Crystal Palace.
Man United's expected goals (xG) excluding penalties is also only 50.3 - higher than all 8 other clubs in the tournament.
These gloomy numbers reflect both the Red Devils' overall weakness and their wasteful finishing ability. These are aspects that new signings Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo are expected to improve in.
Many people can easily blame Rasmus Hojlund when they think his poor form is the main reason for Man United's stalemate in front of goal. In fact, this is a systematic and psychological problem, not just for one individual.
And the biggest "professional" is Bruno Fernandes. Despite being among the few players who still maintained his popularity last season, he is still 2.6 goals behind the xG that does not include penalties. Mason Mount (-2.3), Diogo Dalot (-2.1), Joshua Zirkzee (-1.8) and Alejandro Garnacho (-1.3) all finished less effectively than Hojlund (-1.2).
Only two Man United players last season beat the penalty-free xG in the Premier League: Lisandro Martinez (+0.7) and Amad Diallo (+3.3).
The problem is, Man United are both wasting opportunities on most fronts and lacking creativity. Hojlund certainly had a disappointing season, having to take some responsibility for only having 32 shots - equivalent to 5.2 xG. However, the fault was not only his.
Man United is not a sharp team. Throughout the season, only three of their players have achieved 3.0 xG or more in live ball situations. This figure is far behind Aston Villa, Bournemouth and Crystal Palace (each team has 5), Newcastle, Man City and Chelsea (each team 6) or Liverpool (7).
Injuries are part of the reason, but overall Man United still lack creativity. Garnacho, as one of the 10, also contributed to this issue. Despite creating some chances, he has proven that he is not really into Amorim's system.
The Portuguese coach has repeatedly mentioned this "inadequacy", saying Garnacho needs to work more in the midfield areas.
However, Garnacho often chooses to play wide, perhaps because he feels more comfortable exploiting the space on the wing instead of adventuring into positions that require sophistication that he does not possess. And Cunha will basically replace Garnacho, who often occupies more central positions.
Garnacho also tends to look for more finishing options than passing the ball to his teammates. Last season, he finished eighth in the Premier League ( among players who played at least 900 minutes) for the number of live-force opportunities per 90 minutes - including shots and assists - with an average of 4.9.
However, 69.9% of those were shots. Of the 45 players who average at least 4.0 chances/90 minutes, only 16 have a higher shooting rate, and 7 of them are strikers.
Compared to his teammates, Amad Diallo (54.7% was a shot) and Bruno Fernandes (60.7%) shared more evenly between finishing and assisting, similar to Mbeumo's (62.9%).
Cunha is even more "addicted" to shooting than Garnacho (71.5%), but has been involved in more open- tendencies on average - 38.4 times/90 minutes compared to Garnacho's 37.8. Remember, Wolves only have an average of 47.9% possession, significantly lower than Man United's 53.4%. This shows that Cunha often contributes more to the game when the team has the ball.
In terms of efficiency, Cunha (21 goals) and Mbeumo (22 goals) both have significantly more goals not counted for penalties in the Premier League last season than Garnacho (8).
They not only pose an attack threat from the number 10 position, but also possess better ball control and handling in tight areas, more suitable for the system Amorim wants to build.
In theory, the arrival of Cunha and Mbeumo will strengthen Man United's squad structure, creating conditions for full-backs to maximize their strengths. At the same time, maintain a more stable "flow" of opportunities in the midfield area.
