Since the restart I’ve mentioned numerous times that Bruno needed to simplify his game. Less difficult passes and less shots from long distance. Last night at Brighton he looked great, lots of simple passing. This THREAD looks at the other part of it. Long distance shooting.

In the first game at Spurs he shot from this position. The distance isn’t the problem here, but the angle would always make it extremely difficult to beat a premier league keeper from there, and it was saved comfortably.

Just before half time at Spurs he shot from here. It’s a much too far out. Another fairly easy save. If he’d played this in front of Shaw, Utd may have created a really dangerous moment.

Also at Spurs, in the last few seconds, he took this on from distance with his weaker left foot. It flew well wide. Again, a pass would have been a better option. Some think I’ve been criticising him for no reason, or even that I don’t like him. It’s NOT the case. Neither is true

This was probably his best effort at Spurs. It went narrowly wide with the keeper beaten. This isn’t about the quality don’t forget, it’s about decision making and particularly about distance from goal.

This one against Sheffield United. If you look at the different shades of grass that’s caused by the cut, you are rarely going to score if you are 2 full “shades” out. Look at the space AWB is in. If he passes it’s a dangerous attack again. AWB made one from a similar position.

At Norwich, again too far out and with a defender blocking. As I’ve said a couple of times, we need to work harder to make shooting opportunities from closer in. The Brighton game certainly looks like they’ve been working on that.

Another one from too far at Norwich. It deflected and almost caused danger. It happened so often at Norwich that I wonder if it caused Ole to put a stop to it.

It’s only a couple or 3 yards from the D but each and every yard makes a massive difference. The edge of the box or inside the D should be target area for the maximum shooting range, apart from on the odd occasion.

There were 6 in total at Norwich and this one was just about the closest in. I feel certain they worked on it between Norwich and Brighton, where there was a massive improvement.

At Brighton United played the best football they’ve played since the re-start. The simpler passing game lead to getting shots from closer in. Bruno had four shots. His second goal was well finished from inside the box. He also took this free kick from just outside the box.

Hit’s the post from this one. It’s closer in than all of his ELEVEN shots against Spurs, Sheffield and Norwich. It’s close enough that he can try to place it rather than having to go for power. These situations are what we must strive for, be more patient in possession.

And here’s the goal. It takes a big deflection, but that’s more likely to happen when you get so close in. Defenders have to try to block in a split second. It was a well worked position and worth a shot from there, as was proved.

Lots of people have argued that it’s ok to shoot from longer distances so often, and that since we have a capable player, it’s fine for him to do it. It’s wrong on so many levels. If we pass it more and shoot from closer in, the TEAM will score more goals, whoever scores them.

Finally, In the 4 games since lockdown, not counting pens, Bruno has taken 15 shots. He’s scored from the 2 CLOSEST in. He’s hit the post with the next closest. If we include pens, he’s scored with the 3 closest in. We WILL create more chances if we play like we did at Brighton.