There has been much discussion on internet message boards about the merits of our two main strikers Rickie Lambert and Osvaldo and whether they can play together.
When Osvaldo arrived fro Italy a couple of months ago I gave an opinion that he was there to play as the lone striker and that he would not want to play in any other position, for a few games Mauricio Pochettino played both in the same side before deciding for the visit to Manchester United that he would drop Lambert and go with Osvaldo. This was not a great success in that Osvaldo was ineffective and Lambert was soon brought on in the second half, but it didnt solve anything and we go into the Fulham game with many questions unanswered.
There are those who would say that there isnt a problem, that I should look at the league table, however I would suggest that perhaps we would be higher in the league table if we had a functioning striker scoring goals, instead of two who cant seem to quite click when they play in the same team.
The evidence is in the goals for tally, as great as our goals against record is, it has really propped up our goals for tally, 3 goals in the against column is outstanding, but with only 8 scored it shows just where we could be if we had someone hitting the net.
Of the 8 scored, 2 have come from either dead ball situations, both from Rickie Lambert with a free kick and a penalty and 2 have come from corners with Lovren knocking the ball down for lallana on Saturday to follow up his headed winner at Liverpool and another goal has come from a Fonte header from a free kick.
That leaves only 3 goals from open play from 840 minutes of football and that is a worrying tally, of those one was by Osvaldo against Palace and the other two came in the same match against Swansea with Lallana and Rodriguez scoring.
So somewhere along the line our two strikers aren't doing there job and there has to be a reason, personally I feel that its because we have tried to squeeze both into the same side and its just not working with the formation we are playing, most of the games we have played have been against lower sides and when we have played better sides it just hasn't worked.
On Saturday Pochettino finally decided to play one or the other and went with Osvaldo, on reflection it might not have been the right choice, but to be blunt most managers would have made the same decision, the fact that Osvaldo didn't get into the game wasn't the managers fault, what was his fault though was not replacing like for like and taking off the Italian and putting on Lambert, OK we got away with it with another last minute goal, but the writing is on the wall.
Put bluntly when it comes to strikers, goals do the talking, yes there is another part to the job and that's creating goals, but again how many assists do either have ? I think we all know the answer to that one.
Under normal circumstances if a striker is not scoring or creating goals with assists from open play, then supporters question what they are doing on the pitch, but this is a strange situation, on one hand we have one of the Club greats who to be blunt was doing all of this till the latter stages of last season and on the other hand we have the club record signing, its hard to drop either of them.
Its perhaps pertinent to note that both have scored as many goals in recent games for their countries as they have Saints and from open play.
But the writing is on the wall and if we don't read it and learn from it then we cannot complain if we start to drop down the league, the options are plain and simple, 7 games together should be just about the limit for a striking duo to gel and contribute, if they aren't doing so for much longer then its counter productive, they have to start scoring from open play or we have to make changes.
Hopefully on Saturday the goals will start flowing and the problem will be solved, but if they don't then we have to seriously consider one of the others place in the team.
Im sure some people will say im wrong and point to the number of chances at Old Trafford, but anyone will tell you that the goalkeeper wasn't troubled by many of them until the equaliser, but it all comes down to one thing when you are a striker and that's goals and to a lesser extent assists.