Snippet: MBEUMO vs Fulham (1:1)

GOAL BREAKDOWN: Short-form snippet on goals scored

Inspired to quickly look at goals scored by Bryan MBEUMO in the Premier League following his reported interest to join Manchester United, I stumbled across this equalizer against Fulham F.C.

I love good goals.

The goal starts with Mbeumo staying alive on a second ball, ready to pounce on a potential loose touch.

Universal principle of regaining possession: find the player positioned ahead of you as soon as possible; quick solution by Bryan to flick the ball into Wissa’s feet

Academies focus on “the next action” to always stay alive & concentrated, and for the better players, to think a step ahead. Mbeumo follows through, immediately dives into Berge’s blindside to support Wissa

Space opens up through Schade’s diagonal run pulling out Bassey, which Mbeumo notices timely to then dive into that space: separation (see the change of direction to then find Bassey’s blinside:

Speed of execution is how well you can readjust your steps; from full sprint to now cross-steps to create the angle of separation versus Bassey who will quickly lock onto him. Those are the details that eventually get you the space to release a quick shot at Premier League level.

First touch on the outside near foot, if you’re skilled at it, you can keep the pace to drive at your defender and keep in the speed in your attack

This is separating (see what I did there) the wheat from the chaff: can you make the defender commit, keep speed, stay balanced and release a shot at goal

That’s the shift-and-shoot to strike in two touches. One way to separate greats from goods is to count how many steps they need between their second-to-last touch and the strike at goal: Mbeumo needs two here while at speed…

… which gets him the margin to release the shot.

One thing is to create a shot, one thing is to finish. Shots just out of reach of the goalkeeper’s hand are generally a good sign, because that’s where you aim for.

The blue spots is where it takes the longest for the goalkeeper to get to; out of reach for a leg save, too short to get down at full length (and stop the shot at the far post), but just in the sweet spot to take just too long to get down to.