After our recent lack of ability to score the chances that we have created led me too thinking, what have we been missing, and how are we missing it. For once we have strikers, and players with the flare, and yet now we can't score goals. So let's go through our strikers one by one.
Hugo Rodallega
Our longest-serving striker, and now our top premier league goal scorer. He has done a great deal for the club and is a great talent, but Hugo does often lose his head when he gets in front of goal and blunder some obvious chances.
Hugo will always continue to improve, and always score goals, but whether he can score enough on his own to keep us in the Premier League is yet to be seen. So far this season, he has bagged seven in 26 starts, which really isn't enough, that tally needs to be doubled by this time of the season.
Franco Di Santo
Signed in the summer from Chelsea, a very experienced young striker, who has yet to turn appearances into goals. Last season he was on loan at Blackburn, and only scored one in his whole time while he was there.
Yet this season he has yet to score for the Latics, and in a lot of ways you can see why. He has been used in about four positions since signing for the club, and hasn't really played in one role continually for him long enough to cement a place. He will be one for the future, and one goal could spark something for him. But when will that first goal come.
Connor Sammon
Signed in January on deadline day from Kilmarnock, where he had scored 18 goals during the season. Now the SPL is one thing, and the Premier League is another, the two league are very contrasting and it will take Sammon a few games to bed in.
Looking at him yesterday when he came on, he looks like he can handle the physicality and handle the pace of the game. Given a full game I feel he could provide the needed goals towards the end of the season. But that has been said before.
Marou Boselli
The Argentinian striker who last summer nearly went to the world cup, looked like a great signing at £6 million with the likes of Munich and United reportedly looking at the striker. All the hype looked like it was going to be true with his great scoring record in pre-season, and the expectation that we might have a striker who can score and push us on this season.
The reality was a much bleaker one for the striker. Not given enough game time, and missing a couple of glaring chances. He has looked more like a £6 million flop.
For me he shouldn't have gone on loan in January, play him and I reckon his pure skill will get him goals. More game time, and help to bed into a very much contrasting league could have made a lot of difference.
Today on his debut for Genoa, having had a hamstring tear, he scored a header against Inter Milan. Now for me, he could have been doing this for us now. Had he been given the chance.
So we have four out-and-out strikers, and only one of them has scored for us. That show the depth of our problem. We have three strikers at the club, one who can score, but very little. One striker who has only scored one goal in the last two seasons. And one striker who has made his first appearance in the Premier League
So has a leaving thought, here is Boselli's goal against Inter Milan. If only he could have done it early on this season for Latics.