"Crucial" - Issue identified for Swansea City amid startling Borja Sainz stat | OneFootball

There's one department requiring clear improvement at the Swansea.com Stadium

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Swansea City have had a mixed start to their Championship season.

On the face of it, an 11th-place spot doesn’t look too bad, just six points below Watford in the play-off places.

However, the performances within those first 15 outings have been fairly tepid affairs, with little action at either end of the pitch.

As we head deeper into the winter, this is usually the time clubs will accelerate plans to make adjustments in January based on what they’re struggling with, and there’s one point that sticks out for Swansea.

Swansea City need goals

Asked what the main issue facing his club is as we head towards the middle of the season, James, our Swansea fan pundit, was clear: they need goals.

Speaking to Football League World, James said: “I think, obviously, our biggest issue is scoring goals.

“It's picked up definitely in the last couple of games. Obviously, we struggled against Burnley and I got made to pay for it by a contentious decision at the end but you got to take your chances in those games against clubs like that because they will end up scoring.

“So I think, you know, as much as we picked up against Oxford, we got two goals, beat Watford as well and, you know, Burnley isn't exactly as shameful loss, they're a very good side.

“But I think we need to maintain this run of goalscoring form though, because we have really struggled; obviously with the whole month of October without scoring a goal, and that’s just not what you want to see as a fan, because it sort of discourages your hope a bit, because you can't score a goal then how you're ever supposed to win a game? You can’t.

“So I think we not only [need to] just keep on scoring goals, but maintaining the level of scoring goals is crucial, I think, to keeping our season alive. I think yeah, we just need to make sure that, hopefully, we get a big win soon and it’ll really push us on, but we need to keep scoring.”

There's no hiding the fact that the Swans need goals

The desire to score more goals might seem an obvious point for any football fan to make about their own club, but it is a genuinely worrying scenario for Swansea.

While their position in the table is okay, comparing the number of goals they’ve scored to the clubs around them is startling, and will likely be unsustainable unless they find a solution.

So far this season, they have managed to score just 11 goals, fewer than every other team in the division, including 24th-placed Queens Park Rangers.

However, only four clubs have conceded fewer goals, showing that the Swans’ defensive record is the only thing currently keeping them afloat.

For context, Norwich City’s Borja Sainz has scored the same number of goals as Swansea’s entire team put together: in short, they need a goalscorer.

They weren’t huge spenders in the summer, suggesting that finances might be fairly tight, but a loan move for somebody like Ipswich Town’s Ali Al-Hamadi, who managed to notch four goals in 15 Championship appearances in the second half of last season after a January move, despite only making one start for the Tractor Boys.

He has been somewhat a victim of Ipswich’s success, struggling for minutes in the Premier League, and could drop back down for a short spell to get himself firing again, whilst providing goals to a struggling Swansea frontline.

Whoever they opt for, it’s clear Swansea need goals and, unless any of their current players can click into gear, moves to address the issue in January will be necessary.