TAMMY ABRAHAM is certainly no tap-in merchant.
The striker is proving the doubters wrong at Chelsea this season, scoring an incredible ten Premier League goals.
However, not a single one of those goals has come from inside the six-yard box.
And Frank Lampard may be concerned to find out his leading man hasn’t even had a shot in the poacher’s favoured zone.
Some were not convinced Abraham was the man to lead the line in Lamps’ first top-flight campaign as Blues boss.
Abraham managed just five goals in 31 appearances for former loan side Swansea.
While respective 23-goal and 25-goal seasons at Bristol City and Aston Villa all occurred in the Championship.
However, Abraham has silenced the critics by firing his way up the goalscoring charts with ten strikes so far this season.
And even more amazingly, not a single one has been scored inside the six-yard zone.
Nine of Abraham’s ten strikes have been blasted home in the penalty area.
But they have all been outside the space where most strikers tend to lurk.
Abraham’s other goal was hit from outside the box.
And it shows that the England international is bringing a lot more to Chelsea’s overall game than just his goals.
The hitman, 22, is clearly working hard to create space for teammates while hassling opposition defenders.
And his return of ten goals is quite some achievement considering his expected goals for the season so far is just seven.
That statistic is according to Opta, who use data to predict how well or badly a player is performing compared to what is expected of him.
Factors apparently include: “How close was the shooter to goal? Was it from a good angle to the goal? Was it a one-on-one? Was it a header?”
The news is sure to delight Chelsea fans.
However, some believe the revelation that Abraham isn’t scoring inside the six-yard box is a negative.
And Chelsea’s poor crossing from wide positions could be to blame.
Speaking on Reddit, one user wrote: “Dopes anyone else see this as a massive negative? Is it possible he’s being instructed to play like this?
“I can’t count how many times I’ve been infuriated that we play an amazingly dangerous ball across the face of goal that no-one attacks.
“Waiting for comebacks should be in his bag of tricks but it’s literally the only thing he does according to this stat. That’s a bad thing in my opinion.”
Another said: “I remember Saturday Azpi was entering the box with the ball while Tammy was near post waiting for an easy tap-in.
“Azpi hit the ball to the penalty spot instead where there were three defenders waiting.”
Another added: “While this is a massive positive that Tammy can thrive out of his element, it also shows we need final ball specialists on our flanks.
“Hopefully Reece James can get more game time and we can bring in a final ball specialist to play on the wings.”
One user added: “It’s called playing to his strengths. Tammy’s movement and finishing is excellent.
“He can obviously improve but it’s hard to complain about 11 goals in all competitions.”
Tammy Abraham has scored ten Premier League goals without having a single shot in the six-yard boxCredit: Getty Images
Frank Lampard speaks to the press about holding a Pep Guardiola team to lowest possession ever in 381 top-flight matches
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
