Why Rodrigo Muniz will come good this season

Charlie Shaw is full of support for our Brazilian striker and says the goals will come.

After an ill-fated loan spell on Teeside, Rodrigo Muniz’s Fulham career seemed to be drawing to a close. However, after a dazzling dink up at Turf Moor, the Brazilian hit a purple patch only seen in black and white by the likes of Pavel Pogrebnyak at the Cottage. With eight goals in eight games, the former Flamengo man looked reborn, scoring goals for fun, linking up play, and being a constant nuisance from searching balls courtesy of the back four and a betting favourite for balls going into the box.

It looked as if Fulham had found an unlikely replacement for our departed Serbian king, but after no goals in the opening three games of this season, we look like a side disoriented without a free-scoring target man. Uncertainty lingers around our ability to succeed without a target man, as many ponder if Rodrigo is more of a Mitrovic, or a Pogrebnyak.

The stage is set

Since Marco Silva arrived on the banks of the Thames, a target man has been an essential cog to his system. Marco’s lauded 4-2-3-1 system is designed to be built around an old school number nine. With three players sat narrow behind the striker, a direct attacking outlet is required to provide a focal point for attacks to create space for the players behind him, by occupying opposing centre-backs, while maintaining a presence in the box for the marauding Antonee Robinson to aim crosses at.

Without a centrepiece to attacks, Alex Iwobi and Emile Smith Rowe often look lost due to a lack of cutting edge in the final third with nobody to play off or build attacks towards. This reliance on a target man gives further credence to the theory that Rodrigo Muniz will be the difference between a top half finish and a relegation dog fight for this Fulham side.

Plenty of optimism

With murmurs of criticism becoming increasingly prevalent, is Muniz a half-season wonder, or a number nine fit to be heir to Mitro’s throne? An look into Rodrigo’s underlying numbers tells us the answer. Going agonisingly close in all three league games this season, the R9’s numbers reflect this, with 0.4xG per 90, just 0.09 less than last season, and the same as Alexander Isak and higher than the likes of Joao Pedro, Darwin Nunez, and Cole Palmer, all of whom play in much more creative, attacking sides.

Alongside this, the 23-year-old has averaged 3.7 shots per 90, almost an entire shot more than last season. These numbers tell a conclusive story, one that illustrates a striker who’s consistently in good areas and one who is not afraid to get off shots on goal, which is ultimately a recipe for goals.

I’d add that Muniz has been paramount to the importance of our build-up play. A great example of this is Emile Smith Rowe’s goal against Leicester. The former Boro loanee showed his aerial prowess against the towering Jannick Vestergaard; his header opened up play, enabling Alex Iwobi to thread a through ball to Smith Rowe. This demonstrates Muniz’s ability to play in the aforementioned target man role in Silva’s system, as the Minas Gerais native is adept at linking up play and wreaking havoc in the box, a rarity in not only the Fulham squad, but the Premier League as a whole, especially at 23 years of age.

Faith in the striker is central to his success, as his sudden burst in goals exhibits his nature as a confidence player. As other strikers in the squad have shown, Fulham don’t have many other striking options at this moment, so even if you don’t believe in the Brazilian as much as I do, back him, back the player we saw only a few of games ago, and I’m sure, the goals will come!