Bobby Zamora fully deserves his call-up to the England squad for the UEFA EURO 2012 Qualifying game against Switzerland, with the Fulham man registering a superior minutes per goal rate in the 2010/11 Premier League to any of the other forwards in Fabio Capello’s latest squad.
Zamora has endured an injury-hit season, but in his limited playing time he netted five goals, one more than Spur striker Peter Crouch, despite a more substantial playing time. The Fulham hitman’s rate of a goal every 152 minutes is also superior to Aston Villa’s Darren Bent. As well as scoring himself, Zamora has also provided five assists in the league this season, along with a goal-scoring chance every 40 minutes, again a better rate than his fellow Three Lions’ strikers. With Wayne Rooney suspended for the game at Wembley, Capello will be hoping his other striking options can provide a vital cutting edge on the 4th, with Zamora deserving of a start at the end of a frustrating season for the striker.
England Strikers – Premier League 2010/11
| Prem Lge 2010/11 | Zamora | Crouch | Bent | ||
| Team | Fulham | Tottenham | Villa/ Sunderland | ||
| Minutes On Pitch | 758 | 1,932 | 3,149 | ||
| Goals | 5 | 4 | 17 | ||
| Mins per goal | 152 | 483 | 185 | ||
| Total Shots | 23 | 43 | 76 | ||
| Shooting Accuracy | 39% | 37% | 53% | ||
| Chance Conversion | 22% | 9% | 22% | ||
| Goal Assists | 5 | 6 | 1 | ||
| Mins per chance created | 40 | 69 | 102 | ||
SWISS STRIKERS NEED TO START FIRING
Switzerland’s strikers have struggled to find their best form in the UEFA EURO 2012 qualifiers so far, netting only one goal in a combined 769 minutes of action so far.
That one goal equates to just 20% of Switzerland’s total goal haul in the competition, a joint-low percentage (including only teams to score at least five goals). This failure to find the back of the net regularly is in sharp contrast to Switzerland’s 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying campaign, when their forward line netted 11 of their team’s 18 goals. The now retired Blaise N’Kufo scored five of those goals, while another player to end his international career (albeit more recently, in April), Alexander Frei also netted five on the road to South Africa. With Marco Streller also calling time on his international career, at the same time as Frei, the Swiss desperately need a new and revitalised forward line if they are to inspire the Swiss to a memorable victory on June 4th.
Switzerland’s Strikers In UEFA EURO 2012™ Qualifiers
| Swiss Strikers EURO 2012™ | Mins Played | Goals | Shots | Shooting Accuracy | ||
| Streller | 260 | 1 | 3 | 67% | ||
| Frei | 349 | 0 | 7 | 86% | ||
| Derdiyok | 147 | 0 | 5 | 40% | ||
| Gavranovic | 13 | 0 | 1 | 100% | ||
| Total | 769 | 1 | 16 | 69% | ||
*only including teams to score five or more goals
Lowest Proportion Of Goals By Strikers – UEFA EURO 2012™ Qualifiers
| EURO 2012™ | Striker Goals | Total goals* | % By Strikers | ||
| Switzerland | 1 | 5 | 20% | ||
| Denmark | 1 | 5 | 20% | ||
| Greece | 1 | 5 | 20% | ||
| Turkey | 2 | 8 | 25% | ||
| Estonia | 2 | 7 | 29% | ||
*at least five goals
Add Sportslens to your Google News Feed!
