Why is Simy struggling for goals at Salernitana?

Salernitana had little hope of success heading into Friday’s meeting with in-form Serie A leaders and defending champions Inter Milan, so the eventual 5-0 defeat was probably no surprise. 

It may well have been different had Joel Obi converted from close range after Franck Ribery’s slipped the midfielder through on the half-hour mark, but Samir Handanovic thwarted the Nigerian to keep Inter 1-0 up. 

Denzel Dumfries doubled the visitors’ advantage two minutes later and the game got away from the cellar-dwelling hosts, who slumped to a fourth successive defeat in the competition. 

Simy Nwankwo had hoped to be played in for an easy tap-in after Ribery released Obi, but he did not get his wish and Salernitana ended the gameweek without scoring. Altogether, the Granata have played 11 games without finding the back of the net, scoring in seven of their 18 games on their return, and are without a league goal in their last four defeats. 

11 goals in 18 games is easily the worst return in Serie A and the Campania outfit’s malaise has ultimately affected the striker’s numbers in front of goal. 

Simy’s exploits for Crotone last season saw him hit the back of the net 20 times for a side that could not maintain their top flight status. While there are slight similarities in their positions in the table, there is a marked difference in the final-third output. 

The Pythagoreans netted 45 goals in 38 league games, averaging 1.18 goals a game despite finishing the 2020/21 campaign in 19th spot. By contrast, Salernitana are scoring less than a goal a game (0.61 goals) which slightly underscores their struggles to fashion chances and get the ball to their frontmen consistently this season. 

The Granata sit bottom for big chances created, are second bottom for percentage of shots on target and interestingly have the worst underperformance of any side in front of goal going by expected goals (xG). 

While Salernitana have netted 11 goals, their xG of 16.3 suggests they probably should have netted more than their current tally. Thus, the bottom side’s problems are two-fold: they are not fashioning quality chances consistently enough and their poor conversion rate is also letting them down. 

Again, Simy symbolizes this to an extent owing to the drop off in his conversion rate this term (five percent) compared to last term (32%) and his last season in Serie B with Crotone in 19/20 (22%). 

The towering frontman may not get opportunities consistently enough — and the fact he mustered zero attempts in an hour against Inter implies this — but underlying statistics further show that the 29-year-old is underperforming his expected output in front of goal, scoring once from xG of 3.1.

Strikingly, in Crotone’s failed return to Serie A, the Nigerian netted 20 times from 16.3 xG. 

Having said that, the broader issue with Salernitana probably not getting the ball often to the penalty box marksman must be addressed. Simy has already failed to muster a shot attempt in half of his 18 appearances for the club, something that happened only 10 times in the entirety of last season. 

Not being on penalty-taking duty for the club has seemingly reduced his goalscoring numbers too, although one spot-kick all season—taken and converted by Federico Bonazzoli—is insufficient evidence to conclude the Nigerian will not be on the next penalty. 

Simy’s exploits in Serie A last season saw him overtake Obafemi Martins to become Nigeria’s top scorer in Italy’s top flight, a feat reached in a side with far less quality than the Inter teams ‘Obagoal’ featured in. 

Less than a year later, the striker’s struggles are harrowing to watch, and he may be unable to get Salernitana the goals they need to avoid instant relegation to Serie B having waited 23 years to return to the big time.