I've done alot of thinking into this issue, as it cannot be just bad luck happening so often this far into the season, so I'm going to compile a list of what I consider to be the routes of the problem.
Okay here's my thoughts on possible reasons for this problem:
1. Lack of creativity in midfield There seems to be a serious lack of creativity in our midfield. With Anderson and Scholes not the players the were last season, only carrick and Ronaldo seem capable of creating things at the moment, so chances aren;t being put on plates for people, hence less goals.
Solution: Well, I don't like this as a solution, but it seems that unless Nani and Anderson can buck up their ideas, reinforcements will have to be brought in.
2. lack of trust in left winger This ones a bit less easy to explain but I'll try. The players seem to know that the player on our left wing (usually park or nani) is likely ro tuin attacks and give the ball away. So rather than flowing moves that seem so natural, when the natural thing is to pass to the left winger in space, the players seem to be reluctant to pass it there and so move the ball in an unnatural direction which disrupts the flow of the move and often ends in the ball being lost.
Solution: Well it's either the same as number one or the team are just going to have to learn to trust that person even if the chances are they will go wrong.
3. New player in attack, whole team needs to adapt Sometimes, when a new player is brought into the attack, the whole team needs to adjust not just that player. This is because they lose that natural understanding of their team mates which ultimately results in less chances in goals.
Solution: Time. That's all it needs, the understanding will come sooner or later and this problem will be solved.
4. Not having a striker who gets in behind You need somebody to be getting in behind defenses to get chances through on goal. If you don't its like having an army without a front line. It seems we have plenty of possesion but when it comes to it there's no-one on the defenders shoulder just waiting for it to be dinked in behind so they can get one on one and score.
Solution: Well there's 2 roads to go down with this one. You can either bring in somebody who will do this, ei Benzema, and add to problem 3. Or just tell at least one of the strikers, who wouldnt normally do this, to just spend their time looking to go in behind, even if it sacrifices their chances of being involved in the build up play which they think theyr are best at. The risk of this is that a player has his own style, and may not play in a wholely different way to suit the system.
5. Lack of intensity When you have people who really fight for the team, it rubs off on others and it adds to the intensity. As it is we have a lack of that. And it just means people are a little slower making their runs and seeing the passes so maybe you lose a bit of cutting edge. I think this is why Fletcher has been in the team alot this season because he adds a bit of fight and urgency to the midfield
Solution: The players just need to motivate themselves to play with that bit extra intensity and urgency like they did last season, and they'll soon find they get that extra yard of space from defenders to create and take chances
6. No bruising target man working the back 4 If you have a big target man (ei Heskey or Drogba of old) people gamble on runs past them as they occupy defenders and win flicks ons into them, so people get the ball in scoring positions. But frankly I don't think this a neccesity and I think if the above problems are solved you don't need a target man.
7. Teams defending deeper than usual Teams are defending far deeper than ever this season against us, and it does stop you playing the normal defense-splitting football we're used to, aswell as helping our defensive record, but we just have to deal with that and learn to get goals regardless of teams defending in numbers.
They're just my thoughts, please comment on it as I'd love to hear why you disagree or agree with them.
