'It's time' - Leeds United forward's no-nonsense answer to goals question ahead of Fulham clash
The Italian is part of a Leeds United side who have struggled for Premier League goals so far this season.
Willy Gnonto is confident the goals will come for him and Leeds United after a slow start to the season going forward.
Leeds are yet to score a Premier League goal from open play this season, their only successful effort coming via Lukas Nmecha's penalty in a 1-0 win over Everton last month. An encouraging four-point return through August was largely down to defensive solidity and a failure to bring in a marquee attacker on deadline-day only intensified concerns.
Chances have been there, but they haven’t been so abundant for Leeds to consider themselves unlucky not to score more, with opportunities tending to fizzle out with a poor final ball. Against Newcastle United in particular, Farke’s side burst into promising positions but lacked the cutting edge to open up an admittedly strong defence.
As with everyone at Leeds except Nmecha, Gnonto is yet to contribute where it matters most but showed last season he is more than capable, with nine goals and six assists in 43 appearances, over half of which came from the bench. And the 21-year-old is ready to try and replicate those numbers in the Premier League.
“I think it’s time,” Gnonto told BBC Sport when asked if he feels the goalscoring burden. “Playing upfront you have to try to defend and everything but we’ll always be judged for goals and assists. I think it’s time.
“We struggled a bit scoring goals and creating chances but I'm sure it's going to come. I'm sure we’re working well and I'm sure we have the quality so we’re going to score and help the team too.”
Willy Gnonto’s verdict on the season so far for Leeds United
Despite those obvious concerns over a lack of goals, Leeds enjoyed a steadily-impressive August with four points from three games, two of which came against Champions League-level opposition. Farke’s side have been largely solid at the back and looked aggressive in midfield, even with Ethan Ampadu and Ao Tanaka out injured.
Those are good foundations to build on and a more favourable run of fixtures through September and October - on paper, at least - is hoped to bring more important points. Fans might hope for more of the same but Gnonto believes there is still plenty of room to improve.
“I think it’s been okay,” he said of the season so far. “I expected better, obviously because we didn't create as much but at the same time I think it was a positive start for the team. We did quite well and got some points and hopefully it'll get better as well.
“I think every game we know we have a chance, we know we are really strong and want to get points every game. Obviously it's not going to be easy [against Fulham on Saturday]. It's away, which is always tough, but we are ready to play and we’ll try to be as competitive as possible.”