Players to score goals

Question

Are these sentences correct with the given meanings:
1-We need a player to score goals.
2-We need a player for scoring goals.
Meaning: We need a player who will/can score goals. We need a goal-scoring player. That would imply that we need a new player.
I think "1" could also mean: We need for a player to score goals. In this case, one of the players we already
have has to score goals.

3-We need more players to score goals.
4-We need more players for scoring goals.
Meaning: We need a greater number of players who can score goals. We need a greater number of goal-scoring players. We need new players and they have to be ones who score goals.
It seems to me that "3" also means:
We need for more players to score goals. Here, the need is for more of the players we already have to score goals.
Gratefully,
Navi.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

Your analyses are correct. However, I don't find 2 or 4 very idiomatic.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Those sentences are all grammatical, but I think you should be more descriptive. I would avoid (1), (2), and (4) entirely unless the context really demanded it.

(1) We need a player to score goals
(2) We need a player for scoring goals
(3) We need more players to score goals
(4) We need more players for scoring goals

My impression is that you can avoid some ambiguities by a bit of rephrasing.

(1) This is pretty vague and it doesn't really make sense. Virtually all sports rely on players scoring goals. If one player isn't scoring, and you want to replace him, you'd say "We need a new player who can score goals." If you want to work with him on it, you'd say "We have a player who needs to work on scoring goals." to avoid this ambiguity.
(2) Almost the same problem as (1). It sounds like this statement implies that you need a new player, and in that case try replacing it with "We need a new player who can score goals."
(3) This is OK, it implies only that you want your existing players to score more goals individually. If you are running a grade school team and your goal is to get all the kids to score, you might want to increase the chances of every kid scoring goals, notwithstanding the outcome of the games. But be aware of what this sentence is implying- it doesn't necessarily suggest the team needs to score more goals, only that you want the scoring to be done by more of your players.
(4)This is fairly silly; it implies that you don't have a full team of players. If you need more players for any purpose, that means you haven't got enough right now. If you have a full team and you want to talk about replacing players, you'd be better off saying "We need new players who can score goals."

Players to score goals

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