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James Yorke at Statsbomb took a look at the numbers around the top 6 after 10 weeks.
Ten Weeks In The Premier League
Ten Weeks In The Premier League
There are three kind of statistics. Statistics, damn statitics and lies.
Well, all those teams had less than 20 points (what we got now) in those games last season, so they would all be behind us on that start.
The stat that really matter is the one that says that we are 3 points off 1st place in the table.
So, Statsbomb have done a podcast taking a look at the Premier League as it is right now. Make some good points about a lot of teams, and especially about Spurs and our issues right now. Some of it is luck, some of it seems to be a lack of player performance, and some of it may be Pochettino not quite sure of how to organize an attack:
StatsBomb Podcast: November 2016, Part One
And also, there is an entertaining article from the Guardian which is probably a great example of how to use stats wrong, but it will piss off a lot of fans of a lot of clubs, so the mirth factor is worthwhile:
The ‘real’ Premier League table: Liverpool top, Burnley fourth, West Ham bottom | Simon Burnton
StatsBomb Podcast: November 2016, Part One
And also, there is an entertaining article from the Guardian which is probably a great example of how to use stats wrong, but it will piss off a lot of fans of a lot of clubs, so the mirth factor is worthwhile:
The ‘real’ Premier League table: Liverpool top, Burnley fourth, West Ham bottom | Simon Burnton
Reading this yesterday, an amazing fact that is real, apologise now for not being Spurs related. It has substance and incredable. On one occasion he played days after breaking his jaw and needing an op. Played with a broken toe, needing a cast and wearing a size bigger boot..
8 titles, 4 European Cups, 4 Leaugue Cups, UEFA Cup, UEFA Supercup.417 consecutive matches from 1976 to 1983 then, lost 3 to injury and then played another 127 .
Phil Neal .
livrpool managers when interviewed, always seem to dismiss stats. Its all about who scores the most goals.
8 titles, 4 European Cups, 4 Leaugue Cups, UEFA Cup, UEFA Supercup.417 consecutive matches from 1976 to 1983 then, lost 3 to injury and then played another 127 .
Phil Neal .
livrpool managers when interviewed, always seem to dismiss stats. Its all about who scores the most goals.
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If you beat up stats , they will tell you anything.
This, I think, has been the root of our issues this season. How many times has that spine been intact? You can rotate around the spine of the team & cover an injury/suspension short term, but I don't think that spine has played together at all since the start of the season. Even with the size of the squad, it has looked like square pegs in round holes too often.
James Yorke took a look at the league this year vs last year at the same point:
Summary:
The top-7/8 got a lot better, the rest got a lot worse and Leicester turned back into a pumpkin. If you're not one of the top-6 or Southampton, this year will be a bad one.
Spurs, hilariously, are almost exactly the same as last year. And as AVB's first year. And Redknapp's last. Players change, managers change, Spurs remain a 70-point team.
Does make you wonder what we could do if fully-fit, though...
Summary:
The top-7/8 got a lot better, the rest got a lot worse and Leicester turned back into a pumpkin. If you're not one of the top-6 or Southampton, this year will be a bad one.
Spurs, hilariously, are almost exactly the same as last year. And as AVB's first year. And Redknapp's last. Players change, managers change, Spurs remain a 70-point team.
Does make you wonder what we could do if fully-fit, though...
And it's no reflection on Wanyama because I think he's brought the goods this season, but I'd really like to see Dier back in his "natural" role playing alongside Dembele and Alli.
Absolutely. Give me one game of our finest 4-2-3-1 featuring angry midfield Dier and possibly feral Lamela, that's all I ask at this point.
So, some interesting, and frustrating visuals:
So, at this point, it's fairly safe to say that we, as a team, struggle with our shot locations, and that is the main thing holding us back. Partly, this seems injury-related to this point, but also it's a team issue. Too many guys too eager to let rip from 23 yards out on a bad angle.
I am not sure it's fair to write off Pochettino as a slightly better AVB at this point. He has made mention prior to Burnley of the need for more runners into the box in attack, and that we need to be better at creating from the wings. Those two things to me seem to show that he gets the issue, even if he isn't outright saying our shot locations are shit.
If we do fix our shot locations and start to get more shots from inside the box (Eriksen has definitely improved in the last 3 weeks in this regard), and less MotD-highlight attempts, then I think we can fight our way back into the top 4 battle. If not, it's going to be damn iffy.
So, at this point, it's fairly safe to say that we, as a team, struggle with our shot locations, and that is the main thing holding us back. Partly, this seems injury-related to this point, but also it's a team issue. Too many guys too eager to let rip from 23 yards out on a bad angle.
I am not sure it's fair to write off Pochettino as a slightly better AVB at this point. He has made mention prior to Burnley of the need for more runners into the box in attack, and that we need to be better at creating from the wings. Those two things to me seem to show that he gets the issue, even if he isn't outright saying our shot locations are shit.
If we do fix our shot locations and start to get more shots from inside the box (Eriksen has definitely improved in the last 3 weeks in this regard), and less MotD-highlight attempts, then I think we can fight our way back into the top 4 battle. If not, it's going to be damn iffy.
Our former head of Elite Player ID talking shop about how to find targets who might be about to hit the big time:
The Changing Face of Scouting: Anticipating spikes in performance
The Changing Face of Scouting: Anticipating spikes in performance
And following on my blathering over shot locations:
This is interesting because it makes our attack look better than it seems based on other analytics folks' work.
I think it may be the high shots volume showing in the xG for column, as our locations have been really poor. If we could only solve that a little bit, we'd be so much better off.
This is interesting because it makes our attack look better than it seems based on other analytics folks' work.
I think it may be the high shots volume showing in the xG for column, as our locations have been really poor. If we could only solve that a little bit, we'd be so much better off.
This is cool:
Premier League trends, 28 Dec 2016
Premier League trends, 28 Dec 2016
So, the guys at Statsbomb cooked up a new way to measure the contribution of non-strikers/attacking midfielders. It's really neat, and also highlights the variety of our attack:
Introducing xGChain
Someone took a look at the PL's goalkeepers, and who's good and who isn't:
http://www.skysports.com/football/n...pool-man-city-man-utd-Woolwich-keepers-ranked
And James Yorke took a look at Wenger mis-using Ozil:
Is there a hole in Mesut Özil?
Introducing xGChain
Someone took a look at the PL's goalkeepers, and who's good and who isn't:
http://www.skysports.com/football/n...pool-man-city-man-utd-Woolwich-keepers-ranked
And James Yorke took a look at Wenger mis-using Ozil:
Is there a hole in Mesut Özil?
Love the Gini coefficients for the xGChain - what a beautiful way of showing how balanced a team is. (Also love the fact that it suggests that only Bayern, Dortmund and Fiorentina are more 'balanced' than us)