Currently 3rd in the league for big chances created with 71.
Behind Liverpool (79) and Man City (75)
Which isn't a bad start.
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Currently 3rd in the league for big chances created with 71.
Behind Liverpool (79) and Man City (75)
Which isn't a bad start.
I'm still getting my head around how we are playing up top at the moment. I think we are far more measured in our build-up and have opted to control vs all-out madness of attack at all costs, I think this is a sensible way forward, especially compared to the past 4yrs where we never controlled a game (even those we won).
A lot of focus is on Son, Kulu, Werner and Brannan (and by his absence Richy) but both WB's are having a lesser impact in and around the box, probably more so Porro than Destiny.
It will be interesting to see how we play against more expansive teams in the coming weeks and whether we can exploit the space behind.
We allow the oppo back 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 too much time to-reset....... The 'draw them out' thing only works against proactive teams.
Look at our goal v WH....... Direct football with urgency..... That's the blueprint.
FWIW I don't think we're intending to play tippy-tappy; it's just what we consign ourselves to a lot of the time.
Udog still has his strength to force a presence in the final 3rd; but we're consigning Porro to a rut at LCM where he just receives the ball from the RW when BJ or Kulu don't know what to do with it.......... Not a very progressive state of affairs and we're not seeing Porro's quality creative play as a result.
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Porros creative output dipped tremendously when Maddison returned to the team.
That's a LOT of totally made up statistics for one post.
Were they written on the side of a bus?
Whether the stats back it up or not; he was finding way more opportunity to be progressive before JM got injured too.
Maybe. But before Maddison got injured (10 league games), he managed 1 assist.
During Maddison injury (11 games), he managed 6 assists.
And since Maddison has returned (9 games), he's got 0 assists.
Do people really think the constant patterns of play, which are hurting our attacks, are just the players not doing what they should be?
A few times I could believe it. But throughout entire matches, match after match suggests that the plan is to try to pass a ball into the net. Don't rush it, don't make too many ambitious passes into the forward positions.
If we play that way Sunday, Nono will have his team set up in their own box and they'll probably win 1 nil, just like we did Vs City & Wolves in his early games for us.
A few times I could believe it. But throughout entire matches, match after match suggests that the plan is to try to pass a ball into the net. Don't rush it, don't make too many ambitious passes into the forward positions.
If we play that way Sunday, Nono will have his team set up in their own box and they'll probably win 1 nil, just like we did Vs City & Wolves in his early games for us.
I don't have a handle on what specifically is different, to be honest, but I THINK one area is we are asking Brennan to cross the ball now, so he holds the width or when Kulu is outside but his default has allwyas been to cut inside, whereas Porro's stood out as his delivery was great. I'm guessing here but perhaps Porro didn't invert as much as Destiny and before Brennan it was Porro who went outside of Kulu???
I need to pay more attention to how Porro is playing now.
Weird. It doesn’t feel like that at games. Maybe because we are always coming from behind.
I posted that training video the other week from his time at Celtic where he was telling them to pass the ball slowly and to keep moving (presumably to help with this), which I understand but thought it a strange approach for PL football. But then I watched Liverpool play against Brighton and noticed them passing it slowly too rather than pinging it around.
It probably means I just don’t understand the game as much as I think I do, but I always think teams look better zipping it around pass and move one touch. In fact all our best goals are scored like that. See the goal v West Ham for example.
I’m just a bit confused by it. But maybe that’s just because we keep conceding first so we don’t get to see it effectively. Anyway, it probably points to us just being a team learning the ropes. Although that’s probably giving the players an injustice as they were quick enough to learn it in preseason.
Honestly, these stats completely defy what is visible to anyone watching.
Where are these "big chances" ?
Against WHU, they had a 1.5 xg Vs our 0.9xg with us having 70% of the ball.
Where were our "big chances" in that game? I can't recall the last time I saw us play and have (and not score) loads of big chances.
I guess it's a matter of what (and who) defines a big chance. If some one is trying to massage some stats they might class a player running through with the ball but being 30 yards away from goal and closed down quickly as a "big chance"
For me, watching the games, if we haven't scored, it always feels like it's because we haven't troubled the opposition, not because we're missing lots of "big chances"
I can't recall seeing said video; but if it contradicts what I said then so be it.
I'm a big advocate of fast direct counter-attacking. It doesn't need to be a dirty word which conjures up images of 70s route 1 football or bus-parking. I'd argue that - be it under Redknapp, Poch, Conte or Ange - whenever we've been playing well and looking dangerous, the play has been fast and decisive (even if the manager's philosophies have differed)
Of course, depending on how and where you win the ball; certain circumstances dictate you can't always do this but as per my prev. post, slow draw-them-out probing is only really effective if the oppo are prepared to engage you rather than hold their position (LFC v B&HA would fit that description)............ Maybe the SPL isn't as prone to bus-parkers as aside from the top 2 there's not a huge divide between the rest of the teams (meaning they don't bother to change their game on the odd occasion they face Rangers & Celtic); i barely ever watch it so wouldn't know....?
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There's a fairly simple way of figuring out who is right about style, but I don't have the means to demonstrate it.
Show me the average number of passes we take before we score a goal.
I'd bet a bollock it's lower than you think. Probably under 15. Yet we quite often pass 30+ times and get nowhere.
We probably concede more after than that many passes than we score.
Show me the average number of passes we take before we score a goal.
I'd bet a bollock it's lower than you think. Probably under 15. Yet we quite often pass 30+ times and get nowhere.
We probably concede more after than that many passes than we score.
These are also fairly interesting
theanalyst.com
Premier League Stats: 2023-24 Season | The Analyst
The home for daily updating English Premier League stats for the 2023-24 season, both on a team and player level via Opta.
theanalyst.com
I think the start to the season we had unfairly raised expectations for some, and I mean it's unfair to Ange. We were never going to sustain that over the course of the season. We're a work in progress and despite some bumps in the road I think we're going along nicely under him. Our strongest 11 on paper is the best it's looked for a number of years and the squad will only get stronger in the summer. Compared to the Conte and Nuno Santo days, it's night and day.