Problems in numbers

[Ordar]

In the league this season we have conceded 16 goals

Of the 16 goals we've conceded in the league 5 of them have been in the last 10 minutes (31%)

Cardiff - 86th - Points dropped 2
Brighton - 94th - Points dropped 1
Hull - 86th - Points dropped 1
Charlton - 81st, 96th - Points dropped 2

Of those 16 goals 8 have come from set plays (50%)

2 Pens (Blackburn, Brighton)
1 Header from Free kick (Sheff Wed)
1 Direct free kick (Wolves)
4 Headers from corners (Sheff Wed 2, Hull, Charlton)

We're currently averaging allowing 14.2 shots per game, which is the 4th most in the division, while having 12 shots per game ourselves, which puts us at 19th (although we are 3rd for shots on target, with 5.1).

15 of our goals scored have come from open play. (1 from a set play and 1 penalty) Compare that with Burnley who have 6 goals from set plays)

We have the least average crosses per game

We also have the least % of shots in the 6 yard box, with 4% with only Preston having fewer. Our goalkeepers are also making an average of 4 saves per game, which is the joint most in the league.

25% of the ball possession in our games takes place in the opponents last third, which is the lowest in the division.

We've blocked 26 crosses this year, which is half of how many Charlton have blocked (54). We also have played double the amount of long balls that Charlton have this season.

[Woolly Mammoth]

Blimey after reading those statistics,  I am pouring myself a Cognac.

[alexbishop]

Grim

[filham]

All that will be too much for Kit to take in and for sure he will miss the vital headers from corners stat.

[Burt]

It must be remembered that we have scored a late goal or two ourselves e.g. v Huddersfield, but certainly not as many as those we have conceded.

We must be much more effective at closing games out else other teams will know that if they have a go at us then they will get something out of it. I don't think it's a stamina issue so much as tactics...

[MJG]

Jesus I knew the figures were poor but put together like that.

[GrahamG]

If you add in the late Blackburn effort that crossed the line our 'last 10 mins' stats would be 2 points worse. I think the only late meaningful goal we've scored was Woodrow's leveller against Huddersfield. For the rest, and accepting all the stats at face value, there are some pretty awful ones in there.

[Ordar]

Sorry its a bit of a spiel of stats, I was just writing them as I was researching them. Theres a lot of worrying stuff in there. The goals from set plays is just ridiculous

[nose]

AND

one big stat overlooked

5 of the last five goals conceeded away from home have been headers!

[brixology]

Obvious, but painful: had we held onto those 6 points, we'd be alone in 6th place right now.  I suppose that can be spun as positive or negative, depending on your perspective.

[Holders]

This sounds very like the stats from Sanchez' era.

[HatterDon]

Grim

Reaper

no fear

[PokerMatt]

Thanks for putting these together.

I too wanted to know our record from set pieces, but was too lazy to look it up.

This is incredibly worrying.

[rubbernecca]

Thanks for putting this together Ordar - this is great . . . wait . . . actually horrible. 

I can only imagine that Rigg knows this.

[love4ffc]

Having an American owner who has an American football team I'm sure there is someone at FFC who puts stats like this together.  We Americans love our stats.  What they do with that info at the club is anyone's guess though. 

The stat that bugs me the most is the 25% possession in the opponents last third.  That tells me that most of our possession is because we are constantly knocking the ball back into our own half.  We do this to maintain possession which is useless if we never score. 

I lost track of the amount of times we had the ball in the Charlton last third, or even in their box, and I would scream "Shot.  Just bloody hell shot!"  I also lost track of the amount of times my misses asked me to keep it down or if I was alright? 

If we would take more shots on goals when we are in the last third or better yet in the box then maybe, just maybe we would have more ticks in our for goal column.   

[Shredhead]

As love4ffc says, someone at the club will be looking at these stats, but what the F will they do with them? Another stat - only one club has scored more goals. Ahem, QPR.

[YoungsBitter]

The stats are a summary in numbers of what we have seen with our eyes and known in our guts, that we are continuing to play in a way that will not lead to success, let alone top 6 finish:

"We're currently averaging allowing 14.2 shots per game, which is the 4th most in the division": we play through the middle partly as tactics plus individual player issues - Richards always comes in off his right foot and the by-line, Cairney if played right comes in off his right and into traffic - when we lose possession the opposition breaks wide, pinning us back and we scramble back to reset our shape but it is usually within 5 yards of the edge of the box, ie shooting distance.

"while having 12 shots per game ourselves, which puts us at 19th". We are so predictable up the middle that we get stymied before we get to shooting distance. When we have played well we have used the width of Husband and Pringle to bring the ball into the danger area.

"15 of our goals scored have come from open play. (1 from a set play and 1 penalty) Compare that with Burnley who have 6 goals from set plays)" When was the last time we looked dangerous from a corner. McCormack has no box threat at step pieces and takes too many - altho he has scored one. I have also noticed that Kit does not even want the defense bothering with going up for corners in the last 10, last time we saw that was Dan Burn deciding to do it on his own initiative against Stoke when we were chasing the game. Maybe he thinks the players will get bored with drilling offensive set pieces.

"We have the least average crosses per game". Good to see we have resolved that problem from last year, not. Even with Pringle, Husband, Fredericks and Richards we are set up to go with strength through the middle.

"We also have the least % of shots in the 6 yard box, with 4% with only Preston having fewer." If our approach is to walk the ball thro the middle each game its not surprising. We are just too easy to defend against and neither Ross or Matt Smith is exactly that quick about breaking past the defense so without width how can you get the ball into the opposition 6 yd box?

"Our goalkeepers are also making an average of 4 saves per game, which is the joint most in the league." We sit too deep on defense and Richards gets skinned often so the opposition create more chances, Husband also has an imperfect record blocking crosses.

"25% of the ball possession in our games takes place in the opponents last third, which is the lowest in the division." How many times do we walk into the ranked defense of the opponent, then go backwards to defense, followed by long punt up from defense to Moussa and Smith before him?

"We've blocked 26 crosses this year, which is half of how many Charlton have blocked (54). We also have played double the amount of long balls that Charlton have this season." This is getting repetitive...no width in attack, get beaten for width on counter, cant move the ball up, get stymied, recycle back to defense and lump it....

I can only put this down to the Manager as we have now played a total of over 36 players under Kit and still it does not change.....

[Ordar]

Thank you for that analysis YB, I was thinking about doing something similar while writing the original post, but was just too depressed!

What I will say (and this surprised me) was our attacking possession is listed as 38% left, 26% middle and 36% right. so we are getting the ball wide, we're just not doing anything with it, especially not crossing it. This is mainly due to our attacks being incredibly slow so the opposition is able to get men behind the ball.

To back up your point 68% of our shots are coming from a central position which is the 5th highest in the division.

Lol another stat I've just found. 10% of all the shots we allow are within our 6 yard box. Which is the joint most with Cardiff. I imagine a lot of those are free headers from corners....

[Asotosyios]

Even when we have put some good crosses in the box, there are not enough players there to challenge for a header. Sometimes it's been only Dembele with 2-3 defenders around him.

[Ordar]

If anyone happens to bump into Kit or Mike Rigg in the next week, please show them this thread and ask for some answers