23 Jan 2015 08:56:54
Just reading through some statistics regrading our season thus far and came across one very alarming one in particular. As it turns out, from all the teams who play in the 5 top leagues in Europe (EPL, Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1) we have played more long balls than any other team. As it stands we have played 1460 long balls, 23 more than second placed Burnley and 166 more than fifth placed Metz.
I know Stats aren't everything (although the Moneyballers will beg to differ) but this is very poor for a team of our reputation and standing within the game. We all know the performances throughout the LVG revolution thus far have been far from extraordinary but this is a worrying statistic for a team like Man Utd who have always been at the forefront of attacking football. Hopefully we do not remain top of this chart come the end of the season.
JMB - Are there any stats on chance creation that you have close to hand, similar to the long ball one? I bet we have the lowest as well in that area, also passes in our own half as a contribution to possession.
Obviously stats can be twisted, but your long ball one is not nice to see and I think those other two (if available) will not be pleasant reading compared to our main rivals.
Once/if the system changes to 4 at the back I think all 3 stats will improve drastically for the better though.
23 Jan 2015 10:05:24
Would you prefer to lose rather than play long balls for the last 10 minutes of a game that we are losing in order to try and rescue a draw?
The problem TOT66 is that we are playing these long balls from the first minute jones in particular is terrible for this
Long balls are a part of the game and a big part of 3-5-2/5-3-2 Tactic. Means are defenders tend to stay further back and allow opposition to advance on them leaving space in behind the opposition defense providing they push up with the rest of the team. This is why the long ball is utilised in this tactic, It is also why LVG play Di Maria up front as he felt his pace would allow him to latch on to any long ball over the top of the opposition defense.
I am not a fan of constant long balls played over the top as it relinquishes possession to the opposition almost all of the time.
As we have seen, and it pains me to say this, but liverpool are playing more attractive football than us with the same formation. There tactic is to hassle and harrier players in possession, win it back and play to a quick tempo. At Chelsea I felt they were unlucky to come away with just a draw. They didn't use long balls very often and moved at pace towards the Chelsea defense. They had penetration with Coutinho and Sterling which enable them to keep possession with shorter passes.
We play at a pedestrian pace when Di Maria is not on the ball and seem to have no penetration when going at opposition defenders which is why the long ball is used. We have the players to avoid resorting to this but LVG will not change it.
TOTT66 you make that sound like the only 2 options. If you are losing a match with 10 minutes to go i think you will find there are other options than lose or smash the ball up the pitch with no real target and hope for the best. For the majority of the fans i think that is 1 of the most frustrating things to see, How often in a match do you see us string together a few nice 1 touch passes in a tight space?. It rarely happens. Teams close us down and instead of exploiting the gaps we open up, we just keep playing it safe until usually one of the cb hoof it up the pitch and then we have to start again. I think it is something that can be changed very easily with the players we have but it seems like LVG is making it harder than it needs to be. Ofcourse this is just my opinion and i'm not " a top class manager" like LVG
One thing that I did see Beast was that I think in the last round of EPL games, our centre backs contributed something like 114 passes, where as Chelsea centre backs contributed to around 26 passes and City in the mid 30's. They clearly get their more dangerous players on the ball more than we do, pretty noticeable since they have scored quite a few more goals than we have.
Yet, we have one the highest percentage ratings in the league.
Stats are useful tools if looked at objectively.
The PL is unlike any other league in world football. There are so many modes of play implemented by the various teams in the PL. There is no standard blueprint in English football at the moment, which is why the PL is the toughest league in the world to compete in. Teams have to mix it up. It is as simple as that.
Beast - our chance creation sits currently at around the 200 mark. Chelsea are into the 300's but we are closer to Burnely and Leciester who sit at 187 and 182. Interesting reading.
Cheers JMB & Fresh - I think what is frustrating most of all is that even if we give LVG the benefit of the doubt with the formation, at least play an attacking form of it, our worst players on the ball have the ball the most.
I hope tonight isn't a repeat of the Yeovil performance.
23 Jan 2015 12:49:39
Beast,
If it isn't and we play attacking football and put Cambridge to the sword with a 4-0 win will you say anything positive or just say 'well they are Cambridge so we should have won'?
If we play to win then of course I will praise us, even if we don't batter them - like we should.
Unfortunately Beast Lvg has already gone on about how cambridge has tall players and like to play the long ball so you can bet he sets up defensively to counteract that threat rather then just try and beat them by playing football