I have decided to post the weekly stats in one thread again so that maybe the thread can be pinned like last season. We have now slipped below the 40 point line and need to arrest the losing run this weekend, hopefully with a bit more attacking intent. The passing stats look good but when its all between Bachmann, Sierralta & WTE it means nothing. What is telling is the low number of shots on target and big chances created. We have a potentially exciting attack and are making so little use of it.
Each survival season has relied on a 3-4 match boost. QSF when we were lucky to play all the relegation favourites in a row. Javi, Silva and Mazzari with early season results. Pearson had a boost but we were dead in the water by that point. Xisco probably needs to get that boost in, best opportunity starts on Saturday (well probably last Saturday...). No pressure mate.
Back above the 40 point line for this week at least... I'd certainly expect some points from three of the next six games; Newcastle, Leeds, Liverpool, Everton, Southampton and Arsenal. I hope for eight points, two wins, two draws and two defeats, but I wouldn't want to predict which result against which team. Given our counter-attacking style I think we'll have more joy attack wise against the better teams who will have more possession. The worry is we may conced at a faster rate!
Thanks for doing this Hornet 77 - I do like a stat! Everyone has their own little way of judging how well we are doing, on track or not etc. I've been trying to decide if 7 points from these 6 games is good or not. I’d say points could easily be 0 v Man City, Man Utd, Liverpool and Chelsea. That’s 8 games. Leaves 30 games. That’s 5 blocks of 6. If we get 7 points in each block that makes 35 points, which I’d imagine would be right on the line for 17th. So I guess we could call this first block of games on par. Not bad, maybe a slight missed opportunity overall.
In a vacuum, points-wise 7 is almost solid enough, as we can sort of see from the table. But take the context into account, including the nature of the performances and the level of opponent, and it's pretty poor. It's also boosted enormously by Villa deciding to basically forget when the season started and turn up having stepped off the plane from the Bahamas without any preparation. We wouldn't be expected to win that on paper 9 times out of 10, and I don't think anyone would be predicting three points if the reverse fixture happened to be coming up this Saturday.
@Hornet77 does @Davidmsawyer know you're 'elbowing' into his coprolite gemstone manufacture 'action'?
I'd definitely have taken 7 points from the first 6 games if you'd offered it before the season started, even with the relatively kind fixtures. If you get off to a shocker (like Narrch) you're playing catch-up from the start, especially as one of the Prem's smaller clubs.
An update now after all of the matchweek 6 fixtures: I'd have taken 7 points from 6 games at the start of the season as this keeps us above the run-rate for 40 points. This would be reassuring if it wasn't for the Head-to-Head comparison with our relegation season in 19/20 when in the corresponding fixtures we had four wins and 2 draws, gaining 14 points!
For all the doom and gloom, a lot of the stats for this season so far are actually better than the majority of our other seasons. Long way to go and appreciate this will probably have changed significantly after the November fixtures but it's not a bad start
It's crazy to look at the round-by-round position in the table and to see evidence showing how we do not finish seasons strongly. It looks like every year, from 32nd match to final match, we lost places. Always felt that way anecdotally, but really clear with the data.
I guess last season we finished strongly overall, and we picked up under Pearson before falling flat after a horrendous start to the season two seasons ago, but I just want one Premier League season where we finish strongly!
Looking like Watford, Burnley, Norwich getting relegated. Newcastle will have money now, and Southampton usually get the results when it matters. That just leaves Leeds but think they might have enough offensively.
Southampton have got 25 points from 31 games in 2021, I'm surprised how much they've been overlooked and how many have considered them good enough when they have been mentioned. Over a whole season, that would give you 31 points, which isn't enough to survive even by the standards of recent seasons. But of course, we have to capitalize on that next week, and they have been a bogey side during the Pozzo era.
Relatively worried about the prospect of Livramento coming up against either Masina or Rose - they're going to need a lot of help from (presumably) Cucho, I think.
Yeah, indeed - three Premier League-class right backs of roughly the same age bracket, alone, and they're actually even producing players that start for this Chelsea team, with 5 of the 6 goals yesterday being scored by academy graduates. Crazy levels of production compared to seemingly any other club.
I reckon they probably spend the same on their reserve/youth side in wages as a top Championship team does on their first team, possibly more. It's a big earner for them though. You either get a free 1st team player, loan them out, or get a big fee. Doubt many of their lads get released and fade into non leagues
Mmm, they always seem to insist on buyback clauses that are pretty advantageous to them, too - Livramento's is £25m, which is a fair whack but also nothing compared to what a homegrown English full back of a level that would make Chelsea want to buy them (again) would demand on the open market - they paid £50m for that exact thing in Chilwell, after all.
And yet quite a surprise considering the competition of other clubs around them for the young players.
Mmm - I don't doubt most major clubs have decent facilities, and some far more now like Spurs, but that is a very recent development - I think Cobham has been very high-tech/luxe for quite a long time now - it certainly was the one time I went there in 2015, so that might help explain the draw it's had to this generation of players who we are seeing emerge now.
Couple of small things, it's Femenia not Feminia, and Pedro got the assist for Dennis's goal at the weekend so should be in the assist column for this season.
Good to see that Sarr is only one goal away from his 19/20 tally already, and that there are multiple players supporting him with tallies of their own to boot. We're going to need that to have any chance.
GT said "don't look at the table until 10 matches have been played". Likelihood is that we will be at least lower mid-table by 5pm on Saturday, which is fine. The season we seem to be tracking most closely is 15/16, our last season as promotees, if so, I would settle for that.
Thanks for the update Hornet77, a mine of information as always and I can still (just) bear to look at the league table