Possession football - the wrong feet?

[Toffeelover]

There's been a lot of threads about why we've been so terrible.

How come there wasnt that many when we were doing well last season?

Silly question friend, there were questions last season especially near the end when we missed out on a top four finish but naturally when things are going poorly thwere is a lot more criticism and analysis of why.

 

[AndyC]

Martinez is going to have to ditch either Barry or McCarthy. As others have said, their distribution isn't good enough.

Luckily both Barkley and Besic have shown themselves well capable of carrying the ball forward and picking out aggressive passes.

If what you suggest is the answer, then much as I like him, Barry has to be the one to drop to the bench as we need McCarthy's better stamina and all over the park play.

 

[Space Cowboy]

It's quite simple. We don't have a player who can dominate possession in the middle of the park like Mata, Silva, Fabregas et al.

 

[Azza]

Very surprising stats from today's matches... NOT!!!

 

[Azza]

From the 16 games Barry has played so far in the PL this season, excluding the game when he got subbed after 4 minutes we have averaged 56.9% possession.

Barry's average possession is 7.025% and the CB pairing has an average of 11.95% over those 16 games. Those 3 players combining for just under 19% of our teams possession... brilliant!