The xG stuff is very set play dependent. Against Forest .95 NPxG (which isn't hugely impressive btw) and .5 from set plays. Villa was 1.54 and 1.0 from set plays. Leeds was 1.54 and 1.12 from set plays. Weirdly Arsenal is where most of our big open play chances have come from and we did nothing period against the RS. Total we're around 5 from open play in 6 games. Still underperfomance but also no where near good enough.
You might get slightly different figures based on the site you use but the picture stays the same regardless. The set plays will count obviously but you are going to have to be better from open play too.
And this is my criticism. You're playing a passable number ten on the right where he SUCKS. You're not playing a guy who can at least get shots off even if the decision making stinks. You're playing a left footer who only goes left on the left so he can only really cross and then playing a 5'8 striker at the end of those crosses. This also eliminates the LB (who is bad I know) from being an overlapping threat for large periods. That striker has shown some ability to link play and is now not helpful in that area because no one is really near him to link with. What it leads to is a team that struggles from open play. I understand they aren't turning into 2011 Barcelona! But I think some changes to the system and reshuffling of personnel can give us just a little bit more and give us a chance to win a few more points.
Overall what we're doing has a ton of positives and that's why it's frustrating to see us not making any changes to just get slightly better. We only need to get slightly better to definitely stay up.
But that could very well be the case for lots of teams. Set-pieces are a key part of the game, unless you're Roberto Martinez.
We do need to do better from open play but again, this is what you get when you have crap players. Think how crucial set-pieces were under Ancelotti, fgs.
Here's the teams that have scored the most goals from corners in the PL this season, btw. So loads of good teams here.
- Spurs (12)
- Fulham (10)
- Arsenal (10)
- Liverpool (9)
- Man City (8)
- Brentford (7)
Everton down on 3, which have IIRC all come since Boxing Day, starting with Mina's goal v Wolves. We've only scored twice from free-kicks, so of our 19 goals this season, 14 have come from open play (one of course was an OG v Villa).
Iwobi doesn't suck on the right. He's just as inconsistent there as he is in the middle and on the left, because he's an inconsistent player. He's playing right because Dyche wanted to sure up the midfield and get Doucoure into the side. Maybe it's time for that to change to get Iwobi central? I wouldn't be against it, but it's not like it's guaranteed to work, because Iwobi is inconsistent just like the others.
As for McNeil playing left and Maupay in the middle, that boils back down to recruitment. Why did they sign a midget, who can't run, to be Dom's back up? Thelwell should have been sacked on the spot for that alone, especially having spent £15m on a lad whose only asset is crossing. If McNeil plays on the right, where he has generally been really poor for us, he's very predictable because he can't switch onto his right foot.
I'm not against changing, I just don't think there's much more to get out of this squad. They are what they are - a dreadfully assembled squad of players that have zero quality up front bar a lad who can't stay fit.