I mentioned in the Osman thread that the tactics since the return of Cahill seem to have been to start with 4-5-1 and then to use the bench in the second half when the opposition tires, often switching to 4-4-2 in the process. Thought I'd have a look at some stats to see how effective it is and managed to find out the following:
Goal distribution. We have a tremendous record of scoring late on in games. From the 80th minute onwards we have scored 14 goals this season, far and away our most productive period of the match. The goals against distribution isn't quite so pronounced although we have also conceded 3 goals between the 85th and 90th minute. Also of note is that we have conceded 3 goals in each of the two periods immediately before and after half time.
1st half record. If you stopped every PL game at half time we would be 2nd in the table with 8 wins and 26 points (12 goals for, 6 against).
2nd half record. If you look at the second half record however we don't do as well. We only manage 5 wins in the second half, notching up 21 points with 14 goals scored but 10 conceded.
To go deeper into that you can look at our record when we take the lead and when we don't. We currently sit 4th in the 'scored first' table having done so in 57% of our games. When we do score first we have a record of won 7, lost 1 with a goal difference of +15. Clearly getting that first goal is vital for us, especially when you consider that when the opposition score first we have yet to register a win in the 6 games in which that has happened (2 draws, 4 defeats).
I'd got into things by this stage and managed to unearth another interesting statistic. I looked into our results based on the number of goals we've scored and they make interesting reading, especially based on our previous 1-0 record. When we have failed to score we have lost every game (3), when we have scored just once we have drawn 2 and lost 1. So to win a game thus far this season we have had to score at least twice (7-1 win ratio when that has happened).
The next stat is one that may give us cause for concern and it compares our record playing those in the top half vs those in the bottom half. When playing top half teams our record stands at 0-2-3 from the 5 games played. Pretty dismal stuff, although in fairness three of those have been against Chelsea, Man Utd and Liverpool. The bottom half record is much better with 7 wins and 2 defeats from the 9 games, which would place us joint first with Arsenal in that particular league table.
Ok, I'm done.
Goal distribution. We have a tremendous record of scoring late on in games. From the 80th minute onwards we have scored 14 goals this season, far and away our most productive period of the match. The goals against distribution isn't quite so pronounced although we have also conceded 3 goals between the 85th and 90th minute. Also of note is that we have conceded 3 goals in each of the two periods immediately before and after half time.
1st half record. If you stopped every PL game at half time we would be 2nd in the table with 8 wins and 26 points (12 goals for, 6 against).
2nd half record. If you look at the second half record however we don't do as well. We only manage 5 wins in the second half, notching up 21 points with 14 goals scored but 10 conceded.
To go deeper into that you can look at our record when we take the lead and when we don't. We currently sit 4th in the 'scored first' table having done so in 57% of our games. When we do score first we have a record of won 7, lost 1 with a goal difference of +15. Clearly getting that first goal is vital for us, especially when you consider that when the opposition score first we have yet to register a win in the 6 games in which that has happened (2 draws, 4 defeats).
I'd got into things by this stage and managed to unearth another interesting statistic. I looked into our results based on the number of goals we've scored and they make interesting reading, especially based on our previous 1-0 record. When we have failed to score we have lost every game (3), when we have scored just once we have drawn 2 and lost 1. So to win a game thus far this season we have had to score at least twice (7-1 win ratio when that has happened).
The next stat is one that may give us cause for concern and it compares our record playing those in the top half vs those in the bottom half. When playing top half teams our record stands at 0-2-3 from the 5 games played. Pretty dismal stuff, although in fairness three of those have been against Chelsea, Man Utd and Liverpool. The bottom half record is much better with 7 wins and 2 defeats from the 9 games, which would place us joint first with Arsenal in that particular league table.
Ok, I'm done.
