Stats that quantify why we aren't good enough...

[tim cahill]

Stats can be used to prove/disprove just about anything. I prefer to use my eyes and judgement

Do your eyes tell you differently though?

 

[EFC78]

If our players kept the ball better then all of the goals mentioned above could been prevented. Just because the last mistake we made that led to the goal didn’t involve an unsuccessful touch or a player being dispossessed doesn’t mean that hasn’t contributed to us conceding.

If the opposition don’t have the ball they are very unlikely to score and were giving up possession far too cheaply recently.

The West Ham one with Pickford playing it to Yarmolenko fair enough.

But with the others - your point would mean that we would never allow the opposition to have the ball ever. It's not realistic. So we should be capable of dealing with them having it better than we have. The Spurs equaliser and Pickford Anfield error were preventable and purely down to ridiculous poor decisions from our players.

 

[tim cahill]

The West Ham one with Pickford playing it to Yarmolenko fair enough.

But with the others - your point would mean that we would never allow the opposition to have the ball ever. It's not realistic. So we should be capable of dealing with them having it better than we have. The Spurs equaliser and Pickford Anfield error were preventable and purely down to ridiculous poor decisions from our players.

My point is that if we give the ball away 100 times in a game we are more far more likely to concede than if we give the ball away 20 times a game. Of course individual mistakes will cost us goals but there’s little Silva can do about that. Keeping possession better is something he should be able to work on with the players in training.

 

[Ihaters]

Small point but wouldn't being second worst at getting dispossessed and last at unsuccessful touches be a good thing?

 

[CRIMHEAD]

Small point but wouldn't being second worst at getting dispossessed and last at unsuccessful touches be a good thing?

In theory, if you had the ball the whole game and won it right back every time. But relative to our possession numbers, it's not a good thing. Or are you referencing my confusing word smithing?

 

[CRIMHEAD]

My point is that if we give the ball away 100 times in a game we are more far more likely to concede than if we give the ball away 20 times a game. Of course individual mistakes will cost us goals but there’s little Silva can do about that. Keeping possession better is something he should be able to work on with the players in training.

I'm not sure he can help it TOO much. My eyes see that players are open and are not getting the ball due to players making bad decisions or not having the skill / imagination. And look, most of us realize that the best time to attack another team is the moment you win the ball, so it's going to happen every now and then. But that's the idea, lose it less often due to bad ball control or touches. Or do it at the right time. If your fullbacks are in front of you and you are an attacker, that's not the best time to lose it. When you've had sustained possession and you have numbers in the box, you can't afford to make such a bad cross that it's controlled and coming back the other way. We just aren't that great on the ball.

 

[Kurt.]

Do your eyes tell you differently though?

My eyes tell me we are screaming out for a striker who can find the back of the net ..... until that happens nothing will change

 

[tim cahill]

My eyes tell me we are screaming out for a striker who can find the back of the net ..... until that happens nothing will change

Not much will change after that either if we keep giving the ball away needlessly.

 

[kenada_blue]

Keane doubles those touches stats. NEA

 

[Seathestars]

Goals breed confidence. We miss too many chances after some good approach play, heads go down, confidence drops, hey presto.

 

[Kurt.]

Not much will change after that either if we keep giving the ball away needlessly.

We create a lot of chances which we are not putting away... this is putting pressure on the whole team. They are playing scared. Get a striker who is slotting and it lifts the whole squad. Confidence is a massive factor in football.

 

[Jimmy Grimble]

We create a lot of chances which we are not putting away... this is putting pressure on the whole team. They are playing scared. Get a striker who is slotting and it lifts the whole squad. Confidence is a massive factor in football.

Fully agree about needing a good striker. I also think the players he’s brought in would suit fast counter attacking football so we could afford to sit a bit deeper on the whole.

 

[Igrok]

We still haven’t got our defence sorted...

 

[Toffee-nerd]

Fully agree about needing a good striker. I also think the players he’s brought in would suit fast counter attacking football so we could afford to sit a bit deeper on the whole.

That makes sense if we play 3 at the back but if we play with our fullbacks as wingers with 2 CBS who ain't the fastest it leaves us really open defensively to pull the 2 CBS around.

I'd be interested to see the number of goals we've conceded from us being in attacking positions and losing the ball. Early season we couldn't defend set pieces or crosses to save our life, lately goals conceded seem to come from us being in good attacking positions and losing the ball which seems like we aren't balanced tactically. Either way the players aren't doing enough, last game only the back 4 and gana can hold their head high, even with keane's mistake he had a good game and managed vardy pretty well given his pace. If half your team has a poor game you've no chance in this league. Hopefully we see a response from the players over the next week or so.

 

[Milkman]

Makes sense. We can all see that Richarlison and Walcott are good in space or need space to run into but ball to feet with back to goal they are wasteful. They are crowded out quickly and with other players not showing quick enough for a pass they easily lose possession. Also the same Culprits try far too many flicks or attempt to ease the ball on which becomes instantly a percentage ball.

With our attacking style too many times we are beyond the ball awaiting the pass/cross which doesn't come because we lose it hence too many players in front of the ball equalling too many opposition players running freely at us. Ball retention or lack of it is costing us and stopping us dominating games.

This was evident so much against Leicester; however I’d still say it was tactics. Most good teams always have a spare man or 2 close to the ball carrier so the move can easily flow. Second half against Leicester and Digne broke, our 4 attacking players all went a good 15/20 yards in front of him with their backs to play. He was swamped because he had no outball and everyone was out of position.

That comes from training ground. Yet at the start of the season that wasn’t evident, they broke as a unit with one supporting the other

This, basically. That Leicester game was tactically the worst I've seen of us this season (missed the Brighton one fortunately). Our shape is a total mess. There's a huge gap in between the midfield and up front, but for some reason we have Sigurdsson stood way too high up the pitch never receiving the ball. I don't know whether that's Silva's decision or not, but it's not the first time it's happened this season (Huddersfield at home is another example).

Too many times we just play it out to the fullbacks, who have nowhere to go but back to the defender or straight down the line. As @CRIMHEAD noted, Richarlison and Walcott are so wasteful on the ball and we haven't found a way to play that combats their profligacy. The worst of it all is that it just makes me miss the days of Moyes more.