[Albion] Bad record at home v teams down bottom / relegation zone

[ChickenDipper]

Turns out it’s largely nonsense - this line many of us, including myself, have been trotting out. Against the 3 relegated teams at home, in the last 3 seasons

21/22 - W1 D1 L1
22/23 - W3
23/24 - W1 D2

Won 5/9 (ok)
Lost 1/9 (good)

Maybe we all have been fooled a bit? Not as bad a record as we like to make out?

 

[Bodian]

Turns out it’s largely nonsense - this line many of us, including myself, have been trotting out. Against the 3 relegated teams at home, in the last 3 seasons

21/22 - W1 D1 L1
22/23 - W3
23/24 - W1 D2

Won 5/9 (ok)
Lost 1/9 (good)

Maybe we all have been fooled a bit? Not as bad a record as we like to make out?

Ah - but what about our record against teams who were in the bottom three when we played them? I guess that's how we see it - we give them a lifeline! Eg - Wolves were in the bottom three when we drew against them, but pretty sure they won't get relegated.

 

[Simster]

Turns out it’s largely nonsense - this line many of us, including myself, have been trotting out. Against the 3 relegated teams at home, in the last 3 seasons

21/22 - W1 D1 L1
22/23 - W3
23/24 - W1 D2

Won 5/9 (ok)
Lost 1/9 (good)

Maybe we all have been fooled a bit? Not as bad a record as we like to make out?

Of course it is.

This season we have only dropped unexpected points against Ipswich, Wolves and Forest. With Wolves the game was won but for the debacle at the end, and it turns out Forest aren't actually a lower league team.

 

[ChickenDipper]

Ah - but what about our record against teams who were in the bottom three when we played them? I guess that's how we see it - we give them a lifeline! Eg - Wolves were in the bottom three when we drew against them, but pretty sure they won't get relegated.

Yes the thought crossed my mind too - but that’s way too complicated to work out!

 

[Han Solo]

Depends on where you want to go.

Winning 5 out of 9 home against the bottom 3 isn't good enough for a team that wants CL or EL.

 

[LamieRobertson]

Depends on where you want to go.

Winning 5 out of 9 home against the bottom 3 isn't good enough for a team that wants CL or EL.

Depends on what you do against the rest of the league…and that stat u quoted seemed gd enough to get us into EL

 

[Milano]

You need to win these games so you are not in a must win position when your european rivals, the likes of Villa, Newcastle, West Ham, Man U, Spurs etc. come to the Amex.
Beating City to me means we should be able to afford a draw vs e.g. Villa. But not if we don't beat Soton.
The only result on paper which was really bad this season was Ipswich. Neither Wolves nor Forest can be thought of as 100% home bankers, they felt worse because we led in both games.
Tonight is an absolute must win IMO.

 

[Coldeanseagull]

We should be beating teams like(insert some tinpot club)
cringe

 

[Barham's tash]

I worry that we raise our game against better opposition and tend to struggle with fluidity against lower table teams who tend to deploy the ultra low block away from home. Not navigating a successful tactic against said tactics was RDZs undoing and hopefully it won't be Fab's.

The record is almost irrelevant as for me our performances in terms of free flowing attacking football against these teams tends to dip markedly.

 

[Milano]

We should be beating teams like(insert some tinpot club)
cringe

No one is saying that. What is being said is if we want Europe again then we need to win these games.
No EPL game is easy but some are more winnable than others, this is one of them.
To beat City we needed them to be less than 100% if City were 100% then we lose. It wouldn't matter what we did.
To beat Soton we need to be at 100% if we are 100% then we win. It won't matter what they do.

 

[sparkie]

Strewth.

We are cursed.

But the VAR charm saved us.

 

[pb21]

Yes the thought crossed my mind too - but that’s way too complicated to work out!

What about bottom 5 at the end of the season?

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

I think we just need to accept these are our difficult games, and thus be content with a point.

I mean, if we win games like this AND away games at the likes of Bournemouth AND games against City and Spurs, well we'd be in a title challenge, and that's just ridiculous. We have to drop points SOMEWHERE.

 

[Bodian]

I think we just need to accept these are our difficult games, and thus be content with a point.

I mean, if we win games like this AND away games at the likes of Bournemouth AND games against City and Spurs, well we'd be in a title challenge, and that's just ridiculous. We have to drop points SOMEWHERE.

Maybe @Giraffe needs to amend his tracker to be 3 points against the top sides and 1 against the bottom sides to give a fairer reflection of where we are likely to get points?

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

Maybe @Giraffe needs to amend his tracker to be 3 points against the top sides and 1 against the bottom sides to give a fairer reflection of where we are likely to get points?

Exactly my thinking

 

[Bodian]

So - how do we overcome this then. It's not really a managerial thing - as it spans three managers now. Anyone who has played any sport or games knows that it's an individual mentality thing. I play quite a bit of chess - and against players ranked lower than me I will lose more stupidly - because I don't concentrate as much, or am happier to give up a piece thinking 'I'm better than them, so can win it back' and so on.

How can a manager get that out of the players psyche? You can cajole and encourage them as much as possible - but at the end of the day they are human like the rest of us.

 

[A1X]

This aged like milk

 

[The Wookiee]

To be fair to Southampton- they are still finding their feet in the Premier League- they gave Liverpool a real scare last weekend- they are improving every week.
Had Mitoma scored early on, it’s a different game, but he didn’t.
Second half they were the better team, we got lucky with the VAR decision but we are now second in the Premier League, I reckon we will SMASH Fulham midweek, Pedro Hat trick (one pen)
Missed opportunity again but we are learning in each game.
Strap in, hold tight and enjoy the Brighton & Hove Albion rollercoaster- it’s going to be one hell of an exciting season

 

[tedebear]

At the risk of being ridiculed again, what I'd like to see is the stats against teams in the bottom four at the point in time each season that we play them for. Rather than points against those who eventually get relegated. Thats where I think we get the jitters...They may not end up relegated but the teams bumping above and below the relegation point seem to be able to unsettle us like last night becuase they are fighting and for some reason the wheels fall off our bus....

To reach our aspirations we need to consistently take 3 points from those games, not draws and certainly not losses...

 

[HeaviestTed]

We got a point, you can’t win them all - I’m still buzzing from the city win so who cares?