[Albion] Carlos Baleba in the "SHOOT!" zone

[Bozza]

Interesting and amusing article about bad shooting, particularly midfielders who, under no pressure, fancy themselves to ping it into the top corner from 30 yards out but, instead, put it in Row Z...

The guy who continues to dial his own number even when the phones are down, the player who wants to land on the Premier League's goals of the season list from 2002, the midfielder with a short-term memory who isn't afraid to smash a beer out of that guy's hands who's sitting 30 yards behind the goal.​

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For that, this season, there's only one candidate: Brighton's 20-year-old midfielder, Carlos Baleba. He's attempted 16 shots this season from an average of 23.4 meters away. He's scored one goal this season, but that came from his one shot from inside the penalty area:​

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To zero down on the type of shot we want, I filtered out any shots that don't occur in the center third of the field. And then I only looked at a block of space 12 yards beyond the circle at the top of the penalty area. It's arbitrary, but it includes the kinds of shots we want -- the ones where players think they can score even though they rarely do -- and eliminates attempts where a player thinks he can chip a goalkeeper who is off of his line.​

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In this area, Baleba has attempted 10 shots -- three more than any player and four more than any player who hasn't scored a goal from this area. Baleba is averaging a shot from the "SHOOT!" zone with every 5.9 touches he takes in that part of the field.​

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However, you only really get egged on by the fans when you're at home. (Pro tip: A savvy fanbase would stay silent when their home players had the ball in this area, but go absolutely wild screaming "SHOOT" when their away opponents occupied this base.) And at the American Express Stadium, Baleba has only attempted five of these shots.​

From Bruno Fernandes to Man City: Who are the worst shooters in the Premier League?

These are the Premier League players whom fans should stop yelling "SHOOT!" at when they have the ball at their feet in the open field.

www.espn.co.uk

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

I'm pretty sure spanking a shot into row z from outside the box is part of the remit for all of our players of that defensive/box to box midfielder. It's probably factored into the algorithm.

Baleba is just the next in line after Stephens, Bissouma and Caicedo.

 

[Super Sub]

Bring back Dahoud... All is forgiven

 

[A1X]

Graham Potter hates this thread

 

[Stato]

" the midfielder with a short-term memory who isn't afraid to smash a beer out of that guy's hands who's sitting 30 yards behind the goal."

​

Bloody Americans thinking that everyone in the world is allowed to drink a beer in view of a football pitch! That way lies anarchy buddy.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

Interesting and amusing article about bad shooting, particularly midfielders who, under no pressure, fancy themselves to ping it into the top corner from 30 yards out but, instead, put it in Row Z...

The guy who continues to dial his own number even when the phones are down, the player who wants to land on the Premier League's goals of the season list from 2002, the midfielder with a short-term memory who isn't afraid to smash a beer out of that guy's hands who's sitting 30 yards behind the goal.​

​

For that, this season, there's only one candidate: Brighton's 20-year-old midfielder, Carlos Baleba. He's attempted 16 shots this season from an average of 23.4 meters away. He's scored one goal this season, but that came from his one shot from inside the penalty area:​

​

To zero down on the type of shot we want, I filtered out any shots that don't occur in the center third of the field. And then I only looked at a block of space 12 yards beyond the circle at the top of the penalty area. It's arbitrary, but it includes the kinds of shots we want -- the ones where players think they can score even though they rarely do -- and eliminates attempts where a player thinks he can chip a goalkeeper who is off of his line.​

​

In this area, Baleba has attempted 10 shots -- three more than any player and four more than any player who hasn't scored a goal from this area. Baleba is averaging a shot from the "SHOOT!" zone with every 5.9 touches he takes in that part of the field.​

​

However, you only really get egged on by the fans when you're at home. (Pro tip: A savvy fanbase would stay silent when their home players had the ball in this area, but go absolutely wild screaming "SHOOT" when their away opponents occupied this base.) And at the American Express Stadium, Baleba has only attempted five of these shots.​

From Bruno Fernandes to Man City: Who are the worst shooters in the Premier League?

These are the Premier League players whom fans should stop yelling "SHOOT!" at when they have the ball at their feet in the open field.

www.espn.co.uk

Does Barbs know about this?!

Gotta be honest, as long as Carlos continues doing the things he does phenomenally well, I couldn't care less if he has more cracks at goal than he should.

 

[Let's Have A Winner!]

what happens if you factor his goal against Wolves in the cup into this analysis...?

 

[Mellotron]

I think because he is SO strong, there's this natural inclination to believe he can then WELLY it into the goalbag after absolutely VIOLATING (never go full Pardew) the opposing midfielder to win the ball.

 

[jcdenton08]

I could be over-generalising here but the image in my mind’s eye is of him pressing and winning the ball, running at full pelt and shooting in the areas described in the OP.

I think it might be explained tactically.

Often when he’s pressed so far forward and won the ball in a dangerous area, we have a lot of players ahead of the ball and if we misplace a pass, we could (and indeed have) be done on the break with all our quickest players ahead of the ball.

Shooting is the lowest risk outcome in that specific scenario which I’ve seen a few times with Baleba.

 

[Papa Lazarou]

I thought his 1 goal was from outside the box. But I can be bothered to check

Edit to add: I was confusing his LC goal with his Prem goal.

 

[smillie's garden]

Where CB is concerned, shooting from distance is far from futile - he has a cracking shot. There was a rocket in the league match against Wolves that drew a save from Sa. The trick, of course, is getting them on target.

Already better than poor, WBG (obvs)

 

[GT49er]

I could be over-generalising here but the image in my mind’s eye is of him pressing and winning the ball, running at full pelt and shooting in the areas described in the OP.

I think it might be explained tactically.

Often when he’s pressed so far forward and won the ball in a dangerous area, we have a lot of players ahead of the ball and if we misplace a pass, we could (and indeed have) be done on the break with all our quickest players ahead of the ball.

Shooting is the lowest risk outcome in that specific scenario which I’ve seen a few times with Baleba.

Also, if you don't shoot, you don't score ... .... ... and he have more than enough experts at not shooting in our team - not when there's a chance of working it back and across to the opposite wing, then back again then back to the GK anyway!