Now that’s a thought. Thinking about it he could be a bit Bale-esque in the future. Ok, let’s not get carried away.
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[Albion] Fascinating Stat, no really!
- Thread starter Doc Lynam
- Start date
Now that’s a thought. Thinking about it he could be a bit Bale-esque in the future. Ok, let’s not get carried away.
oldboyroy
Well-known member
Still say we are 1 premier league quality striker away from being a top ten team.
father_and_son
Well-known member
Think we need a little bit more but the key weakness is we still don't have an instinctive goal scorer. Someone who can get a shot off without having to think, set up, take a look at goal, check to see if there is a pass on, think again and then get tackled without shooting.
Find one of those and we'd be on our way to the next level.
Garry Nelson's Left Foot
Well-known member
In the opposite fixtures we had:
50.8% against Arsenal
52.6 against Leicester
57.3% against Man United
58.5% against Norwich
Long article on this in The Athletic today
5 teams below us 6 points in total since restart
7 actually (the same as us).
Villa 2 (Sheff Utd D, Newcastle D)
West Ham 4 (Chelsea W, Newcastle D)
Watford 1 (Leicester D)
Bournemouth 0
Norwich 0
Not saying we didnt approach these games in a different way this time around, but you also need to take into the equation that Manchester United is far better side than they were in November, and same goes for Arsenal (they remain shit, but they had relegation form in December (?).
Garry Nelson's Left Foot
Well-known member
It's certainly true for Man Utd, they're a much better side than they were in the first half of the season. Arsenal are Arsenal, capable of being a decent team one day and utter dog shit the next. Leicester are arguably worse than they were in the first half of the season(at least form wise) and it's arguable that Norwich are also worse although I think they've been poor all season bar the first few games.
It seems to me that it is a change in approach. I feel like Potter toyed with it against Wolves and Sheff United - possession-wise the Sheff united stats are remarkable. In the first game we had 69% and in the return fixture we had 34% We dominated possession against Wolves home and away so maybe my memory is playing tricks on me in that performance.
Anyway, the evidence suggests that he's gone a bit more defensive. Whether that's a short term tactic to ensure we get the points for survival we'll have to wait and see. I reckon it probably is but I take it as a good sign that he's willing to be pragmatic. Idealism is great but not always practical. Being willing to change approach is a sign of real versatility. Although I imagine as he gets more and more players into the team and squad capable of playing his way there will be less need to change so drastically.
It'll be interesting to see how we set up for the remaining games.
I think we have altered our style of play and as a consequence we have over a very short period picked up some good results, I equally think if we were to play that style permanently we would be found out by other teams very quickly, however I also think it's another style of play the team can turn to when needed even mid game.
