Gus gently pissed-off in pre-Burnley press conference about stats

[Simon Morgan]

Even if 75% of passes are between GG, Dunk and Ankergren, the statistics don't lie. Which kind of suits Gus' argument that statistics can be used to back up false arguments i.e. the idea that we are a dirty team. To have people slagging off our passing game and making fun of Gus being proud of it is absolutely incredible. 7th in the Championship. I'll say it again - 7th in the Championship. Speechless.

 

[Acker79]

Even if 75% of passes are between GG, Dunk and Ankergren, the statistics don't lie. Which kind of suits Gus' argument that statistics can be used to back up false arguments i.e. the idea that we are a dirty team. To have people slagging off our passing game and making fun of Gus being proud of it is absolutely incredible. 7th in the Championship. I'll say it again - 7th in the Championship. Speechless.

That wasn't gus's point. Gus's point was that people are only interested in stats when they can use them to criticise the team.

My point is that neither stat tells a full story on it's own.

No one, from what I can see is slagging off the passing game, or making fun of Gus.

 

[Deleted User X18H]

Quite.

How on earth does this illiterate self important dullard get anywhere near the players and staff at our club? I am genuinely baffled

Dullard!!

 

[Turkey]

Just because something is effective for Barcelona, doesn't mean it is for Brighton. Barcelona have a serious threat when they get forward, they don't often have games without a shot on target.

Teams can sit back and let us dawdle with the ball on the edge of the area confident they have a good chance of stopping us playing through them. Barcelona play teams that know they can't just let Barcelona play around with it. As they are always a threat, barcelona will find it easier to draw people out of position and create space. We had that luxury last season.

This year we are not the big dogs, teams come to us with discipline, focus, and without fear of us, making our tactics of passing it around the back to create space up field much less effective than it was last year.

But again, I stress, I'm not complaining that we keep trying to play this way. We will improve if we keep at it, and our team starts achieving what we know they are capable of.

Like I said, people clearly didn't see it, as the points he raised had little to do with how this play at the back helped Barca attack.

We've got 8 clean sheets this season, the 4th highest number in the division. Our play tires out the opposition, Neville's words were "You wouldn't believe how much this tires out the opposition" and showed how Benzema's chasing left him knackered come the second half.

We also as Gus pointed out, have so many passes. So it stops the opposition having the ball and creating chances, and it tires them out, so that when they do get a chance, hopefully their legs are like jelly!

Fair enough if you're not complaining but it just seems weird when people make out we've suddenly been found out, when we're actually doing bloody well!

 

[Acker79]

Like I said, people clearly didn't see it, as the points he raised had little to do with how this play at the back helped Barca attack.

We've got 8 clean sheets this season, the 4th highest number in the division. Our play tires out the opposition, Neville's words were "You wouldn't believe how much this tires out the opposition" and showed how Benzema's chasing left him knackered come the second half.

We also as Gus pointed out, have so many passes. So it stops the opposition having the ball and creating chances, and it tires them out, so that when they do get a chance, hopefully their legs are like jelly!

Fair enough if you're not complaining but it just seems weird when people make out we've suddenly been found out, when we're actually doing bloody well!

I don't like this idea that 'we've been found out', either. It's a nothing phrase. , but I think my point still stands. The tiring out occurs when teams are chasing the ball (which is how they are drawn out of position), something teams feel they have to do when barcelona have it because they are a serious threat, wherever they have the ball. We are not that same serious threat when we play it at the back, so our opponents aren't chasing it and getting tired this season. If we were more of a threat, passed it faster, more effectively, at least threatened most times we moved it forward, our opponents would chase us more rather than sit back and let us play it back there. We've shown we can v Cardiff, and in the second halves v leeds and liverpool, we just need to put in those sorts of performances more, and the passing around the back will be as effective this year a it was last, and perhaps relatively comparable to barcelona (taking into account our level, of course).

Personally, while we're working on getting our game play back to what it can be, I would rather we kept it at the back and did little or nothing with it, than rush forward or lump it forward and lose it.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Like I said, people clearly didn't see it, as the points he raised had little to do with how this play at the back helped Barca attack.

We've got 8 clean sheets this season, the 4th highest number in the division. Our play tires out the opposition, Neville's words were "You wouldn't believe how much this tires out the opposition" and showed how Benzema's chasing left him knackered come the second half.

We also as Gus pointed out, have so many passes. So it stops the opposition having the ball and creating chances, and it tires them out, so that when they do get a chance, hopefully their legs are like jelly!

You know what would be the funniest thing ever? If an opposing team just stood there on the halfway line and refused to cross it. We'd complete 179 passes between Ankergren, Greer and Dunk, rack up about 93% possession, then stop and think 'OK what the f*** do we do now?'

Then probably hoof it up to their keeper.

 

[BLOCK F]

You know what would be the funniest thing ever? If an opposing team just stood there on the halfway line and refused to cross it. We'd complete 179 passes between Ankergren, Greer and Dunk, rack up about 93% possession, then stop and think 'OK what the f*** do we do now?'

Then probably hoof it up to their keeper.

Nice one;that bought a smile to my face!
On the subject of bookings,our record is abysmal and if it isn't a concern the the management then imho,it should be.
Dirty team or not, it may indicate we are, at times , a silly team or at least not a very clever one!

 

[Acker79]

I've just checked (my figures before were from someone else's posts about this topic) and according to my records:


(click to enlarge)

The only area we are worse than our opponents, is red cards.

 

[NMH]

I've just checked (my figures before were from someone else's posts about this topic) and according to my records:

View attachment 29206
(click to enlarge)

The only area we are worse than our opponents, is red cards.

Excellent work, and proof that stands up to be counted.

What do these stats indicate?
My thought is that our style gets opposing sides frustrated, so they try to 'get stuck in' so we don't profit from it.
Thus we are involved in games where there's a lot of physical niggles to try and put us off our stroke.

 

[BLOCK F]

Nice one;that bought a smile to my face!
On the subject of bookings,our record is abysmal and if it isn't a concern the the management then imho,it should be.
Dirty team or not, it may indicate we are, at times , a silly team or at least not a very clever one!

What did I say? Bloody ridiculous.Management,get a grip.

 

[BLOCK F]

What did I say? Bloody ridiculous.Management,get a grip.

Oh dear,now Gus walks away from technical area...........childish as Johnny Byrne says.
Leadership?

 

[NMH]

Oh dear,now Gus walks away from technical area...........childish as Johnny Byrne says.
Leadership?

I imagine it's the safest thing for him to do, rather than LAMP the referee.
Who would blame him either?

 

[Husty]

I imagine it's the safest thing for him to do, rather than LAMP the referee.
Who would blame him either?

Lamp the ref for sending off two of his players for red card-deserving fouls? Now that WOULD be lack of discipline.

 

[Seagull kimchi]

Oh dear,now Gus walks away from technical area...........childish as Johnny Byrne says.
Leadership?

Quoting yourself to say I told you so is freaking lame tho' - you gotta see that.

 

[NMH]

Lamp the ref for sending off two of his players for red card-deserving fouls? Now that WOULD be lack of discipline.

Yes it would. These days in the game, managers aren't allowed barely a squeak in criticism of refs - obviously Gus wasn't happy.
The chances are of course, that he went back to the dressing room to speak to the 'offending' players.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Excellent work, and proof that stands up to be counted.

What do these stats indicate?
My thought is that our style gets opposing sides frustrated, so they try to 'get stuck in' so we don't profit from it.
Thus we are involved in games where there's a lot of physical niggles to try and put us off our stroke.

100% spot on.

 

[NMH]

100% spot on.

It does seem to have been underlines by yesterday's events, unfortunately.

Gus also pointed out that the games we are involved in featured more cards...and actually more for the opposition.
I remember Wimbledon were renowned for their 'industrial' no-holds-barred football (with Vinnie Jones ) and they were battering their way up the league!
However.... we play fair and flair passing football and are getting vilified ....and a bad reputation for cards.

The powers in football, as usual, show to be naive.