[Albion] Relegation Battle 2021/2022

[chaileyjem]

We tend to avoid playing top teams in pre season friendlies these days though.

Last season we played the champions league winners in pre season

We drew 1-1.

 

[Arthur]

I put him right.

We've been here 4 seasons and had 4 relegation battles. We all know our problem is scoring goals and we've not signed anyone who is going to put the ball in the net. XG is a load of bollocks only actual goals count!

Will be another relegation battle again this season.

 

[A1X]

Why is it useless to gain some insight into the quality of chances a team is creating and how good they are at taking them? For you as a fan it might not mean a lot but the value for those working in the game is pretty obvious, isn't it?

It creates a false sense of security in your play. And anyway if you watched us last season and didn't conclude we weren't scoring enough goals without the concept of "expected goals" then I'd be booking you an appointment at Specsavers..

 

[A1X]

Didn’t someone on talkSPORT recently predict us to get in the top 8 this season?

So we have one lot of pundits who think we'll be top 8 and another lot who think we'll be relegated.

Maybe it's just me but I'm increasingly starting to think maybe these guys don't actually know?

 

[brighton_tom]

For me even though we’ve lost Ben White, our defence/goalkeeper situation is at least as good as last season right now with us having added Scherpen, Ostigard, March, and hopefully lamptey back soon. If we add Cucurella to that we’ll be in a great position. Centre mid is looking solid with the addition of Mwepu. If we can just bring in an attacking player or two we’ll be fine. To be fair to the pundits they’re right we don’t score enough goals, but they’re talking as if the transfer window is closed & we’re unaware of the problem.

 

[Icy Gull]

Last season we played the champions league winners in pre season

We drew 1-1.

Nice bit of after timing there. Having come out of a season where they did well to finish 4th they had Frank Lampard as manager. More chance of us finishing top 10 than Chelsea winning the Champion’s League at the time we played them.

Granted they were a decent team but with Lampard and the previous season’s transfer embargo I wouldn’t have called them a top team at the time we played them, they’d have been lucky to finish top seven with Lampard in charge

 

[Bakero]

It creates a false sense of security in your play. And anyway if you watched us last season and didn't conclude we weren't scoring enough goals without the concept of "expected goals" then I'd be booking you an appointment at Specsavers..

The goals scored column tells you how many you've put in the onion bag. xG is additional info. In our case it showed last year that we weren't clinical enough.

I don't really know what you mean about the false sense of security. Care to elaborate?

 

[A1X]

I don't really know what you mean about the false sense of security. Care to elaborate?

Because if you take it as creating chances consistently then it suggests you don't need to improve other areas. But a better cross (for example) might have resulted in a goal, so it's not necessarily the fault of the attacker outright.

 

[Dorset Seagull]

So we have one lot of pundits who think we'll be top 8 and another lot who think we'll be relegated.

Maybe it's just me but I'm increasingly starting to think maybe these guys don't actually know?

Correct. I think the problem with us particularly is the fact that we did look good last season but flattered to deceive when it came to results. Most teams would appear to be more predictable but in our case it could go either way.

 

[chaileyjem]

Nice bit of after timing there. Having come out of a season where they did well to finish 4th they had Frank Lampard as manager. More chance of us finishing top 10 than Chelsea winning the Champion’s League at the time we played them.

Granted they were a decent team but with Lampard and the previous season’s transfer embargo I wouldn’t have called them a top team at the time we played them, they’d have been lucky to finish top seven with Lampard in charge

Ha! I think You’d forgotten we’d played Chelsea icy ! - but good effort arguing they’re not a top team!

 

[Bakero]

Because if you take it as creating chances consistently then it suggests you don't need to improve other areas. But a better cross (for example) might have resulted in a goal, so it's not necessarily the fault of the attacker outright.

But xG rates the quality of the chance. A better cross = Higher xG

That's why it's a more interesting metric than just shots or shots on target.

 

[Reddleman]

Yes just checked. Hats off to Dean Ashton for being bold to think for himself as a pundit and against the grain and obvious platitudes of the mainstream. He predicted us to finish 6th.

Not saying I agree necessarily but it’s nice to see a pundit well researched for teams beyond the top 4:

The key line - if they had a goal scorer they would have won most of those games. We didn’t and we still don’t. So it will be more of the same.

 

[vagabond]

The key line - if they had a goal scorer they would have won most of those games. We didn’t and we still don’t. So it will be more of the same.

Oh… has the transfer window just shut?

 

[Icy Gull]

Ha! I think You’d forgotten we’d played Chelsea icy ! - but good effort arguing they’re not a top team!

Rumbled

 

[amexer]

Apologies if this topic is already up somewhere..

Just heard Danny Mills on talksport saying we're one of the favourites to go down because we don't score enough and we've lost Ben White. Natalie Sawyer brought up our expected goals and that we play good football but the overall consensus is we're going to be right down there.

Personally, this is the most confident I've been going into a premier league season with a fully fit squad I think we can get the better of anyone. The other names thrown in the conversation were Southampton, Norwich, Watford, Brentford, Crystal Palace and Burnley.. Surprised Newcastle and possibly even wolves weren't in the conversation if we are.

I cant see any reason why we will not be in a relegation fight with present squad White out and a midfielder in. Still no LB/LWB or RWB. Looking like relying on Maupay,Welbeck and Androne for goals which is a worry. Why are people thinking we are going to do so well with all but same squad

k

 

[ConfusedGloryHunter]

I cant see any reason why we will not be in a relegation fight with present squad White out and a midfielder in. Still no LB/LWB or RWB. Looking like relying on Maupay,Welbeck and Androne for goals which is a worry. Why are people thinking we are going to do so well with all but same squad

k

I'm optimistic because of the way we played last season. We have a young and settled team that gained a years experience playing together last season and has proven to be capable of beating anyone in the league. Yes there were a lot of missed chances last season but we did manage to score some goals and there is already a chance we might score more this time even without getting the new striker I would prefer we had. I feel that if Hairy Potter can figure out a way to beat teams parking the bus against us we may well glimpse the top half of the table.

 

[Clive Walker]

My feelings last season and the season before and even with the Hughton years is that we tend to hit a slump, normally around xmas and well into the new year.

We will inevitably have another one this year. The determining factor in how well we do this season is how quickly Potter can get us out of this slump. The last two seasons it has taken him far too long. If he can work his magic and only allow it to last a few weeks we will record a better points total than before.

We need to put the ball in the goal though and I don't have much confidence in our front line in doing that.

 

[El Turi]

We’ve been in the bottom 5 for 4 seasons in a row and as it stands, our squad is weaker than last season so I can see why people would tip us for relegation.

 

[Barnham Seagull]

I'm extremely optimistic IF we add some quality to our forward line.

If we don't it will be more of the same, good all round play but lack of a cutting edge. This may be enough to keep us up but it may not if the bottom 4 or 5 perform better than the last few seasons.

 

[stewart_weir]

Leeds lost 4-0 last night - to Ajax. Imagine if that had been us.

Fleetwood Town and Real Betis also beat them. No doubt these are Bielsa mind games