Stats & Spurs Season 12/13...

pancho84

After the disappointment of not finishing in top 4 I stayed away from reading the forum for a few weeks and decided to look as objectively as I could at the stats for the season gone by.

My initial feeling when the season ended has been the same as many on here and that is to make it a priority to get a new striker if not two asap.

I have been reading stats and blog reviews of our season for the last week or so and have noticed a few things that stand out.

We had the second highest shots per game ratio(17.9) in the league last year and had the highest shots on target(6.3) ratio per game. This got me thinking that you would expect us to score more goals with this type of stat. Now we did have the third highest goals scored from open play (46) but I still think we could have scored a lot more. Initial thoughts blame Ade and Defoe's poor second half to the season.

I looked further into the breakdown of our shots and we had 54% outside of the box which was the second highest in the league behind QPR. We were also in the bottom five teams for scoring goals inside the 6 yard box.

I went to look at assists for the league and Lennon was 12th overall for assists with 7 assists followed by Dempsey/Sigurdsson/Bale with 4 each. I then looked at where we had our possession on the pitch and we had 61% in our opponents half compared which is where we want to be so that looked okay.

I then looked at our passing - we passed the ball sideways 53% of the time compared to 44% for 11/12 and 33% for 10/11. We pass the ball forward only 32% of the time compared to 41% for 11/12 and 54% for 10/11. I know we changed manager which brings new tactics and I am huge admirer of AVB, in my opinion he is our biggest asset bar Bale at the moment but a few things from the above stats jumped out to me anyway.

In summary we have the ball in the right area of the pitch but we keep passing sideways instead of forward and we take far too many shots from outside the box with only QPR having more. Based on our assists we are missing that player who can keep threading balls in behind to score goals - Carozla for Arsenal, Mata for Chelsea etc, that is what we are missing in my opinion. We become frustrated with the ball in the last third of the pitch and end up having a pop from distance. You would have to question were the strikers getting enough quality ball and were our midfielders getting in the right places from an attacking point of view. No wonder we didn't get any penalties this year, did we have enough ball in the right area of the pitch to get any? No I am not a big fan of Ade and Defoe is not consistent enough for where we want to be in the top 4 so yes we do need a top quality striker but I think it is just important to get that top quality attacking midfielder that create the right passes in behind a defence. I am a big an of Dembele coming in, he is very skillful and strong on the ball and keeps possession well but he doesnt have the pass in behind we need - we need a Silva, Cazorla, Mata type player badly from what I can make of the stats.

The above is only my opinion and is open to be ridiculed by others!

The following were the best sources I used to review the stats so have a go yourself and see what yee make of it. COYS!

http://www.soccerstats.com/
http://www.whoscored.com/
http://www.eplindex.com/32238/tottenham-improved-avb-season-stats-analysis.html

Ormus

Interesting stats, well done on pulling all that together.

I would advise caution in drawing too many black n white conclusions from them though.

Our sideways passing was always gonna be big, as we play in the opponents half as much as possible, we squeeze up where space is at a premium and we pass it around until a gap appears. It would be lovely to have a deep lying passer to mix it up a bit.

Likewise, our shots from outside the box were always gonna be way high as we have the best long range shooter in the business in Bale. We also have Siggy, Dempsey and Hudd who all like a go. Bale scored the most Premiership goals from outside the box this season so I think he is entitled to have a go pretty often.

DubPerryman

Pancho, great post!

I've been arguing (maybe just with myself) all season that buying a playmaker is as important as a striker. People often argued that due to us having so many shots and not scoring, we must need new strikers - which isn't true. You've provided the stats to support my claims.

AVB's tactical strategy is based on sidewards ball retention, sucking the opponent's defence high up the pitch and creating space in behind for an incisive 'defence-splitting' pass. Unfortunately for us, the ball went back and forth across the midfield, without having anyone with the vision to play the perpendicular pass when the chance arose. Mr Levy, I guess that's why he wanted Moutinho?!

On another forum (Hatch will know what I'm talking about) I got a lot of stick for calling Modric the best 'assister of assists' in the Premier League. But that's exactly what we was. He created the dynamic pass which set Lennon/Bale free in space, and then they would roll the ball across to Adebayor/Defoe for a tap in. Bale and Lennon would get the assist plaudits on Fantasy Football, but few recognised the importance of Modric.

Hatch99

DubPerryman wrote: »

Pancho, great post!

I've been arguing (maybe just with myself) all season that buying a playmaker is as important as a striker. People often argued that due to us having so many shots and not scoring, we must need new strikers - which isn't true. You've provided the stats to support my claims.

AVB's tactical strategy is based on sidewards ball retention, sucking the opponent's defence high up the pitch and creating space in behind for an incisive 'defence-splitting' pass. Unfortunately for us, the ball went back and forth across the midfield, without having anyone with the vision to play the perpendicular pass when the chance arose. Mr Levy, I guess that's why he wanted Moutinho?!

On another forum (Hatch will know what I'm talking about) I got a lot of stick for calling Modric the best 'assister of assists' in the Premier League. But that's exactly what we was. He created the dynamic pass which set Lennon/Bale free in space, and then they would roll the ball across to Adebayor/Defoe for a tap in. Bale and Lennon would get the assist plaudits on Fantasy Football, but few recognised the importance of Modric.

great debate, Modric was king of assisting the assists

Leinstersqspur

Good work Pancho, it reiterates the failure to replace Modric aka the failure to sign Moutinho. We probably thought (or at least hoped) Dembele could have filled this void but once Sandro got hit he had far little scope to roam forward. Also, would have been nice to see Carroll grow into this role but every apprentice needs a master and his left for the Bernabeu.

For the life of me I don't know why Dempsey shoots from outside the box because he rarely hits the target. Maybe he's jealous of Bale but he should know that his role is to get into those positions inside the 6-18yd line.

Hudd can't fill this role which was glaringly obvious at the end of last season and I'd be shocked if he remains a Tottenham player for much longer.