[Albion] Percentage of time in opposition half - lowest in the league

Icy Gull said:

The amount of stick I have got on here recently for suggesting that we set out not to lose rather than to win, even against the lower league sides, would belie the fact that most on here are unhappy with watching the borefest fearful negative style we now play, which I find unbelievable. But there you go

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Kalimantan Gull said:

In my opinion its because you're conflating strategy with form. Our strategy has seen us finish top 3 in the championship two seasons in a row, followed by beating Man Utd two home games in a row, beating Arsenal, Palace, thrashing West Ham home and away and loads more exciting games last season and this. But we're in a rut form-wise at the moment, which has been exacerbated by a lot of upheaval in our first XI because of injuries, suspensions and trying to bed new players in, and that rut has led to us sitting deeper and not playing very well last few games. I don't think anyone is particularly happy with how we are playing at the moment, particularly (and primarily) second half against Leicester, but most of us don't believe this is the 'style we now play'

All teams go through dips like this, and ours was predicted by many, following on from the highs and passion of last year - its hard to keep sustaining that. But form is temporary, class is permanent, and CH is very classy.

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dejavuatbtn said:

The last time we complained about being mid table in the top league of football it got Mike Bailey the sack - we all know what happened after that. Be careful what you wish for.

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jeremyfisher said:

Here's the current table of the percentage of time spent in the opposition half. It does not make for pretty reading:

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It's no wonder that so many of us are unhappy about performances this season. There's no knocking that the current strategy is working in terms of points gained, but it's no fun watching games where so much of the game is in our half of the field.

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macbeth said:

the thing that really concerns me with this is that there's a 10% gap between us and 17th. Meanwhile another 10% covers 14th -7th. That shows simply how defensively we're playing. Not even close to lots of the other teams. But we're 12th, so one would assume that we must be doing something right...

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Mouldy Boots said:

This stat is an Albion one but probably a Hughton one also, I do not expect him to change it as he is a man of principle and we will die a slow death from boredom.

Destroying our creativity in our wide players really does do my head in, I wonder what they feel like if the truth be known.

I am pretty sure I could mind-read what Knocky thinks.

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jeremyfisher said:

Here's the current table of the percentage of time spent in the opposition half. It does not make for pretty reading:

View attachment 102475

It's no wonder that so many of us are unhappy about performances this season. There's no knocking that the current strategy is working in terms of points gained, but it's no fun watching games where so much of the game is in our half of the field.

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jeremyfisher said:

Here's the current table of the percentage of time spent in the opposition half. It does not make for pretty reading:

View attachment 102475

It's no wonder that so many of us are unhappy about performances this season. There's no knocking that the current strategy is working in terms of points gained, but it's no fun watching games where so much of the game is in our half of the field.

Click to expand...

Rugrat said:

I can't answer for those others but generally the two go hand in hand ... a good performance will lead to a good result (generally). What we did in those 3 1-0's (and they're the games that have put us where we are) is deliver pretty poor performances and got a good result (I don't agree with the view that they were tactically good)

That isn't sustainable as far as I'm concerned, if we don't up our performance level then results are going to suffer. Yes we are 12th, but we're going to need to play a whole lot better if we want to maintain that

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Lifelong Supporter said:

Personally I doubt if CH is happy with the performances. He has said as much about ball retention. We have been good defensively and whilst supporters appreciate good defence they really turn up to watch attractive football going forward. Duffy and Dunk headers and blocks are effective but they are not things of beauty. The fact that we have gone ahead early is a factor in those stats because as with most teams with limited ability in the league we have sought to hold what we have gained and we have largely been successful. The last two games where we have been competitive have shown there are fine margins and we have just lost out.

I expect things to balance out a bit when Stephens comes back, Knocky hits form and the midfield becomes settled. CH knows that in January with Ryan results will more likely suffer if we cannot play more in the other half.

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Bwian said:

I've been waiting for that old chestnut to re-appear.

When Bailey was fired the club was being run into the ground financially thanks to the crazy contracts given to all and sundry. Of course the downward spiral was happening thanks to clubs relying 100% on income from attendances. 1st Division gates of under 10,000 for The Albion was not sustainable and they were that low because of the dreadful football being served up. You know the rest. Today's Albion (and Top Flight Football) is a different animal financially to what it was back then and this Albion is very unlikely to find itself in another Hereford situation.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

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Thunder Bolt said:

This from someone who admits he is boycotting the games, so how do you know how 'boring' it is.

I really hate posters who say our nine points were just lucky. What a way to denigrate the team who have trained hard, worked hard and gone out to win a game. If the other side win, are they lucky or skilfull? Does their manager act in a tactical way or was he just lucky?

I also detest the 'bedwetting' and 'club lickers' labels. We are all supporting the club in our own way, and sometimes we will be in form, and sometimes we won't. The opposition have something to do with it too.

This disatisfaction is growing and imo it is unfair. CH has plenty in credit so let him do his job. If we descend into the bottom three following three defeats in a row, then complain.
I would want him as manager if the worst came to the worst and we got relegated, but I honestly don't think we will.

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Rugrat said:

Is that assumption valid? I would have voted that the result is the most important thing but I'm not happy at all about how we are playing. Unless there are 3 basket cases in this league then I think we are very real candidates for relegation if we don't change our approach. In that respect that statistic in the OP is a concern

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dejavuatbtn said:

The last time we complained about being mid table in the top league of football it got Mike Bailey the sack - we all know what happened after that. Be careful what you wish for.

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