[Albion] the first goal

[macbeth]

look, there is infinite amounts to admire about this team. it’s the best team we’ve ever had.

BUT..i do find it strange how, for all the goalscoring ability we have, we’re seemingly incapable of coming from behind to win. this isn’t a criticism, more so an observation. we’ve come from behind a few times to get a point, brentford, city, leicester and liverpool to name some, but the only time under RDZ we have totally turned the game around has been chelsea away. why is it that when we concede the first goal it gets so ugly defensively, or we totally lose control? did RDZ get wrong from the start in those games? or is there another reason?

 

[pb21]

Just seen a clip of the first goal. Yes their player was unmarked, but it was still an exceptional header imo, very good.

 

[A1X]

Why can’t we ever score from set pieces like that?

 

[AlexBH]

look, there is infinite amounts to admire about this team. it’s the best team we’ve ever had.

BUT..i do find it strange how, for all the goalscoring ability we have, we’re seemingly incapable of coming from behind to win. this isn’t a criticism, more so an observation. we’ve come from behind a few times to get a point, brentford, city, leicester and liverpool to name some, but the only time under RDZ we have totally turned the game around has been chelsea away. why is it that when we concede the first goal it gets so ugly defensively, or we totally lose control? did RDZ get wrong from the start in those games? or is there another reason?

Our style of play is based on taking risks, inviting the press and exploiting the space in behind.

If we score the first goal we will generally win as the opposition will be the one that has to take more risks and press higher up the pitch leaving space in behind and if we get 2-0 up it’s usually curtains for the opposition as they have to take even more risks and we can pass the ball around for ages.

If the opposition score first they can just park the bus and sit deep. If the opposition are not coming out to press us we still don’t change our style of play and if they just crowd the midfield we don’t have any answers.

Of course this is an oversimplification, but generally this the pattern under RDZ.

 

[lasvegan]

Mitoma went to sleep for their first. Good header though…

 

[Mont-Colt65]

look, there is infinite amounts to admire about this team. it’s the best team we’ve ever had.

BUT..i do find it strange how, for all the goalscoring ability we have, we’re seemingly incapable of coming from behind to win. this isn’t a criticism, more so an observation. we’ve come from behind a few times to get a point, brentford, city, leicester and liverpool to name some, but the only time under RDZ we have totally turned the game around has been chelsea away. why is it that when we concede the first goal it gets so ugly defensively, or we totally lose control? did RDZ get wrong from the start in those games? or is there another reason?

The title is rather misleading. As I suspected, there are already posters who thought you are talking about the first goal we conceded against AEK. Did you intentional come up with a vague title that would easily be misconstrued?

 

[super-seagulls]

look,

I was going to look and read what you wrote, that’s why I clicked the thread.
Writing look as your first word has caused me not to bother.

 

[Flagship]

When we concede the first goal in any game, the opposition tend to pack their defence and stop the press. We are very good at playing through the press but don't seem to have the answers against an eleven man defence.

 

[Psychobilly freakout]

Mitoma went to sleep for their first. Good header though…

To be fair, he was asleep most of the game.
bless

 

[macbeth]

The title is rather misleading. As I suspected, there are already posters who thought you are talking about the first goal we conceded against AEK. Did you intentional come up with a vague title that would easily be misconstrued?

no

 

[papachris]

As has been mentioned the marking was poor. But credit where it's due, it was a great header from that distance

 

[worthingseagull]

The annoying thing is my son and I were watching AEK in their warm up and they were practising corners and headers and they were awful, my son even said to me when they got their corner that we dont need to worry as they were shocking in practice and then ............ that happened

 

[Bozza]

It's a relatively small sample size though, isn't it?

We've been so good under RDZ that we rarely fall behind, so don't have too many chances to snatch a victory from the jaws of defeat. I'd wager Manchester City don't come from behind to win very often either.

The true measure of this would be finding a stat detailing how often sides in the Premier League fall behind and then come back to win, and then compare our own percentage to that.

 

[Bozza]

Spending only a couple of minutes on this...

These stats are a few years old, but suggest that around 10% of sides who fall behind in the PL recover to win...

How Often Do Teams Win from Behind? - Football Betting

How Often Do Teams Win from Behind? In terms of In-Play betting, you’ll often find that odds are longest on a team that has fallen behind within a match. That’s obviously a tempting wager for bettors to take, given that long odds mean more money if the bet turns out to be a winner. On

www.footballbetting.org.uk

Apparently last season was a good season for comebacks, but the article only details absolute numbers, not percentages...

Season trends: Comebacks on a high

Adrian Clarke sees a big jump in teams fighting back from a goal down in the 2022/23 campaign

www.premierleague.com

 

[Cordwainer]

look, there is infinite amounts to admire about this team. it’s the best team we’ve ever had.

BUT..i do find it strange how, for all the goalscoring ability we have, we’re seemingly incapable of coming from behind to win. this isn’t a criticism, more so an observation. we’ve come from behind a few times to get a point, brentford, city, leicester and liverpool to name some, but the only time under RDZ we have totally turned the game around has been chelsea away. why is it that when we concede the first goal it gets so ugly defensively, or we totally lose control? did RDZ get wrong from the start in those games? or is there another reason?

The lack of shooting especially in the first half last night was really frustrating..their keeper preferred to parry it seems, so as soon as more shots from distance were taken last night, it seemed to create chances? Also some corners that pick out players between the pen spot and edge of box may be a nice variation!

 

[heathgate]

Just seen a clip of the first goal. Yes their player was unmarked, but it was still an exceptional header imo, very good.

No, look at the clip,... Mitoma was marking that player, just before the ball is delivered, Mitoma unbelievably drifts over to mark the referee....if he had stayed put, that goal in all likelihood would not have been scored.

 

[chaileyjem]

I think there's another stat which shows that we're virtually unbeaten under RDZ when we've scored first. Winning nearly all of them . Drawing. a couple.

 

[Psychobilly freakout]

Also some corners that pick out players between the pen spot and edge of box may be a nice variation!

We are utter pants it seems at corners and set pieces, I do wonder what all the arm raising and standing next to the taker is all about, sometimes I wish we would just let the opposition goalkeeper take a goal kick and save everyone the bother, we are far better free flowing, which is something we were also not last night.

 

[El Turi]

I think their first goal last night might have been one of the best headers I’ve ever seen. I remember Vincelot scoring a similar one for us in the first season at the Amex.

 

[Cordwainer]

We are utter pants it seems at corners and set pieces, I do wonder what all the arm raising and standing next to the taker is all about, sometimes I wish we would just let the opposition goalkeeper take a goal kick and save everyone the bother, we are far better free flowing, which is something we were also not last night.

Agreed..would be good to see improvements in chances created from set pieces, especially when the free flowing approach is somewhat bunged up!