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Have Isak and Wilson been on together at any point this season? 11 goals in 9 games from the number 9 position when they're equally spreading the load is mental. Handy having wingers scoring at a 1 in 3 rate between them as well (7 in 9 from Barnes, Gordon, Almiron and Murphy). 

 

Doubtful we'll keep that sort of rate up all season but if we can stay close to it we'll do well. 

 

 

Edited by Optimistic Nut

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I've noticed we've been playing with a bit more control this season. Saturday was the most obvious game where we deliberately played out from the back and having a look at the data, Pope had 100% pass accuracy from his 27 passes. 

 

Across the squad as a whole, last season's average pass completion in the PL was 78.1% and this season's is 83.6%. Most notable improvements have come from the back. Last season to this season:

 

Pope: 69% to 82.9%

Schar: 77.1% to 86.2%

Botman: 86.5% to 92%

Burn: 79.4% to 82%

Trippier: 71.6% to 80.9%

 

Lascelles is also on 87.5% this season. We are much more secure this season so far despite already playing 4 of the best pressing sides in the league in Villa, City, Liverpool and Brighton.

 

 

Edited by Smal

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2 minutes ago, Smal said:

I've noticed we've been playing with a bit more control this season. Saturday was the most obvious game where we deliberately played out from the back and having a look at the data, Pope had 100% pass accuracy from his 27 passes. 

 

Across the squad as a whole, last season's average pass completion in the PL was 78.1% and this season's is 83.6%. Most notable improvements have come from the back. Last season to this season:

 

Pope: 69% to 82.9%

Schar: 77.1% to 86.2%

Botman: 86.5% to 92%

Burn: 79.4% to 82%

Trippier: 71.6% to 80.9%

 

Lascelles is also on 87.5% this season. We are much more secure this season so far despite already playing 4 of the best pressing sides in the league in Villa, City, Liverpool and Brighton.

 

 

 

Teams pressing us less I would assume. 

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All credit to Howe and the coaching staff. 


You could see all our patterns of play now are so engrained in the squad that they all know exactly what they are doing. You can slot in different players, (Lascelles, Murphy, Wilson instead of Botman, Almiron, Isak) but the system and pattern remains the same. 
This is why we are having the success we are. Yes, congrats to these players for carrying out the instructions so well. But when other fans are confused how we are so good, when they see people like Burn, Longstaff, Almiron, Murphy etc lining up for us....players they may historically have thought are not top tier. It is because of Howe and the coaching that they are able to carry out these tactics, which in turn makes them appear better players than they were before. 

 

It makes me even more excited for the future and why this slow build is so enjoyable. We are witnessing the the evolution of this team and as Howe is provided higher ceiling players as we go (Bruno, Gordon, Isak etc) You can just see how we will keep getting better and better. 

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1 minute ago, andycap said:

So we've got 

Anderson

Isak

Murphy

Botman

Tonali

Barnes

All out injured

So we will be lucky to have a full bench next game. 

 

Bruno one booking away from a suspension to.

 

 

Edited by The Prophet

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Maybe  with Murphy out when miggy needs a break how about trippier for his role and livramento behind? I guess that only works when Trippier doesn't need a break himself. Going to have to be creative at times as dont think January window solves all potential issues. Either due to ffp or player availability. 

 

Did anyone screen shot that board from the documentary where it showed positions to target based on priorities?

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Lots of squad/transfer window talk in other threads, especially after games/Tonali's ban etc...this feels like the logical place to bring all those discussions together.

 

From what I've seen and heard of Ashworth, he's big on being "opportunistic" if a player who fits where we want to go is available.

 

Feels like we're all thinking it's time to have a mid- to long-term plan and stick to it, rather than change the plan and approach just because a player happens to become available.

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