Ball possession

[pauliewalnuts]

This is what worries me. The shitness of the opposition doesn't really seem to change very much, the statistics always look terrible.

Passes completed this season.

Villa 192 Stoke 427
Villa 266 Newcastle 439
Villa 342 Hull 463
Villa 148 Liverpool 653
Villa 227 Arsenal 753
Villa 344 Chelsea 637
Villa 269 Man City 687

Possession

Villa 35 Stoke 65
Villa 40 Newcastle 60
Villa 45 Hull 55
Villa 25 Liverpool 75
Villa 28 Arsenal 72
Villa 36 Chelsea 64
Villa 30 Man City 70

I appreciate possession and passing do not translate directly into points, but over the course of a season, if the opposition out passes you and keeps the ball better than you do to that extent, there is a limit to how much you are ever going to improve.

[Lky]

Pauli - you've missed out the stats on our most important match to date v Orient. Why does nobody care about that match ?

[Risso]

This is what worries me. The shitness of the opposition doesn't really seem to change very much, the statistics always look terrible.

Passes completed this season.

Villa 192 Stoke 427
Villa 266 Newcastle 439
Villa 342 Hull 463
Villa 148 Liverpool 653
Villa 227 Arsenal 753
Villa 344 Chelsea 637
Villa 269 Man City 687

Possession

Villa 35 Stoke 65
Villa 40 Newcastle 60
Villa 45 Hull 55
Villa 25 Liverpool 75
Villa 28 Arsenal 72
Villa 36 Chelsea 64
Villa 30 Man City 70

I appreciate possession and passing do not translate directly into points, but over the course of a season, if the opposition out passes you and keeps the ball better than you do to that extent, there is a limit to how much you are ever going to improve.

That's quite shocking when you see it in black and white.  Bearing in mind we did quite well against Liverpool in the first half, we can't have had more than 10-15% possession in the second half.  Of course, points are all important, but if those stats are repeated over the season, I think we'll be in for another season of struggle.

[pauliewalnuts]

Pauli - you've missed out the stats on our most important match to date v Orient. Why does nobody care about that match ?

I couldn't find them!

[Gregorys Boy]

If we had kept the ball better today we would have had a better chance of holding on for a point at least.  When you know you are going to be under pressure for so much of the game anyway, and are more likely to be punished by a mistake, then it is doubling important to be better in possession than we have been.

[django]

We panic and turn over possession sloppily, I think a lot of it is down to a lack of confidence, understandable when you are under pressure like we have been the last few games but I think the form from the last few seasons puts us under pressure in every game.

We just need a few results and games to establish a bit of form.

[OCD]

Is it panic or is it Lambert's style of attacking quickly (which is fine for counter attacking but when you're looking to impose yourselves on the opposition shouldn't be the only style of play).

[passitsideways]

I think we're just shit-scared of losing the ball and not being able to get back into our defensive shape quickly enough when playing these teams (which will include Everton next week) who have these top-quality players who will absolutely plaster you when breaking into space.

The first two games were pretty rubbish possession-wise as well but that first half against Hull, even though they made it kinda easy for us, those two goals were genuinely a product of a sensible passing game, and that was without Cleverley or Benteke, both of whom in theory are pretty tidy on the ball, so there's clearly potential there. Yesterday was dire, but I'm not quite ready to accept defeat on this thing just yet, at least until we see whether this nonsense continues against some of the more mediocre teams.

[Ads]

It was hard to have any possession against Liverpool with the way they stroked the ball imperiously from centre half to centre half and back again. We dominated the game in the way an Italian side would have from the early 90s. They had no answer to us and were deservedly beaten; they're manager said as much.

That's what counts, what you see, he context of those stats. Like Hull having more possession. In the second half they did, because we had already won the game and gone home. They had one chance after they had score and it was straight at Guzan, an easy home when, gods be praised. Stoke was another stroll, I really hope they struggle you know, as they created Jack all, with both Gabby and Bacuna missing open goals.

[Jimbo]

That delusional myth still doing the rounds then? It's a shame how we forgot to dominate like Italians in the last three games. The reality is we just defended well and rode our luck a bit against a not very good Liverpool side. The trend over the last few seasons would suggest we can't keep the ball very well and generally get punished as a result.

[Ads]

What delusional myth?

I watched the game live. Normally at Anfield when you're winning by one goal in the last 10 minutes, you think you might feel the squeeze, not at that game though. Nothing in the proceedig 80 minutes had given me any cause to think Liverpool would do anything to trouble Guzan, even With England's great hope comig on. They did nothing and looked entirely in effectual. We didn't ride luck at all, luck doesn't exist. They had one attempt at Guzan and spent the majority of the game passing from centre half to centre half. Lovren must have touched the ball more times than any other player.

Even Rodgers, who is actually not in the Sam Allardyce school of myopia, conceded we deserved it. Granted, the defence wasn't really stretched, but we were as solid as anything. You're re-writing history to suit a narrative.

Liverpool aren't in the class of Arsenal, Chelsea or Man City. They are the epitome of a one man band, highlighted further by Gerrard's slow walk to retirement. Much like Spurs proved, it doesn't matter if you spend £100 million, if you lose a world class player in Suraez or Bale and replace him with three or four good ones, you're still poorer for it.

[Jimbo]

To say we controlled the Liverpool game by playing like Italians is to suggest we had some kind of master plan, so it's strange that we haven't seen that happen before or since. Rather, we simply defended as resolutely as we could against a below par Liverpool team without the deadly threat of last season, who'd run out of ideas yet still managed to hit the woodwork.

The next time the ghost of Franco Baresi et al is channelled through our defence, do let me know and I might change my mind.

[Ads]

Let's not give credit, let's just chalk it up to imaginary forces. Clearly there was no strategy, no game plan and Lovern passing the ball inside to Gerrard, in his own half every other minute with no option but to lump it into the channels, with no threat to our goal, was all down to the great Fortuna. Lambert and Keane performing the necessary offerings to her pre-game.

[Jimbo]

I give full credit for our performance, but I won't overstate it on the back of a much welcome away win against underperforming opposition struggling to find their feet following the loss of their main attacking threat. Especially when that performance appears to be the exception rather than the rule.

[Ads]

No, you didn't give any credit and decried the existence of a strategy and referenced myths, yet placed the result in the hands of imaginary forces.

I don't see it as an exception, I see a pattern; the sides to occupy 14th to 6th, whom we played from Stoke to Liverpool, we were very competitive and took 10 points. Against this seasons too three, they're world class players proved their worth, as they collectively will for most of the season.