SuperBri said in the v QPR thread "This coach is beginning to really annoy me, he wants us to keep possession and slow passing out from the back, in all our games we have had the most possession percentage but no end product, but our attackers seem doomed from the start, the instinct of getting quick shots on goal seems to have been coached out of them as the players want another touch or pass, there's nothing instinctive about their play." Agree with all of this - and SuperBri's other comments in that post. 'Coaching' is key in so much and it seems to me that as part of the keeping possession stuff Jokanovic and his assistants are veering too much towards the synchronised formation element. Rather they should be taking a leaf out of the Tigana and Hodgson books and putting more emphasis on improving players - as individuals. A few 'analytic' examples: The Back Post In the last two games all 3 goals conceded came from the opposition having a man on the back post and no Fulham player within 5 yards of him (left side against QPR and Forest; right side against QPR). There were plenty of other similar occasions; they just didn't haven't such a drastic outcome. Our fullbacks need some concentrated drilling in following the man not the ball. The Goal Posts In the last three games we have had 71 shots but only 2 goals. Of those 71 a mere 10 have been on target (yesterday QPR had 7 of their 14 on target). And it's across the board; of the 10 shots Cairney and Aluko had between them yesterday only 1 was on target - the saved penalty! Scoring tends to be an intuitive thing. However it is possible to instill composure and confidence; both of which are lacking in our lot at the moment. So, have our attackers put in more practice on the training pitch - not just running up taking pot shots as we see often in the Club video clips but when under pressure from a defender(s). The Touch Too Many No need to emphasise this one with statistics; it's endemic all across the pitch and contributes enormously to the reason why our build up play is so slow. The primary reason is one I've moaned about before - many (all?) of our players are 'one footed'. Get them out on the training pitch and fine them every time they use their 'good foot'! Also Jokanovic should select players in a position that suits their more 'natural foot'. At the moment we do not play with wingers since they, pretty much to a man, cut inside rather than push outside of the opposition player. The Penalty Taker We've had 3 and missed them all. On yesterday's two it beggars belief the our 'striker' did not stand up to the block. That was Cairney's first career penalty and yes, he's scored a few but he isn't an accurate kicker - watch how he cuts across the ball when he shoots or takes dead ball kicks. Think also of the boost it could have given Martin's confidence, and he has taken a few before. Aluko was pretty much out on his feet by the 70th minute yet he was given the task of taking the second. Add to that his lack of success in front of goal in recent games and you have to wonder why him? However watching Smith at the time, he couldn't have distanced himself further from taking resposibility. Why? No idea what they do on the training ground in this regard or whether Jokanovic nominates the penalty taker in advance. I would suggest however, that what needs to be done in future is obvious.
One of the things I'd like to see is what percentage of our possession is happening in the opponents half. I suspect it is about a third of the total. The points above by C58 are very valid. Any Striker has to want to take a penalty, it's a free one on one with the keeper with the advantage to the striker.
The data will be out there but all I could find on the readily available 'Statistics Sites' relate to total percentages rather giving a breakdown. The graph in this Sqwaka link may give an inkling of an answer - to be honest I'm not competent enough to interpret it though: http://www.squawka.com/teams/fulham...season-2016/2017#657#all-matches#1-9#by-match However, taking raw data (match statistics) from the Club report of the match v Nottingham Forest you get - Total number of passes = 453 Number of forward passes = 207 Number of passes in final third = 73 And in the QPR match - Total number of passes = 437 Number of forward passes = 182 Number of passes in final third = 59 On the basis of those your guess that only one third of our possession is in the opponents half would seem, to me anyway, remarkably close SuperBri.
Another thing that I haven't seen hardly so far with this new set up is any partnerships being formed. The nearest has been Kalas & Madl in the center of defence, but this has been split up by the introduction of Sigurdsson or injury. Not seen any understanding between the left or right fullbacks and their wingers. In fact the left side has been an open invitation to the opposition. I haven't seen any partnerships in the central midfield or attacking pairings, probably because our coach seems to change their positions every game. He still seems to be experimenting in every game.
Good point SuperBri. The nearest I've seen of the partnership thing was actually a trio back in August - Kalas and Madl, as you say, with McDonald in there working as sweeper. McD was mostly used as a single defensive midfielder (as he was at Wolves) and we were, again mostly, 4-1-4-1. Another observation I'd make about August is how we worked as a team; if someone went forward another dropped back to cover and so on. After the International break, when new players came in and Jokanovic had more choices, the tinkering started and that seems to have gone. The wingers and/or atacking midfielders are all very similar in style and defence (tackling or tracking back) 'aint among their attributes. Not at all like this trio - please log in to view this image
And another thing: The January Transfer Window Sunday January 1st may seem a time away. However picking up on Mr Khan's pronouncement that the "committee" method will continue to operate, the Analytics in there ought to be already getting the ball rolling in two ways (at least!). Firstly, don't turn up at Motspur Park after the window opens before starting to crank up your computer. In the summer window we brought in a rash of players after the season started and the way the Championship works that allows zilch time to bed them in on the training ground - the contrast between our results in August and September speak for themselves. The January window is doubly awkward but therefore all the more important to identify which player(s) we're targetting before the window opens and get them in right at the beginning not the end of the window. So, Analytic Kline ... get here early. Secondly, the said same Analytics need to review their core algorithms. If it's true that a number of players were discounted before they even started because insufficient statistics on them were available, then that needs addressing. No idea whether the stories that Tammy Abrahm was one such player are true, but from the Gaffer's very public rants we sure as hell know there was at least one who fell into this category. Equally, no idea how to overcome the problem if guys like this don't have League stats to feed into the system. However I sure as hell know that if there's a flaw in my system, I fix it or find a different system. If I don't then I don't have an analytic mind after all but an ostrich one.
