The English Football Thread

[Jase 43,479]

Fair play to Southampton and especially Ralph Hasenhuttl (underrated manager)..

 

[Atomiswave 6,072]

 

[NikkiCFC 8,081]

Liverpool losing Lallana and Lovren. They will struggle with team depth next season if they do not bring 3 or 4 new players.

[OneMoSalah 8,810]

42 minutes ago, NikkiCFC said:

Liverpool losing Lallana and Lovren. They will struggle with team depth next season if they do not bring 3 or 4 new players.

For all the games Lallana started he wont be a miss. Plus Lovren as well, 16 games in all comps, hardly a huge loss could easily give them minutes to a young kid. If it were more used players yes but can’t really see them missing those 2

[Magic Lamps 11,677]

1 hour ago, NikkiCFC said:

Liverpool losing Lallana and Lovren. They will struggle with team depth next season if they do not bring 3 or 4 new players.

Both are terrible players tho. They are lucky to get rid of them. I can’t see them having du ja. Frugal summer again. But with the team they have there is only so much they can improve upon. Their main threat will be ageing, their style is not exactly energy preserving 

[NikkiCFC 8,081]

 

[Atomiswave 6,072]

39 minutes ago, NikkiCFC said:

 

Money decides, you could add many other top level clubs and it would do nothing. Dirty cheating cuntbags

[Atomiswave 6,072]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-8568947/Manchester-City-sent-NINE-lawyers-Champions-League-ban-court-case-against-UEFA.html

[Fulham Broadway 16,977]

As kids going to Stamford Bridge in the 70s our second club was Brentford (though we used to go to Craven Cottage alternate Saturdays).

1-0 down from the first leg so no pressure then Come on Brentford !

[Atomiswave 6,072]

 

[NikkiCFC 8,081]

11 hours ago, Fulham Broadway said:

As kids going to Stamford Bridge in the 70s our second club was Brentford (though we used to go to Craven Cottage alternate Saturdays).

1-0 down from the first leg so no pressure then Come on Brentford !

I cannot go against Gallagher.

What a stupid camera angle on Brentford stadium btw.

[NikkiCFC 8,081]

Brentford 1-0

[killer1257 3,282]

2:0 Brentford

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[Fulham Broadway 16,977]

Welsh boys thought they had it sewn up

[NikkiCFC 8,081]

Game over probably. Fulham:Brentford final.

Never mind, Conor will play PL anyway, I hope Guehi also.

[killer1257 3,282]

Game over probably. Fulham:Brentford final.
Never mind, Conor will play PL anyway, I hope Guehi also.

Gallagher with a chance now. Should have scored

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[Vesper 29,202]

16 hours ago, NikkiCFC said:

Game over probably. Fulham:Brentford final.

Never mind, Conor will play PL anyway, I hope Guehi also.

well, Fulham is up 2 nil, but still needs to close it out in the second leg

[Vesper 29,202]

Analysis that proves Saint-Maximin carried Newcastle this season (literally)

https://theathletic.com/1949606/2020/07/30/analysis-saint-maximin-newcastle-almiron/

Newcastle United’s 2019-20 campaign failed in the most part to deliver the “front-foot” football that Lee Charnley, their managing director, promised when Steve Bruce was appointed as head coach last summer.

The rare moments of excitement were, for the most part, provided by Miguel Almiron and, more notably, Allan Saint-Maximin. In a side otherwise devoid of pace and invention, that duo have become integral to Newcastle’s attack. Without them, the team simply does not function.

For three-quarters of the season, Saint-Maximin and Almiron, nominally wingers or wide forwards, played almost as auxiliary wing-backs in a 5-4-1 formation. The pair were given the unenviable task of carrying the ball long distances upfield, to relieve pressure and create opportunities. But, with only the goal-shy Joelinton for company, Newcastle’s returns were low.

It would have been generous to describe much of Newcastle’s play as “football”, never mind “front-foot” football. You could not help but begrudgingly admire their ability to collect positive results, even if many of them appeared inexplicable and often aesthetically painful.

“I was patient,” Bruce said when asked by The Athletic why Newcastle set up in such a way for so long. “The players were comfortable playing that way. I make no excuse that I toyed with changing things immediately when I walked through the door. But they weren’t ready. When we did change, we did it at the right time. The new formation helps our forward players. It gets them higher and enables us to get up the pitch better.”

Although Newcastle’s post-lockdown evolution in style did not quite bring about a transformation in their attacking play — that can only be rectified by significant expenditure in the transfer market, primarily on a top-level centre-forward — there was an undoubted improvement in their offensive output.

During the first 29 games of the season, Newcastle averaged 0.9 goals, 0.9 expected goals (xG) and 10.3 shots per game, and their average possession was 36.7 per cent. Post-restart — excluding the Liverpool fixture on the final day of the campaign — they averaged 1.5 goals, 1.22 xG and 12 shots per game, with an average possession of 46.2 per cent.

The key to this upturn? Almiron and, most particularly, Saint-Maximin playing higher up the pitch, receiving greater support and providing higher-quality “carries” in possession.

Few players in the Premier League benefitted more from the three-month pause in top-flight football than Saint-Maximin — initially, at least. He returned to action leaner, free from the niggling hamstring injuries that troubled his early Newcastle career and with a fresh desire to add an end-product to his dazzling dribbling.

Crucially, Saint-Maximin — like Almiron — also found himself playing nearer the opposition goal in a 4-2-3-1 formation (until the final three fixtures) which, although introduced two games before lockdown, really began to blossom following football’s resumption.

Across 1,274 minutes of action pre-lockdown, Saint-Maximin provided two goals and one assist, a contribution every 424.6 minutes. Almiron, meanwhile, played for 2,380 minutes pre-lockdown and he also provided two goals and one assist, a contribution every 793.3 minutes.

During the first eight league matches post-restart (again, we’ve not included the Liverpool finale), Saint-Maximin provided three assists and scored one goal across 554 minutes, and Almiron delivered two goals and one assist across 584. Their respective contributions improved markedly, to once every 138.5 minutes and once every 194.7 minutes.

This was not merely coincidental, either.

Rather than finding themselves shackled by the defensive responsibilities of Newcastle’s previous low-block approach, Saint-Maximin and Almiron were liberated, operating in a fluid three-quarter line that permitted them the freedom to roam and to occupy more advanced positions more frequently.

The statistics that best display this change are the type and volume of carries made by both players.

A “carry” is defined by Opta as the distance a player travels with the ball between actions, and must have a minimum length of five metres. For example, carries are recorded between a player receiving a pass and making a pass, or picking up a loose ball and taking a shot at goal.

After the restart, Saint-Maximin carried the ball 22 per cent more often per game than he did before lockdown. During the first 29 games of the season, he averaged 19.1 carries per 90 minutes, whereas over the next eight, he averaged 23.3. With 53.3 touches per 90, up from 44.9, he also saw more of the ball, which makes sense given that Newcastle’s average possession also improved.

Almiron saw his number of carries per 90 minutes decrease slightly after the restart, from 14.6 to 14.3. His touches per 90 did increase from 41.7 to 44.9, but that did not result in a greater number of carries, which may be partly attributable to him shifting from a wide berth to a No 10 role. His responsibilities changed and he was further upfield, meaning he did not need to carry possession great distances as frequently.

Interestingly, the average distances the pair covered per carry also reduced post-lockdown, highlighting how Newcastle’s formation change moved them higher up the pitch, allowing them to influence matches with shorter, more penetrative bursts.

Almiron’s average distance per carry reduced from 7.8 metres pre-lockdown to 6.9 after it. Saint-Maximin’s, meanwhile, dropped dramatically from 9.9 metres to 6.7.

As these statistics demonstrate, a longer carry is not necessarily a more effective one, particularly not if it is completed by an isolated individual who is, as much as anything else, attempting to relieve pressure on his team, rather than specifically creating offensive openings.

In terms of output, after the restart, both players took far fewer carries before creating a chance immediately afterwards. Saint-Maximin became a third more productive, taking 20.4 carries to create a chance post-lockdown (compared to 33.6 previously), while Almiron almost tripled his effectiveness, cutting his carry-to-chance ratio from 38.4 to 13.1.

Not only does this suggest they received possession in more dangerous areas during the final part of the season, it also supports Bruce’s suggestion that Newcastle were able to get more offensive players higher up the field later in the campaign. Whereas Saint-Maximin and Almiron were often isolated after advancing with the ball earlier in the season, after lockdown they found more team-mates in support to whom they could actually provide passes and crosses.

What’s more, the type of carries the Frenchman and the Paraguayan made also changed following the resumption of the Premier League.

Pre-lockdown, Saint-Maximin attempted 4.4 “short carries” (between five and 10 metres) per 90 minutes and 8.7 “long carries” (10-plus metres) per 90, while Almiron attempted 3.8 short carries and 5.1 long ones.

However, post-restart, Saint-Maximin’s short carries increased by 32 per cent (to 5.8 per 90) and his long carries decreased by 18 per cent (7.1). As for Almiron, his short carries went up by 13 per cent (to 4.3 per 90) and his long carries reduced by 20 per cent (4.1).

But, while Almiron’s distance carried per game reduced post-lockdown (from 193.9 metres per 90 to 183.7), Saint-Maximin’s increased. The 23-year-old, who was signed from French club Nice last summer, provided fewer “long” carries and instead contributed a greater number of more effective “short” carries”, leading to him covering an average of 300.8 metres per 90 after the restart (as opposed to 269.9 before lockdown).

In fact, once football resumed, no top-flight player carried possession for their team more than Saint-Maximin. Chelsea’s Willian covered 295.7 metres per 90 with an average of 23.2 carries per game, just behind Saint-Maximin, who topped both lists.

There are no greater demonstrations of Saint-Maximin’s importance to Newcastle offensively than the final two matches of the season, when Bruce’s team looked devoid of ideas in attack as the visibly-unfit Frenchman struggled to assert his influence on proceedings.

Another stark statistic is that Newcastle only won once all season (the 1-0 pre-Christmas home victory over Crystal Palace) without Saint-Maximin. Describing him as a key player would be an understatement. He is simply indispensable.

The decision to move both Saint-Maximin and Almiron higher up the pitch should, arguably, have taken place long before the 28th game of the season. But, when Bruce eventually did make that call, it allowed Newcastle’s free spirits licence to play in areas where they could materially affect proceedings more regularly.

Unburdened, the pair have become ever-more instrumental. Now they have been released, there should be no going back.

Front-foot football may be some way off yet but, with an unrestrained Saint-Maximin, Newcastle at least have a player who, when he is seductively slaloming in full flow, petrifies opposition defences and is now providing the end-product to match, too.