Set Pieces

[Evesham Pie]

I suspect our performance in taking and defending corners are inextricably linked.

In the past couple of seasons we've not, in general, had good corner takers, although the standard has improved considerably this season. So when we've been practising defending corners in training we've only had to contend with the quality of balls coming in from our corner takers. And therefore the organisation / individual skills haven't been tested as much as they have been in games. Now that we have improved our attacking threat at corners, with better balls in and more genuine threat/goals from the likes of Cameron, I suspect training has been more testing and we've therefore upped our game.

Long may it continue.

[optipez]

Just to confirm the last thing I do is try to fluff the stats up to make them look better. I’ll try and focus on particular actions. In this case it was just set pieces. That’s because it has been a topic this season since we recruited a set piece ‘specialist’.

Whilst I can understand how some might feel we are nowhere near title winning material I would urge those people to try and consider the detail and reasoning of some of the stats.

The facts of the matter are this:
1. Are we better at attacking and defending set pieces this season compared to last season? Well so far yes we are.
2. Are we putting teams to the sword and scoring lots of goals this season, So far no we aren’t.
3. Are we still susceptible to not winning games we really should. Yes, the games against Alty, Halifax, Woking and Eastleigh would tell you that.

So basically right now I’ve looked at set pieces. Maybe i’ll look at why numbers 2 & 3 continue to be an issue for us, and no doubt when I share it on here and other platforms there’ll be someone who has an issue with those stats as well.

I use the stats as key performance indicators to try and identify areas for improvement. I don’t always share my work with long winded explanations because I just assume most people have enough about them to decipher the data presented. I’m even fortunate enough to share some of these findings with relevant people within the club.

If something is not looking good when I analyse it I’ll call it out.

Anyone who sits near me at a game will also tell you I’m as animated and emotionally invested as the next fan because I leave my adding up book at home.

I know stats aren’t for everyone and I accept that, but I won’t use them to beat up the club with just to satisfy an unhappy few. If it’s a negative I’ll always try to present a positive slant on how that can be improved.

Anyway **** it, I’m going off at tangents, I feel the brandy bottle calling!

I always enjoy reading your stats, they're really informative.
I don't suppose you can show it in stats but I think the main reason we aren't scoring as many as our possession and dominance merit is because we don't attack the box with numbers. If Taylor puts a cross in for example, it's likely only Wootton is inside the six yard box. As your stats show we score most of our goals from close range not having three or four in there cuts down the odds of scoring.