Aston Villa News 24/7Tactical analysis seems almost pointless, if ever there was a display based on mental qualities such as determination, commitment and spirit, this was it. The stats will speak for themselves, so I’ll just throw in a couple of factoids, tug my forelock and bid you good day.
Firstly, Stewart Downing. Not the best use of the ball when he saw it, but he struggled to get involved in the game. For once his central position in the average position map is more a reflection of where the action was instead of him playing roughly equal time on each wing. Villa focused 55% of their attacks down the right, Everton 41% down their left. With Downing spending most of the time on the left, he didn’t see much of the ball.
Secondly, Villa had very little possession in general, just 32%. That led to completing just 139 passes, which was 27% of the total passes completed in the match. That’s the least number of passes Villa have made in a Premiership match since the same number were completed during the 3-2 loss to Utd at Old Trafford. And the 27% CPS was the lowest since the 26% during the 1-0 win over Utd last season.
Passing stats alone don’t mean much, I’m always the first to say so, but all these stats together paint the picture of an uninspiring performance at home against a team we’ll be competing for position against for the rest of the season.
We took the points today and hopefully that restores some much needed confidence in the team. We’ve beaten Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal in the past with similarly slender shares of the game, but with all due respect to Everton, that’s far more acceptable and expected.
Make of it what you will, but that was great result from a poor performance today.
| 1 | Aston Villa | August 29th 2010 | Everton | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 32% | Possession % | 68% | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 15 | Shots | 23 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | On Target | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Corners | 18 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Offsides | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9′ L Young | Scorers | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dunne, Collins, Albrighton, Petrov | Booked | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sent Off | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 139 | Good Passes | 372 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 27% | CPS % | 73% | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 63 | Bad Passes | 86 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 69% | Completion % | 81% | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 20 | Interceptions | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 32 | Tackles Won | 29 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 26 | Tackles Lost | 27 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 55% | Success % | 52% | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Blocks | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | Free Kicks | 21 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Average Position Maps | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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You can find Statshacks from other games here.
[Original data and graphics courtesy of ESPN and The Guardian]
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8 Comments to “Statshack – Aston Villa 1 Everton 0”
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That makes for some very sobering reading. I know there are those who’ll argue that we won and that’s all that matters, but that’s not the point. Law of averages suggests that if we surrender possession to a ‘ho-hum’ team such as Everton so convincingly *at home* – then it’s hardly surprising that shipping six isn’t as freakish as first thought away from Villa Park (not withstanding it was at St. James that is).
The above stats are compelling, and prove irrefutably that while our grit, determination and ability to fight attritional battles is admirable, we’ll get turned over by quicker, more potent teams than Everton if we don’t learn to retain possession for longer than one third of any match.
I think we are still working off a hang-over from MON. We are playing defensive, counter-attacking football. Add the fact that confidence was low going into the match and I would say that this is a good result for this week but not a reflection of what might happen for the rest of the season.
What seems to be missing is a manager who can help re-shape the team into a real football team. Four-years of defensive, kick-and-rush, football has us thinking like a mid-table team despite recent history.
are you serious?
Yes. I don’t think anyone can say we are playing great possession football right now (and I would argue that we really didn’t under MON). Most of the hallmarks of AV have been grit, determination and, yes, Route-1 football. When we are confident we can pass (alla West Ham) but when under stress we rely on our defense and launch long balls forward. The net result is lower possession, fewer passes and lower completion percentages. A team under stress (from two bad losses and from an Everton side coming at us with everything the had) reverts to what is comfortable.
You can say that it was of necessity but Arsenal wouldn’t have responded in this way — it is not their nature. I’m just saying that we have a defensive, long-pass mentality rather than possession, play through the middle. I’m not saying they don’t want to or can’t play that way, but look at Newcastle, Rapid Vienna, and Everton — when we got pushed to the back foot we tended to start kicking long rather than trying to work the ball. I think we can play more possession driven football but it will take time and coaching (hence the “hang over” comment) it won’t happen just because there is a new face in charge.
Just my opinion, of course.
no issue with opinion, more than welcome, it’s the “kick and rush” moniker which is guaranteed to irk me.
out of interest, if you had to guess, what would you imagine our average possession to have been in the league over the last 4 years? and how do you think it might compare to everton?
Gotcha – I’ll avoid monickers! I imagine we are as good or better than Everton on possession. Very few can play Barca / Arsenal football and in the Everton game I think it was more a way to releive pressure than a “strategy”.
The key difference between this year and the past is the loss of James Milner. I think the Everton game showed that we were not able to hold the midfield and instead of trying to hold on to the ball we went over the top just to relieve the pressure. What bothers me is the constant reference to us playing “counter-attacking” football — especially at home. We have never been able to unlock defenses. We either counter-attack with speed (Gabby) or go over the top with size (Carew/Heskey).
It wasn’t pretty but you got the 3 points. Hate to loose to a club who wears pink jerseys. Good job boys.
I think it is highly amusing that all those people who wanted MON out of our great club because he was playing dull outdated football are now delighted with the most scrappy 1-0 over a very poor side.