From a statistical perspective, probably one of the most even games you’ll see. It’s fair to say that Burnley edged the first half and Villa the second, 1-1 has to be regarded as a fair result.
As I mentioned in the first review, Burnley had a home record coming into this game of played 6, won 6 5, so we managed to resist that trend at least. [Edit: My mistake, Burnley have lost at home… to Wigan, if you can
5
Aston Villa
Nov 7th 2009
Bolton
1
57
Possession %
43
23
Shots
13
12
On Target
6
8
Corners
1
2
Offsides
1
5′ A Young, 43′ Agbonlahor, 53′ Carew, 72′ Milner, 75′ Cuellar
Scorers
44′ Elmander
Gardner
Booked
Cohen, Cahill, Davies, Robinson
Sent Off
277
Good Passes
159
59
Bad Passes
68
18
Interceptions
18
48
Tackles Won
48
35
Tackles Lost
37
2
Blocks
3
18
Free Kicks
18
Starting XI:
1. Friedel
2. Young
25. Warnock
24. Cuellar
5. Dunne
20. Reo-Coker
4. Sidwell
7. Young
8. Milner
10. Carew
11. Agbonlahor
Subs:
22. Guzan
14. Delfouneso
26. Gardner
21. Shorey
47. Clark
12. Albrighton
16. Delph
Average Position Map
The average position map reflects the fact that 53% of Villa’s attack went down the left channel. Considering Ashley Young pretty much spent the first 45 minutes on the right wing, that’s some achievement.
Again, since MON made a change at half time, Reo-Coker on for Heskey, I’ve included 12 players on the map. You can see how lop sided and unbalanced the shape is. Can’t help feeling sorry for Habib Beye.
2
West Ham
Oct 31st 2009
Aston Villa
1
57
Possession %
44
20
Shots
19
7
On Target
8
6
Corners
14
3
Offsides
3
45′
A predictably tight affair was statistically edged by Villa. Perhaps Everton will be the more satisfied with the draw, they’ll certainly have less complaints about being reduced to 10 men. Ironically, Everton could actually appeal Bilyaletdinov’s early bath as he received a straight red card while Carlos Cuellar was harshly shown a second yellow card late on, but dismissals resulting from two bookings cannot be appealed. Yeah, that’s fair, isn’t it?
* The sharp eyed among may well notice
In a lot of ways this game reminded me of the 3-1 win at Anfield and looking at the stats it’s easy to see why. Statistically speaking, Villa took a bit of a battering, but I’m not sure how many neutral observers could reconcile the game they witnessed with the stats below. I’m struggling myself, but I’m biased and I admit it, I thought MON’s men gave an enormous performance.
Unsurprisingly, as you’ll note in the average position map,
Better late than never.
One thing that struck me early on during this game was the focus on the attack down the left channel. I’m not talking about simply looking for Ash on every pass, but both Gabby and Carew working the left side of the pitch. In fact, if anything, Ash played a lot deeper than usual. I put a screen shot of the average position map up at half time which really shows this effect.
There was
I’m deliberately late with this post as I didn’t want to make it too easy to spot this game in the formation challenge. In case you were wondering, it was (D).
You may notice that the formation shown in the average position map for this game probably more closely resembles a 4-4-1-1 with John Carew apparently in the deep striker role. As a recent commenter correctly pointed out, there will be factors that influence the average position, sometimes distorting the
2
Aston Villa
Sep 19th 2009
Portsmouth
0
48
Possession %
52
7
Shots
17
4
On Target
6
7
Corners
5
2
Offsides
2
34′ Milner (Pen), 43′ Agbonlahor
Scorers
Cuellar, Agbonlahor
Booked
Sent Off
202
Passes
240
72
Bad Passes
62
6
Interceptions
16
28
Tackles Won
40
25
Tackles Lost
24
5
Blocks
2
15
Free Kicks
19
Starting XI:
1. Friedel
24. Cuellar
25. Warnock
29. Collins
5. Dunne
19. Petrov
4. Sidwell
7. Young
8. Milner
11. Agbonlahor
10. Carew
Subs:
22. Guzan
18. Heskey
23. Beye
21. Shorey
26. Gardner
16. Delph
14. Delfouneso
Average Position Map
0
Birmingham
Sept 13th 2009
Aston Villa
1
50
Possession %
50
13
Shots
13
3
On Target
2
7
Corners
1
0
Offsides
3
Scorers
85′ Gabby
Parnaby
Booked
Sidwell, Agbonlahor
Sent Off
240
Good Passes
266
76
Bad Passes
59
19
Interceptions
4
31
Tackles Won
37
25
Tackles Lost
16
3
Blocks
4
23
Free Kicks
10
Starting XI:
1. Friedel
24. Cuellar
25. Warnock
29. Collins
5. Dunne
19. Petrov
20. Reo-Coker
4. Sidwell
7. Young
8. Milner
11. Agbonlahor
Subs:
22. Guzan
18. Heskey
10. Carew
21. Shorey
26. Gardner
16. Delph
23. Beye
Average Position Map