Hobsons Choice

That is a title that would interest me.

Does it depend on the implementation of a Director of Football? If you have a DoF, does it mean you have to have a head coach, rather than a manager, or can they both exist? I would imagine there is a bit of overlap in roles.

Thought all teams did tbh. Aren't they usually between the shoulder blades?

Like I said, you're not wrong. My point is that, and let's go back to the example, if a pass gets through to an attacker who heads on goal, say from a free kick, the xG will be the same regardless of whether it is a free header or whether it is contested with 2 players. In reality the free header is much more likely to be scored. What it does not pick up in this instance is the efforts off the ball to engineer the free header. Now in open play the same issue exists, but it is less of an issue, since defenders are less likely to be specifically marking the player (there being way more defenders in the box during set plays). You are right that you can see whether the overall play is more successful, but then number of goals will also tell you that. What it won't tell you is whether changes to the off ball runs, alterations to movement patterns etc are more likely to yield a goal than previous iterations of the set piece. For that reason it would be very difficult for a set piece coach to use xG to help perfect specific plays. Other than to run them for a few months and gather data points for different patterns.

Yes and no, in that you could do it like that, but it would not tell you very much about the success of the set piece itself, other than the shot (i.e it would be difficult to gauge the success of indirect set pieces). In indirect set plays the movement of players off the ball is way more important in terms of success than an open play shot. If people are crowding the penalty spot, it may be much more crucial that a nearby player drew off a defender to allow space for a header, than in open play where the box is less constricted, there may be fewer players in the box, and the ball in is less anticipated. I don't think regular xG would help at all in determining which parts of the set play is working, and which is not, other than the finish, obviously.

I can imagine xG for set pieces would be very tricky to calculate, because unlike open play xG, which solely boils down to the position and type of shot, any worthwhile metric for set plays would need to consider several co-ordinated actions.

Good time to be playing Spurs. That said I think a bad result could see the end of Nuno, and I have a lot of time for him. I don't think many of the problems over there are his fault. It would be a shame if he gets the boot because of us.

Many thanks sir. You mean an asymmetric formation, not in terms of position, but role? I reckon this could work, yeah but we would either be asking a lot of our LCB (Mings is probably our best bet) or the leftmost midfielder who may need to track back if Bailey is marauding, leaving a hole in midfield. I guess all it would take is to be well drilled in each position, and know exactly where each player needs to be at any given time. Plus we know Bailey has an engine, so could catch most counterattacks on that side before they begin.

He's good though. Top centre forward. I would also point out that if Brighton win their game in hand tonight (which I think they will) they go top. Obviously the league does not mean much at this point, and they have not had a mega hard run so far, but they've had good results against Leicester and Brentford who are both strong and enterprising teams. I reckon they'll finish in the top 8.

I think it might be more fundamental than that. Three at the back has reduced the defensive workload on the midfielders, freeing them to do what they are good at. I don't think the midfielders are better since we've switched to 3-5-2, I just think their defensive frailties are no longer as prominent, and the rest of their game is highlighted. I mentioned in one of the pre-match threads that I could see 3-5-2 working for us given the lack of a DM signing in the summer. Just makes sense to me. Obviously then there is a selection headache at the other end, but that's a different story. Not sure how Bailey and Buendia fit into this system if I'm honest, and I love both of those guys. We'll see. Maybe it will be horses for courses.

Yeah, I think it will be competitive in the Mid-Table this year. Some really decent sides. For relegation, I reckon Norwich, Newcastle (if they stick with you know who), and pray God Burnley, who have been stinking up the joint for far too long. My picks for unexpected (but deserved) excellence- Brighton, Brentford and West Ham. Those guys will give any teams a headache.

I do find some media outlets to be rather condescending in their praise though, when compared to the big 4. ’Oh look at little Aston Villa, aren’t they doing well!’ Some are ok and genuine, and I appreciate that they have to find an angle, but what DS has done is genuinely impressive.

Yeah and it wouldn’t need to be nearly that many routines. Say 4 for each location on the pitch, and about 6 locations covering the opponent’s half. With some discretion to players to mix it up.

Little from column A, little from column B. I think it may have been something on the list to address, but which was given a lower priority in order to get the fundamentals of the team right. Now we have addressed it, it will (and has) won us tight games. Also, remember that people like Danny Murphy will permeate all organisations. Sometimes you have to fight to modernise.

The type of set pieces used will likely change depending on opponent, or at least I hope so.

Yeah me too. I was fine until about the mid 1990’s then my eyes started to cross. Really in depth though and meticulously researched. Reminded me of a dissertation, which is probably why it was a tricky read.

Agreed. Also sounds like he’s been reading ‘inverting the pyramid’, which I would recommend, but which is a bit of a slog at times. A section in that book looks at number of passes before a goal is scored.

For a neutral, the Brentford Liverpool game was fantastic to watch. Exactly what the Premier League should be about. Kudos to both teams.

That’s the 87th most important reason why Pogba deserves to lose.

We have legitimate claims that Ole and Ronaldo are smug motherf***ers and deserved to lose.

Can I just ask guys, anyone know anything about Lemar Bogarde who was on the bench for us? I don’t follow the young un’s as much as I should, and I’ve not heard much of him.

Surprised Dean didn’t try to shaft us.

Your stream is rubbish.

Oh cool. What’s it mean? Pelvic thrust king?