Cissokho on loan

[Rosco]

No Ross, both statements are opinions.

Naive, uneducated ones at that.

So tactics don't have any influence on who wins a game ?

Fair enough.

 

[FoxForceFive]

If there were stats that backed it up I would see the logic in it.

So show me some statistical evidence

You dont need a stat to show you that when a team has more possession they're less likely to concede than when they have less.

I'm sure there are plenty but I'm fucked if I'm looking for them. I've looked at opta before, it makes my brain bleed.

 

[Gerry_A_Trick]

It's a fact that more possession means you're more likely to win games. It doesn't make it a given, obviously.

 

[Rosco]

You dont need a stat to show you that when a team has more possession they're less likely to concede than when they have less.

I'm sure there are plenty but I'm fucked if I'm looking for them. I've looked at opta before, it makes my brain bleed.

There isn't much in the way of supportive evidence.

And that's why there's a problem with the logic

 

[mark1975]

Funny how we've had more success in the last 2 decades being reserved, than we have playing more open and adventurous football. Barca are just the latest craze, attacking fullbacks aren't indicative of any "right" way,we've been statistically poorer defensively since Johnson arrived, and it's had negligible impact on our attack prowess.

 

[mark1975]

It's not like you can't play posession based football with defenders that can actually defend.

 

[keniget]

It's not like you can't play posession based football with defenders that can actually defend.

Perhaps, but it does mean you give up on players like Coutinho. You can't have someone like him and a fullback that stands on the halfway line for 90mins because our left flank would then be empty.

It's all just a trade-off.

I don't see many fullbacks that are great defenders these days anyways.

 

[Squiggles]

Funny how we've had more success in the last 2 decades being reserved, than we have playing more open and adventurous football. Barca are just the latest craze, attacking fullbacks aren't indicative of any "right" way,we've been statistically poorer defensively since Johnson arrived, and it's had negligible impact on our attack prowess.

Do you not rate Johnson?

 

[King Binny]

Just sharing what I've came across previously:

Opta statistics, produced in conjunction with Castrol, show that over the past two seasons in the Premier League in only around a third of games did one side have 60% of possession or more, and when they did they won 52% of the time, and lost 25%.

If a side had 70% possession or over (which happened in 4.7% of games), they won 67% of the time and lost 17%.

In the closer games, having 50-59.9% possession meant a side won 43% of the time and lost 31%. So there is a clear correlation between dominating possession and winning matches. Intuitively, we know that there are sides who are successful at counter-attacking, which logically means accepting a lower percentage of possession.

Another Spanish research: http://jssm.org/vol9/n2/18/v9n2-18pdf.pdf

Moreover, the results suggest that the ability to retain possession of the ball is linked to success.

And one from Wales: Possession as a performance indicator in soccer

Successful teams were found to have significantly longer possessions than unsuccessful teams irrespective of match status.

On a sidenote:

http://www.analysingfootball.com/2011/07/30/the-importance-of-possession-in-football-2010-11/

Top teams keep hold of the ball
- All the teams who finished in the top 3 had 53% possession or greater.
- Only three teams who finished in the top 5 had less than 52% possession.
The team with the most possession doesn’t always win the league
- Of the champions Barcelona (72%), AC Milan (59%) and Lille (57%) had the most possession in their leagues.
- Manchester United (56%) were 3rd in terms of possession. Borussia Dortmund (53%) were joint 4th (53%).
If you win the possession battle you won’t get relegated
- Getafe were lowest placed side who had more than 50% possession. (16th/20 in Spain – 51% possession).
- 13 (out of 15) of the relegated sides had less than 50% possession.
Eschewing possession is a viable strategy to avoid relegation (but it can only take you so far)
- The bottom 8 teams in terms of possession all survived. Stoke (13th/38%), Levante (13th/41%), Blackburn (15th/41%), Gladbach (16th, 42%), Auxerre (9th, 43%), FC Cologne (10th, 43th), Gijon (10th, 43%).
- 4th place was the best league position obtained by a team with less than 50% possession. In fact 3 of the 4th placed teams had less than 50% possession. Udinese (49%), Paris Saint Germain (49%) and Hannover 96 (45%).
In conclusion – possession is important

 

[FoxForceFive]

Yay! Binny, you're aces.

There you go Ross. Pretty conclusive.

 

[the_khl]

I think it's fair to say Rosco killed this thread with his amazing gibberish.

Perhaps he should've started a new one instead of ruining the one about a player we've actually signed...

*sigh*

Welcome Aly, may you continue your promising form from the Lyon days!!!

 

[Ossi]

I think he's a shit version of Djimi...and he was a real disaster.

 

[mark1975]

Perhaps, but it does mean you give up on players like Coutinho. You can't have someone like him and a fullback that stands on the halfway line for 90mins because our left flank would then be empty.

It's all just a trade-off.

I don't see many fullbacks that are great defenders these days anyways.

Sacrificing yourself defensively shouldn't really be a reflection on the player. We bought Johnson to replace Arebloa because we wanted to be more attacking. Arbeloa didn't stay deep continuously, he overlapped and supported but didn't neglect his defensive duties. It's a daft argument both ways. We all know possession based football is a good way to go, that's obvious, you've got more of a chance of doing something the more you have the ball, but you can still buy players within that who know their primary role well enough to not make it a watered down version, just because they want their game to be more expressive.

 

[TSD]

First interview.

 

[localny]

I liked the cut of him today, and his running saved us on occasion. Early doors, a good debut

 

[Modo]

It was OK. but I still wonder why Brendan played him. It's not like Villa had Ronaldo on the right.

 

[rurikbird]

He added some athleticism we desperately needed to match very athletic Villa team. His decision-making was alright too, maybe that's why he was preferred to Sterling.

 

[doctor_mac]

I think he put him on for exactly what we saw a couple of times, making rapid forays upfield and relieving pressure.

 

[Whirly]

It was OK. but I still wonder why Brendan played him. It's not like Villa had Ronaldo on the right.

We had no physical presence in midfield though

 

[localny]

I think he put him on for exactly what we saw a couple of times, making rapid forays upfield and relieving pressure.

Yes

 

[Leo]

He reminded me of Forest Gump on the ball.

 

[Modo]

We had no physical presence in midfield though

Turned out to be a good move. Still, it kinda disappoints me a bit that we fear Villa.

 

[Der Alte]

Rodgers realized we have lost the control and wont be getting it back. This sub was meant to just stabilize us and I think it pretty much worked as planned. Borini would have been as useless as Aspas was at that point.

 

[keniget]

Rodgers realized we have lost the control and wont be getting it back. This sub was meant to just stabilize us and I think it pretty much worked as planned. Borini would have been as useless as Aspas was at that point.

Yup. There were just too many players having 'off' days and the team as a whole just wasn't working.

Damage limitation.

 

[the count]

Enrique played his first couple of games under Rodgers at left mid.
Maybe it is what he does to left backs he doesn't fully trust.

 

[Delinquent]

He put him on because our midfield was lacking energy. He gave us a bit of that, but we didn't really learn anything about him today.

 

[FreshRed]

Enrique had defended almost by himself on that side for most of the game, because Coutinho was so far up and inside. I think Cissoko was brought on because Enrique was knackered, but he did not trust him enough to just sub for Enrique.

 

[moron]

Yup. There were just too many players having 'off' days and the team as a whole just wasn't working.

Damage limitation.

I think they just fell asleep playing the game, because I was really finding it hard to stay awake. There is no intensity to our play.

 

[LeTallecWiz]

I think they just fell asleep playing the game, because I was really finding it hard to stay awake. There is no intensity to our play.

No great teams have bad days. I mean, take that wonderful team up in Manchetser - they won the title last year by winning every game convincingly and were dominant in every game. I hope one day we can be as dominant like that ... or at least like I used to be when playing with Liverpool in FIFA '99

 

[Ryan]

I think he put him on for exactly what we saw a couple of times, making rapid forays upfield and relieving pressure.

Exactly.