ProZone

[Barney 0]

ProZone Special: Stats Show Toon Are Pass Masters

 

By Craig Hope

 

SAM Allardcye insists that he has no reason to defend his tactics and points to the stats against Birmingham City as proof that the Magpies are not just a long-ball side.

 

The Geordies have come in for unjust criticism from certain quarters in recent weeks who claim that Big Sam's boys are nothing more than a route one outfit.

 

But, thanks to stats generated by Allardyce's technical support staff using ProZone techoology after the 2-1 win over Birmingham, we can reveal that;

 

- Newcastle not only passed the ball more than City, they did so on a more successful basis;

 

- Newcastle had more 'successful' passes than Birmingham's total number of passes, good or bad;

 

- After peppering the Blues' goal with 18 efforts, United's policy of getting the ball into the opponents' penalty area on a frequent basis paid off;

 

- Newcastle crossed the ball 19 times and made 50 entries - ie. balls played into the opposition penalty area - into Birmingham's box;

 

- United outworked Birmingham by beating them to most loose balls, running harder and for longer in terms of what ProZone describes as high-intensity running by 700 metres - all of which came after a three-game week

 

- Despite the jibes that United are a long-ball outfit, only 9% of the Toon's passes were over 25m

 

And, after seeing the ProZone results, Big Sam said: "Last week we had three very tough games in a week.

 

"We played Birmingham City, which came on the back of a very tough game against Arsenal.

 

"The players could have been down but they came back and didn't make things difficult for themselves.

 

"It was about energy levels and that showed against Birmingham - it was the crucial factor.

 

"At the end of the week, for our players to keep going and going is testament to what we are trying to do.

 

"After the Birmingham game we were criticised in some areas, but the stats override anything negative that is thrown at us by some people.

 

"I think some people only want to undermine what we are doing at this football club.

 

"If you look at the stats, you'll see that only 9% of our forward passes were over 25m during the Birmingham game.

 

"This isn't a case of having to defend our tactics - the stats are a perfect response to those people who have unjust perceptions about our performance."

 

There was a chart here too, but the tabs are all over the place.

 

http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsD...1190853,00.html

[JawD 99]

Well, from Arsenal Id say we played more football. I vast improvement over previous games. Before then was some games when we constantly hoofed the ball. Hopefully the change is here to stay.

[Barney 0]

Fatso made a comment before the Arsenal game(iirc) about playing long ball football, and mentioned something along the lines of "the players here won't do it".

 

I'm not sure if he was saying the players prefer it on the deck, or that we might not have the personnel to play it long all the time.

[The Fish 11080]

you can get stats to "prove" anything

[Jimbo 175]

This is the only measure of a teams performance.

 

 

[The Fish 11080]

This is the only measure of a teams performance.

 

 

No, that's the only measure of a teams success.

 

A team could put in top rate performances but lose out to poor officiating, poor luck, and facing teams whose performances outshine their own. Equally a team could perform poorly, and still walk away with all three points... we've done it before.

[sweetleftpeg 0]

They forgot to mention that 95% of them are sideways and backwards.

[Baggio 0]

They forgot to mention that 95% of them are sideways and backwards.

 

I've no problem with us as a team retaining possession at the back and in midfield but the majority of attacks we make are with the long ball up top.

 

I'm not sure who he's trying to fool with this.

[Jimbo 175]

This is the only measure of a teams performance.

 

 

No, that's the only measure of a teams success.

 

A team could put in top rate performances but lose out to poor officiating, poor luck, and facing teams whose performances outshine their own. Equally a team could perform poorly, and still walk away with all three points... we've done it before.

 

 

Ultimately, Football is a results business, I'll not take any consolation after a match knowing that we ran 120km over the course of a match if we lost.

[Noelie 103]

This is the only measure of a teams performance.

 

 

No, that's the only measure of a teams success.

 

 

Not true, it's also the measure of a team's failure and mediocrasy.

In a results oriented competition, position in the league standings is a good yard-stick of performence otherwise you wouldn't be hearing about top four, top six, bottom three, middle of the table, relegation zone.

[tinofbeans 91]

in the last week there has been a change. we are passing it more effectively around the back 4 and midfield when we want to keep the ball in defensive areas. what is missing however (and this is despite all of our players trying their socks off) is quality delivery int the box. with the current squad, that won't change....

Edited December 15, 2007 by canofbeans