Revolution
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- Aug 12, 2009
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I noticed something interesting about yesterday's starting line up. The eleven players who started were the eleven who've made most appearances this season, which for a last game strikes me as unusual.
The stats:
Henderson 46 games (our only ever present: first ever present loanee I think)
Baldock 26 games + 1 sub
Stevens 45 games
Basham 39 games + 2 sub
Egan 44 games
O'Connell 41 games
Norwood 43 games (ever present since he was signed, I think)
Fleck 45 games
Duffy 32 games + 4 sub
Sharp 34 games + 6 sub
McGoldrick 36 games + 9 sub (and was an unused sub in the only match he missed)
Freeman had the next most starts: he made 20 starts at RWB, more or less splitting the position with Baldock.
Leon Clarke had the 12th most appearances overall: 9 starts and 15 sub appearances. He deserves to be on that bus.
In these days of 3 subs, squad rotation, big squads and games played at a high pace it is remarkable that we had 9 players complete 40+ games. It is a tribute to the coaching staff and the players, and is a big change from the Adkins and Clough years (in 2014-15 under Clough there was only one ever present player - Mark Howard - after 8 games!). This was a massive factor in promotion: a settled side all seeing things the same way.
These stats also show that Wilder didn't actually do that much team rotation. The keeper, 3 centre backs, the LWB and 2 of the midfield essentially played whenever they were available.
The only rotation "victims" were McGoldrick, Duffy and Sharp. Early on, Clarke was getting some starts. Latterly, Hogan, Dowell and Madine all made 5 to 8 starts, and contributed something. This turned out to be vital as it allowed our big 3 to be rested when off form or had an injury with no real loss of quality. What a super transfer window we had.
Of course, now we have a "good problem". We probably need better players to stay up - but this team, more than any other I have seen at the Lane, is greater than the sum of its parts. We need to be careful about who we sign and who they replace, because this was a winning formula.
The stats:
Henderson 46 games (our only ever present: first ever present loanee I think)
Baldock 26 games + 1 sub
Stevens 45 games
Basham 39 games + 2 sub
Egan 44 games
O'Connell 41 games
Norwood 43 games (ever present since he was signed, I think)
Fleck 45 games
Duffy 32 games + 4 sub
Sharp 34 games + 6 sub
McGoldrick 36 games + 9 sub (and was an unused sub in the only match he missed)
Freeman had the next most starts: he made 20 starts at RWB, more or less splitting the position with Baldock.
Leon Clarke had the 12th most appearances overall: 9 starts and 15 sub appearances. He deserves to be on that bus.
In these days of 3 subs, squad rotation, big squads and games played at a high pace it is remarkable that we had 9 players complete 40+ games. It is a tribute to the coaching staff and the players, and is a big change from the Adkins and Clough years (in 2014-15 under Clough there was only one ever present player - Mark Howard - after 8 games!). This was a massive factor in promotion: a settled side all seeing things the same way.
These stats also show that Wilder didn't actually do that much team rotation. The keeper, 3 centre backs, the LWB and 2 of the midfield essentially played whenever they were available.
The only rotation "victims" were McGoldrick, Duffy and Sharp. Early on, Clarke was getting some starts. Latterly, Hogan, Dowell and Madine all made 5 to 8 starts, and contributed something. This turned out to be vital as it allowed our big 3 to be rested when off form or had an injury with no real loss of quality. What a super transfer window we had.
Of course, now we have a "good problem". We probably need better players to stay up - but this team, more than any other I have seen at the Lane, is greater than the sum of its parts. We need to be careful about who we sign and who they replace, because this was a winning formula.
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