ucandomagic
Well-Known Member
Things are happening and changing so quickly that it’s hard to know where to start. Actually, I’ll start with Jairo – after a few games alongside him Sydie stepped up a level and now, after just a couple of games, Soumare has turned into the next Vieira! Jairo must be some influence.
After the Leicester game we are now 15th – our highest position this season. Last week, I did comparisons with 21/22 when Hecky picked up from Slav and drove us up to 75 points and 5th place. Well, after 25 games Hecky was 11th on 36 points – so just 4 points ahead of our current 32. Graph 1 compares this season with Hecky’s 21/22 season and also with my pre-season “playoffs possible” line. We are just 7 points behind my playoffs possible line (and 8 points behind the current 6th place - Preston).
Graph 1:
However, in the next 7 games Hecky had 5 wins and 2 draws (17 points) – that period was the engine room of our recovery that season. Our next 7 games this season are Oxford, Charlton, Southampton, Ipswich, Millwall, Boro and Portsmouth. If we are to push on at all we have to expect a good return from Oxford, Charlton and Portsmouth. Looking below at the current League Table though, Ipswich, Boro and Millwall are in a group where we have had very little success. I think those 3 games, plus Southampton, will tell us if we can have a realistic push for the playoffs. (Good to see 2 doubles already on the Table though.)
League Table:
In terms of general performance, I always find the footballxg.com xgPoints Table below fascinating, as the order is more what you would expect than the actual League Table order! I guess that highlights the exciting unpredictability of the Championship.
xgPoints Table:
So, our xg performance has us in 3rd place on 42 points – 10 points better than our actual points. This results from scoring about 7 less than we should from the chances we have created and conceding about 8 more than we should have done. Ings is the worst scoring culprit – accounting for about 3 of the missing 7. Coops is the main reason for the excess goals conceded, but he is undoubtedly carrying an injury, as you don’t just go from consistently 5th ranked keeper last year to permanently 24th (and last by a long way) this year without a reason. His positioning and handling are as good as ever, but his body just isn’t letting him get across and down quickly enough.
So Oxford next, they’ve won 2, drawn 3 and lost 5 of their last 10 games – though those wins were against Ipswich and Southampton. They average just under a goal a game away, and so stats would suggest 2-1 Blades, but we like to score 3 these days. so I’m going for another 3-1!
UTB & Slava Ukraini!
After the Leicester game we are now 15th – our highest position this season. Last week, I did comparisons with 21/22 when Hecky picked up from Slav and drove us up to 75 points and 5th place. Well, after 25 games Hecky was 11th on 36 points – so just 4 points ahead of our current 32. Graph 1 compares this season with Hecky’s 21/22 season and also with my pre-season “playoffs possible” line. We are just 7 points behind my playoffs possible line (and 8 points behind the current 6th place - Preston).
Graph 1:
However, in the next 7 games Hecky had 5 wins and 2 draws (17 points) – that period was the engine room of our recovery that season. Our next 7 games this season are Oxford, Charlton, Southampton, Ipswich, Millwall, Boro and Portsmouth. If we are to push on at all we have to expect a good return from Oxford, Charlton and Portsmouth. Looking below at the current League Table though, Ipswich, Boro and Millwall are in a group where we have had very little success. I think those 3 games, plus Southampton, will tell us if we can have a realistic push for the playoffs. (Good to see 2 doubles already on the Table though.)
League Table:
In terms of general performance, I always find the footballxg.com xgPoints Table below fascinating, as the order is more what you would expect than the actual League Table order! I guess that highlights the exciting unpredictability of the Championship.
xgPoints Table:
So, our xg performance has us in 3rd place on 42 points – 10 points better than our actual points. This results from scoring about 7 less than we should from the chances we have created and conceding about 8 more than we should have done. Ings is the worst scoring culprit – accounting for about 3 of the missing 7. Coops is the main reason for the excess goals conceded, but he is undoubtedly carrying an injury, as you don’t just go from consistently 5th ranked keeper last year to permanently 24th (and last by a long way) this year without a reason. His positioning and handling are as good as ever, but his body just isn’t letting him get across and down quickly enough.
So Oxford next, they’ve won 2, drawn 3 and lost 5 of their last 10 games – though those wins were against Ipswich and Southampton. They average just under a goal a game away, and so stats would suggest 2-1 Blades, but we like to score 3 these days. so I’m going for another 3-1!
UTB & Slava Ukraini!
