How utterly hopeless is our midfield, a snapshot

[The Penguin]

Ive compared some basic midfield stuff with top Championship side and ourselves and it reads for some frightening stuff.

Bournemouth have an average pass completion of 79%
Main players are

Gosling 90%
Surman 88%
Arter 84%

Cardiff City have an average pass completion of 72% with
main players being

Whittingham 82%
Gunnarson 79%
Noone 60% (yes, 60%)

also compared us to Fulham just to see the kind of possession stats they have and despite all their woes they are at 80% pass completion with

Parker 86%
Hyndman 89%
Vin Christ 82%

Interestingly, before he was injured and in his only outing Dikgachoi had completion stats in the late 80s.

For different reasons Fulham are struggling but one thing is for sure, we do not have ANY midfielders, and that includes Whittingam, that can compare to Bournemouths and i suspect Whittingham would not get it their team. I dont think he would walk into Fulhams either yet he is currently the most experienced player we have.

Its no wonder we are crap in midfield, we have nobody capable of consistently finding a team mate. As for Noone, i truly think he needs to be dropped or beaten into shape because he is more liability than threat.

[Penarth Blues]

We all know that stats only tell part of the story but I agree that our ball retention is crap.

I'd hate our players to think that the only thing that matters is retaining possession - we're dull enough to watch as it is. Noone loses the ball often because he's trying to make things happen. I personally think that last game he was finally showing signs of his ball control coming back properly so I'm looking forward to him making more of an impact in the second half of this season.

I'm hoping that Tom Adeyemi continues his resurgence against Norwich - he looks like he could be the real deal if he can sort his feet out quicker. Again I think that is ring-rustiness rather than inability.

[lardy]

Pass completion stats tell you very little. Leon Britton had the best in Europe a few years ago because he only passed to a unmarked player 10 yards away. Nothing particularly wrong with that but it didn't make him the best midfielder around.

To use an example, say you're a winger who hits ten great crosses a game. Eight are whipped in to a dangerous area but the striker can't quite reach them. He makes contact with two and scores twice.

20% completion. Winger's crap, right?

By the way, your examples underline the fact that the statistic is useless. High flying Bournemouth, top scorers and top of the table, have a lower rate than crappy Fulham.

We're 72% to the leaders 79%. It's hardly frightening.

[surge]

Ive compared some basic midfield stuff with top Championship side and ourselves and it reads for some frightening stuff.

Do you make up your mind about every player based on one game or just those you can use to slate our midfield?

[Baker]

These stats mean nothing really. It doesn't account for forward passes for one, or key passes. Whitts for instance has great pass completion considering he consistently attempts forward passes that split the opposing defence. Why do you think Leon Britton, for instance, had such a high completion rating for passing? All he used to do was pass sideways.

[Baker]

Should have read Lardy's post before I wrote all that.

[Spooky Tree]

I despair.

[lardy]

Should have read Lardy's post before I wrote all that.

Every fortnight he comes back with another 400 words saying exactly this so I might as well hand the baton on to you for next time.

[Spooky Tree]

Should have read Lardy's post before I wrote all that.

Every fortnight he comes back with another 400 words saying exactly this so I might as well hand the baton on to you for next time.

[Penarth Blues]

Should have read Lardy's post before I wrote all that.

Every fortnight he comes back with another 400 words saying exactly this so I might as well hand the baton on to you for next time.

too true. Note to self - stop responding...

[the other bob wilson]

Should have read Lardy's post before I wrote all that.

Every fortnight he comes back with another 400 words saying exactly this so I might as well hand the baton on to you for next time.

Only every fortnight?

[Watamistakatomaka]

Whittingham only 82%. Amazing has he only passes about 5yds sideways and backwards!
I bet his tackling stats would be in single figures!

[Sloop_Jon_Bee]

These stats mean nothing really. It doesn't account for forward passes for one, or key passes. Whitts for instance has great pass completion considering he consistently attempts forward passes that split the opposing defence. Why do you think Leon Britton, for instance, had such a high completion rating for passing? All he used to do was pass sideways.

You're having a laugh mate!

[A Quiet Monkfish]

Playing a 4 man midfield against a 5 man midfield will account for some of those stats. However I just don't think they are good enough as players. Some argue it's down to Slade's long ball obsession, and with Jones up front we are always going to have a fair bit of that.

[Baker]

Should have read Lardy's post before I wrote all that.

Every fortnight he comes back with another 400 words saying exactly this so I might as well hand the baton on to you for next time.

I don't even know why I entertain his posts, I just feel if someone came on here and read his post they might be stupid enough to believe it.

[The Penguin]

These stats mean nothing really. It doesn't account for forward passes for one, or key passes. Whitts for instance has great pass completion considering he consistently attempts forward passes that split the opposing defence. Why do you think Leon Britton, for instance, had such a high completion rating for passing? All he used to do was pass sideways.

I DESPAIR.

[lardy]

Who's had a go at Britton?

[the other bob wilson]

These stats mean nothing really. It doesn't account for forward passes for one, or key passes. Whitts for instance has great pass completion considering he consistently attempts forward passes that split the opposing defence. Why do you think Leon Britton, for instance, had such a high completion rating for passing? All he used to do was pass sideways.

I'd argue that all the players in the lists above do exactly the same sort of things as Whittingham. As for him consistently attempting forward passes that split the opposition that's the one thing he does not attempt. Daehli was much better at splitting defences, you're saying he has a GREAT completion rate because he us more effective than the rest? Get real.

So, it's not all Russell Slade's fault then?

[insider]

Not only do we give the ball away very cheaply and quickly we are not very good at chasing the opposition midfield down and getting it back. Couple this with the long ball that we seem to use all to often, then we will have shit possession stats even against the poorest sides in the league.

[lardy]

Cardiff have 72% pass accuracy. 18 good passes out of 25.
Bournemouth have 79% pass accuracy. 20 good passes out of 25.

We average 369 passes a game. So to get up to Bournemouth's average we need to have about 15 more successful passes a match. Is this going to make any difference to us? Of course not.

No one in this thread has said 'possession is not important'. It's been said that you're drawing massive conclusions from some insignificant data. We're not crap because one in every ten of our passes goes astray more often than the leaders.

[blue lewj]

Not only do we give the ball away very cheaply and quickly we are not very good at chasing the opposition midfield down and getting it back. Couple this with the long ball that we seem to use all to often, then we will have shit possession stats even against the poorest sides in the league.

I'm not too keen on any of the others either but play Whittingham on the left or further forward. He is not a central midfielder. How many mediocre/piss poor performances before we realise this?

[The Penguin]

Cardiff have 72% pass accuracy. 18 good passes out of 25.

Division 1

[lardy]

You don't understand what I am saying. Please look again.

Possession isn't the magic wand. Look at your own example of Fulham.

[Father Dougal]

Surprised noone's is that high.

[The Penguin]

You don't understand what I am saying. Please look again.

The only way to counteract this, is to keep the ball. In the case of our team, possession or th lack thereof, is killing us.