Blake - Talking Sense

[the other bob wilson]

whoscored.com is a great source of info on stuff like this.

In 2017/18, when Burnley finished 7th, they had 45.1% possession and 70.5% pass accuracy.
In 2015/16, when Leicester won the league, they had 44.7% possession and 70.5% pass accuracy.
Last season we had 39.1% possession and 63.9% pass accuracy.

There was also a comment on Stoke City's long ball game. Passing stats only go back as far as 2009/10, but Stoke's possession stats ranged between 42-44.5% under Pulis. After he was sacked, Stoke's possession stats went up to 48% and then 50% for 2 seasons. Those 3 seasons were the most successful Stoke had in the Premier League. They dropped to 43.7% for their relegation season.

Another interesting little stat is that over the cours of the 2009/10 season, 8 Premier League teams had less than 70% pass success rate. Since 2013/14, only 3 teams have had a pass success rate of less than 70% - Palace in 2014/15, Burnley in 2016/17 and us this season.

Since possession records began in 2009/10, no side has had as little possession as we had last season. 2 sides have had fractionally worse pass accuracy stats, both in 2009/10, after which passing in the Premier League improved somewhat. In terms of possession and pass accuracy, this season we comfortably were the worst in the Premier League this decade.

See, to me those stats are conclusive (thanks for providing them Eric). I'll be honest, I don't want my side to be another version of the Cambridge and Wimbledon teams mentioned in this thread, but that really isn't the issue as far as I'm concerned. Those figures show that, even by the standards of the sides we are being compared to in this thread, our passing was poor - that last sentence of yours says it all.

[Eric the Half a Bee]

See, to me those stats are conclusive (thanks for providing them Eric). I'll be honest, I don't want my side to be another version of the Cambridge and Wimbledon teams mentioned in this thread, but that really isn't the issue as far as I'm concerned. Those figures show that, even by the standards of the sides we are being compared to in this thread, our passing was poor - that last sentence of yours says it all.

Having looked at all the Premier League data available, I thought I'd look at Championship figures. This was slightly more awkward as they were a bit more hidden and needed calculating, but Excel makes that job nice and easy! Championship stats go back as far as 2013/14.

Since 2013/14, the team with the worst passing accuracy in the Championship was, surprise surprise, us in 2017/18 with 59.4%. Part of the reason for this might be due to our long ball game, where 26% of all passes went long (only Rotherham in 2018/19 played a higher percentage of long balls). In that season we also played fewer passes than any Championship side in the last 5 seasons. While our long ball accuracy wasn't the worst over that time (though close to it), our short passing accuracy was the worst of any Championship side in 5 seasons. This isn't anything to do with being some sort of tiki taka passing outfit, it's about doing the basics.