Density
The Telegraph publishes something called density charts which show where people were mostly during games. It is, I assume, quite crude, but looking at them you get a bit of an idea of how the game was shaped.
The Reading game interested me firstly because McBride and Healy, who combined beautifully throughout, were very close together all game. So much so that the McBride marker is hidden beneath the Healy marker on the chart. That’s why they’re called strike partnerships.
Look at Davies and Bullard too: that almost has to be a reaction to how Reading were defending (or not defending). It gels with my memories too, Bullard, Davies, McBride, Healy, short sharp passing. Dempsey (under Andreasen above) and Murphy were, by contrast, sitting a bit deeper, which allowed them to shield a little (Dempsey’s defensive work was a nice surprise, I thought).
You’ve also got Stalteri and Konchesky almost equally forward, which, off the top of my head, we don’t see too often.
Ya, I love all the charting that they do. I think actually better statistics and graphs than anyone else puts together. I’m still confused by a few things they do but as you say here, it is somewhat crude because they are somehow showing an average. Not sure how you show an average of where two people were in relationship to each other but you can certainly show were you were on average over the course of the game or when you were on the attack.
The rule of thumb for a strike combo, and remember, this is a guide not a hard and fast rule depending on tactics, but in general your two strikers should never be more than 10 to 15 yards apart. If you start getting a greater distance you of course have a harder time with any sort of link play. Some youth trainers will even go to the extent of tying a 15 yard lanyard between the two strikers in training to get them the idea that they have to move with each other.
You are so right Rich. I thought the two paired up quite well and for whatever reason, Healy is a player who works well with the big man combo. And only a few times did he really get caught getting to far out on the flank which has of course been a criticism of him this year.
On the down side, I did see him get knocked off the ball a number of times and look for a call but didn’t get one. But to his credit, at least he kept his feet, (most of the time), unlike another Fulham striker who comes from my side of the pond and seems to crumple like a piece of old parchment every time a defender looks at him.
BQ, I agree with your assessment of Healy and McB. I thought both played really well off each other, and were outmuscled by Bikay only a handful of times. Notably, I thought Healy’s crosses matched splendidly with McBride’s runs in the box.
On another note, how dominating was Hangeland? He must have won 90% of the balls to come his way. Well done big man!
I was realy pleased to see on the first goal, how many people we had in the box. McBride connected but Dempsey (I think) was well placed just beyond him and I think we had two other players moving into the edge of the area. That’s something I don’t think we’ve done well and a possible reason for our lack of goals. Can we put in another display like that on Saturday though?
One thing Dempsey doesn’t get credit enough for (and I’m someone who has generally put him on the weaker side of it) is his defensive play. When he first started in MLS, he was a defensive midfielder for a very brief spell… this dimension does, however, exist in his game… he was finally asked to use it this weekend and he showed well.
Will Liverpool play a weakened side against us on Saturday? You would think that they would with Chelsea in the Semi-finals of the Champions League 3 days later. They did last year and look what happened, a valued 3 points. Rafa has suggested they are keen on a victory against us however, as that would almost guarantee them 4th spot and another year in the Champions League. I don’t think it’ll be as weak as last year, but I’m sure they will rest Torres, Gerrard and Mascherano. With our renewed confidence, that may well make the difference! COYW!