Thursday 23 May 2013

End of Season Stat Awards 2013

End of Season Stat Awards 2013

Now that the season has officially ended, I thought I'd take a look at overall player stats for the season and give out some end of season awards. There are seven categories, and we have a best and worst for each (think of it as Oscars and Razzies). Players were only eligible if they appeared in 10+ league games, so there were 19 candidates in total.

Clinical Finisher
Most: Mark Noble (28.6%)
Least: Matthew Taylor (3.0%)

So the first category covers the most and least clinical finisher in the team. Perhaps surprisingly, the most clinical finisher in the side is Mark Noble, who scored with 4 of his 14 shots this season. Obviously this is affected somewhat by his ice-cold nerves when it comes to penalty taking.

Below is an image showing where Noble placed his goals this season.

You may be slightly less surprised to discover that the least clinical finisher is Matthew Taylor. The utility man in midfield put away just 1 of his 33 attempts on goal, a remarkably poor return for a player renowned for his dead ball expertise, and a man who once reached double figures in the Premier League for former club Bolton Wanderers.

The image below shows the placement of Matt Taylor's rather wayward shooting this season.


Honourable mentions must also go to Kevin Nolan (12.8%), Joe Cole (14.3%), Modibo Maiga (14.3%) & Joey O'Brien (22.2%).

Likely to Hoof
Most: James Collins (32.6%)
Least: Ricardo Vaz Te (1.0%)

Another somewhat unsurprising winner, as the award for the outfield player most likely to hoof goes to centre half James Collins. Collins attempted 706 passes in the Premier League this season, with 230 of them classified as long balls (32.6%). Collins was the stand out leader in this category, with his closest competitor coming in the form of James Tomkins, who went long with 19.6% of his attempted passes.

The below image shows the average length of Collins' passes. As you can see, when he goes long, he really goes long!


And the award for the least likely to hoof goes to Ricardo Vaz Te. The Portuguese winger went long with just 5 of his 518 passes this year, making him the stand out purist in the side! Vaz Te was closely run by Modibo Maiga with 1.3%, and Joe Cole with 4.3%.

The chart below shows a breakdown of Vaz Te's passes.


Minutes per Appearance
Most: Winston Reid (87.3m)
Least: Modibo Maiga (24.7m)

This award shows the players with the most and least staying power. Hammer of the Year Winston Reid averaged 87.3 minutes per each league appearance.The Kiwi was on the field of play for 3,143 minutes across 36 different appearances. He was only bested by Jussi Jaaskelainen who played every minute of the campaign, but goalkeepers are not eligible for this award as it is very rare for a goalkeeper to be substituted.

Reid was very closely followed in this category by James Collins and Kevin Nolan, who both averaged over 85 minutes per appearance.

The image below shows the players to have averaged the most minutes per appearance this season.


Bringing up the rear, however, was £4.7m summer signing Modibo Maiga. We only got to see the Malian in action for 420 league minutes in 2012/13, averaging a meagre 24.7 minutes per appearance. Only one other player averaged less than 45 minutes per appearance, Jack Collison at 37.5 minutes.

The image below shows the players to have averaged the least minutes per appearance this season.


Accurate Passing
Most: Mohamed Diamé (84.1%)
Least: Carlton Cole (59.7%)

Another relatively surprising winner here, with Mohamed Diamé scooping the prize for most accurate passing. Despite a reputation for giving away the ball with regularity, Diamé was accurate with 642 of his 763 passes in the Premier League, leading the way at 84.1%.

His closest competitors were far less surprising, with Mark Noble coming in in second place with 82.6%, and Joe Cole rounding off the top three with 80.5%.

The image below shows Mohamed Diamé's passing types this season.

Unfortunately for the big man, Carlton Cole displayed the least accurate passing this season. Just 59.7% (255) of Cole's 427 attempted passes hit their mark, meaning a whopping 172 passes went astray!

To be fair to Carlton, he wasn't the only striker to lag in this department, with Andy Carroll completing just 60.9% of his passes. The third worst in this area was long ball specialist James Collins, who completed 65.3% of his passes.

The image below shows Carlton Cole's pass types this season.


Wasteful
Most: Andy Carroll (5.3m)
Least: Winston Reid (13.5m)

This award is made up by a number of stats combined together. Combining the number of misplaced passes, number of times tackled, and number of times possession was lost by miscontrol gives us the number of times a player lost possession.

Andy Carroll was the most wasteful in the side, losing possession on average once every 5.3 minutes (270 misplaced passes, tackled 50 times, poor control 46 times).

He was closely followed by his attacking colleagues, Carlton Cole (5.4m) and Modibo Maiga (6.2m).

The chart below shows the number of times each of the three strikers lost possession in the league.


The least wasteful in possession this season, however, was Winston Reid. Reid lost the ball on average every 13.5 minutes. This could be something to do with playing in defence though, as his closest competitors were Joey O'Brien (12.3m) and George McCartney (12.2m).

The least wasteful attacking player was Matt Jarvis, who lost possession once every 11.7 minutes.

The below chart shows the individual occurrences of possession being lost by Reid, O'Brien, McCartney and Jarvis (although it appears that Read lost possession than the others, bear in mind this award is based upon regularity, and Reid played more minutes than the others).


Involved
Most: Mark Noble (1.2m)
Least: Matt Jarvis (2.4m)

The award for most involved player goes to Mark Noble. Noble touched the ball on average once every 1.2 minutes in the league this season, making 1,934 touches in total, almost 300 more than any other player. He also attempted over 400 passes more than his colleagues.

Rather unsurprisingly, second place here goes to Gary O'Neil, who, mostly when filling in for Noble, touched the ball every 1.4 minutes, whilst Joe Cole finished third with 1.5 minutes per touch.

The chart below shows the players most involved, showing number of minutes per touch.


The least involved player though, was record signing Matt Jarvis. Jarvis only touched the ball every 2.4 minutes this season. Maybe we could see an increasingly successful career from the winger, should he be given the ball with more regularity.

Jussi Jaaskelainen came in second place here, touching the ball ever 2.3 minutes, whilst Carlton Cole and Winston Reid came joint third at 2.2 minutes.

The chart below shows the players least involved, showing number of minutes per touch.


Defensive Actions
Most: James Collins (5.4m)
Least: Joe Cole (41.4m)

As with the wastefulness category, this area is made up of a sum of different defensive actions. For these purposes, a defensive action is a tackle, clearance, interception or block.

James Collins made the most frequent defensive actions this season, being called into action ever 5.4 minutes. He was very closely followed by his fellow centre backs, Winston Reid (6.4 minutes) and James Tomkins (6.6 minutes).

The image below shows the defensive actions of the three centre halves this season.


The player with the least defensive actions was Joe Cole. Cole clearly spent most of his time attacking, as he attempted a defensive action once every 41.4 minutes. He was closely followed by both Matt Jarvis (38.2 minutes) and Carlton Cole (38 minutes).

The following image shows the defensive actions of those three players.


Used Substitute
Most: Jack Collison (85.7%)
Least: Gary O'Neil (38.9%)

The award for the most used substitute goes to Jack Collison. Collison started as a substitute on 14 separate occasions this season, making it onto the pitch 12 times (85.7%).

The criteria for this award was for a player to have been on the bench at least five times, otherwise Andy Carroll would have had this sewn up, having been brought on both times he started on the bench.

Collison was closely followed by Matthew Taylor, who was brought on 14 times of the 19 that he features on the bench. In third place was Modibo Maiga, who came on 68.2% of the times that he began as a substitute (15/22).

Below is an image depicting the amount of times Jack Collison was used as a substitute.


The player that the manager was least likely to turn to, however, was Gary O'Neil. O'Neil was brought on as a replacement 7 times, and sat unused a further 11 times, meaning he was sent on just 38.9% of the time.

Nobody else was used anywhere near as infrequently, with Carlton Cole coming in second place with 56.5% (10/23), and third place being shared by Guy Demel, Mark Noble & Matt Jarvis at 60% of their five appearances on the bench each.

Below is an image depicting the amount of times Gary O'Neil was used as a substitute.



Monday 20 May 2013

West Ham United 4 - 2 Reading


Sunday 19th May 2013
16:00
Boleyn Ground

West Ham United vs Reading

Goalscorers
1-0 Kevin Nolan 23'
2-0 Ricardo Vâz Te 34'
2-1 Gareth McCleary 53'
2-2 Adam Le Fondre 55'
3-2 Kevin Nolan 79'
4-2 Kevin Nolan 87'

Analysis
What a lovely way to end the season!

I got everything I wanted to get from West Ham on the last day of the season. Three points, goals galore, a player into double figures for goals for the season, Mark Noble starting for his 250th West Ham appearance, and a perfect hattrick thrown in for good measure.

And that hattrick seems as good a place as any to begin. We've know for years that Kevin Nolan is a top class finisher - he's scored against as a few times over the years! - and that quality he possesses was there for all to see on Sunday afternoon.

The club captain had four attempts on goal, all on target, one saved by the newly called up England goalkeeper Alex McCarthy, and the other three firmly planted into the back of the net.


But, whilst the finishing was typical of Kevin Nolan, this wasn't a typical Nolan performance.

Nolan often faces accusations that he doesn't get involved enough in games, often leaving the side to seemingly play with 10 men until he is able to sniff out a chance.

Well, according to the image below, this certainly wasn't the case on Sunday. The image demonstrates Nolan's action zones against Reading, where he touched the ball. As you can see, there is a clear distribution all over the pitch, particularly through the middle.


The other key man in midfield yesterday was Mark Noble. As I've already mentioned, the game was Noble's 250th competitive game for the club, an enormous achievement, particularly when you consider that Noble has only recently turned 26. On a day when the media were bemoaning the departures of one club men Jamie Carragher & Paul Scholes, it may be that we are fortunate enough to be seeing one of our own develop in front of our own eyes.

Whilst Gary O'Neil has performed admirably in Noble's absence in the past couple of months, seeing the number 16 back on the pitch reminds you just what class he has.

Noble hit the mark with 90% of his 60 passes against Reading (shown in the image below), creating three goalscoring opportunities, and bagging an assist. He was also involved in West Ham's top pass combination, finding Andy Carroll on 11 separate occasions. 


But his range of passing wasn't all that was on show. Noble put in another all action performance that saw him involved in all areas of the pitch.

As shown by his action zone chart below, the only area that Noble doesn't get himself involved in is the opposition penalty area.


A final word on West Ham's play was the absence of Matt Jarvis.

Listening to Sam Allardyce this year, you might think that we were unable to cross the ball without Jarvis in the side, but the team really stepped up and put in a number of dangerous crosses.

The chart below shows attempted crosses. Joe Cole was involved as ever on the wings, swinging in 8 crosses, whilst Joey O'Brien and Guy Demel hit the man with 5 of their combined 7 crosses. It was also nice to see Modibo Maiga make an impact from out wide with an assist to his name. Here's to hoping he can have a big impact in the coming years.

(Red = Unsuccessful; Green = Successful; Yellow = Led Directly to Goalscoring Opportunity)


All in all, an enjoyable game. A fantastic result, and an excellent season.

10th place is a great finish for us, and if we can do the same next year I'd be delighted. Truth be told, anything about 14th would be a good result next season, but if we can add in the right areas we might even be able to push on even further.

General Play
4-2-3-1 Starting Formation 4-2-3-1
 Starting XI Ave. Age 

Kevin Nolan Best Performance Adam Le Fondre
86.1 CI Rating 68.08

Guy Demel Worst Performance Hal Robson-Kanu
54.59 CI Rating 53.63

52% Possession 48%
(averaged from opta, prozone & squawka results)

78% Passing Accuracy 78%
71% in Opp. Half 68%
Mark Noble 90% Best Accuracy 93% Jem Karacan

348 Passes Attempted 362
Mark Noble 60 Most Passes Attempted 65 Danny Guthrie

62 Long Balls 66
James Collins 13 Most Long Balls (excl. GK) 10 Danny Guthrie

Offensive Play
22 Attempts on Goal 18
10 On Target 6
10 Off Target 10
2 Blocked 2
10 From Outside Box 8
Andy Carroll 7 Most Attempts on Goal 4 Gareth McCleary

5 Corners 4
5 Offsides 0

23 Crosses 25
12 Successful Crosses 8
Joe Cole 8 Most Crosses Attempted 6 Gareth McCleary

68% Aerial Success 32%
Andy Carroll 6 Most Duels Won 3 Sean Morrison

Defensive Play
15 Tackles Attempted 14
12 Successful 11
Mohamed Diamé 5 Most Tackles 4 Danny Guthrie

35 Clearances 25
Winston Reid 9 Most Clearances 10 Sean Morrison

13 Interceptions 14
Ricardo Vâz Te 3 Most Interceptions 4 Danny Guthrie

2 Blocks 2
James Collins & Mohamed Diamé 1 Most Blocks 1 Chris Gunter & Kaspars Gorkss

Discipline  
12 Fouls 10
Ricardo Vâz Te 2 Most Fouls 2 Danny Guthrie

2 Yellow Cards 1
West Ham United:  Kevin Nolan,  Jack Collison    
Reading:  Jobi McAnuff James Collins    
  
0 Red Cards 0
West Ham United:  -     
Reading:  -     

Head to Heads
Jussi Jääskeläinen vs Alex McCarthy
2 Goals Conceded 4
4 Saves 7
0 Crosses Claimed 1
  
46% Passing Accuracy 47%
13 Total Passes 15
9 Long Balls 11
69% % Long Ball 73%

Winston Reid vs Sean Morrison
67% Aerial Dules Won 75%
1 Tackles 1
0 Blocks 0
3 Interceptions 1
9 Clearances 10
2 Fouls Committed 2

81% Passing Accuracy 81%
26 Total Passes 27
5 Long Balls 4
19% % Long Ball 15%
0 Assists 0

Kevin Nolan vs Jobi McAnuff
82% Passing Accuracy 81%
34 Total Passes 37
0 Long Balls 4
0% % Long Ball 11%
0 Crosses 5
0 Successul Crosses 3
2 Chances Created 3
0 Assists 1

1 Tackles 3
0 Blocks 0
0 Interceptions 1
3 Clearances 0
2 Fouls Committed 1

4 Attempts on Goal 4
4 On Target 1
3 Goals 0

Andy Carroll vs Adam Le Fondre
0 Goals Scored 1
7 Attempts on Goal 2
2 On Target 2
60% Aerial Duels Won 0%

70% Passing Accuracy 75%
33 Total Passes 4
6 Chances Created 1
2 Assists 0

Thursday 16 May 2013

West Ham United vs Reading


Sunday 19th May
16:00
Boleyn Ground

West Ham United vs Reading

Analysis
I don't think there are that many West Ham fans left that view Reading in any kind of positive light. Ever since Jimmy Kebé taunted Jack Collison last season, it's fair to say that relationships have soured.

That's why it would be lovely to give Reading a farewell thumping before they go back to the where they belong. That said, if the team perform in a similar manner to the way they did against Everton last weekend, that will almost certainly not be happening.

It's fair to say that Reading have had a tough time in this season's Premier League. Conceding 71 goals, and holding the joint worst goal difference in the competition gives an indication of how they've fared.

However, there is a common consensus that it could have been a whole lot worse had it not been for rookie goalkeeper Alex McCarthy. The England U-21 keeper has earned many plaudits this season for keeping Reading in game after game as they slowly edged towards the drop.

The image below shows McCarthy's saves per game throughout the season. In the league this season, McCarthy has made three saves to every goal he has conceded, whilst his closest rival for the gloves, Adam Federici, has only made 1.5 saves per goal conceded.

If the rumours are to be believed, McCarthy is a summer transfer target for West Ham, amongst others, so keep a close eye on this one on Sunday.


The other shining light for Reading this season has been the performances of supersub Adam Le Fondre.

Despite   only starting 11 of his 33 appearances this season, and averaging just 44.5 minutes per appearance, Le Fondre has bagged himself 11 goals this season, and is the joint 5th highest scoring Englishman going into the final day of the season (Lampard 15; Walcott & Lambert 14; Rooney 12; Defoe, Le Fondre, Sturridge 11).

As illustrated by the image below, Le Fondre is a poacher in it's truest form. Every goal he has scored this season has come from within the penalty area, with plenty coming from inside the six yard box. It really wouldn't be a surprise to see Le Fondre stay in the Premier League next season, and West Ham could do much worse than call on him from the bench when a goal is needed.


When we played Reading in December, it was one of the least attractive games of the season. Reading scored a very early goal thanks to some very poor defending from James Collins, and the preceded to sit deep and soak up everything West Ham could throw at them.

The image below shows West Ham's starting XI's average positions in that game. As you can see, Reading's defensive game allowed our side to push very high up the pitch in search for a goal.

The trouble in that game was that West Ham were without Andy Carroll, Mo Diamé, Ricardo Vaz Te, and Guy Demel, leaving us lacking creativity throughout.


Sunday, though, should be a different proposition. Since the inevitable was confirmed, Reading have recorded their first win under Nigel Adkins, and put up a spirited performance against Manchester City.

It could be a case of having the shackles off, because, against Fulham, Reading were creating chance after chance from all over the pitch. The image below shows where their chances were created from.


The danger man that day was Hal Robson-Kanu, and West Ham will need to keep him under close supervision if we are to end the season on a high.

Robson-Kanu is a dangerous sort of winger, cutting in and shooting with regularity, troubling the scoring charts on a number of occasions this season.

The image below shows his shots against Fulham.

(White = Goal; Orange = Blocked; Red = Off Target)


West Ham have had a great season, all told. A win on Sunday would cement 10th place, which is a fantastic return for a newly promoted side.

I'm going to predict a 2-1 victory. I'm hoping for a bit of a fresh side, as the lads who've been playing in recent weeks seem to be on the beach already!

A victory, 10th place, and the chance to wave goodbye to Reading? There is the potential for this to be a good weekend.

 Head to Head 
34% Head to Head Win % 46%
19 Won 26
11 Drawn 11
26 Lost 19
84 Goals Scored 94
94 Goals Conceded 84

 Recent Form 
D D W L D L Last 6 L D L D W L
6 Goals Scored 5
7 Goals Conceded 8
  
W L W D W D Home/Away Form L L L L L W
10 Goals Scored 8
6 Goals Conceded 14
  
Matt Jarvis Form Player (All Comps) Hal Robson-Kanu
63.45 Last 6 62.88
1 Goals Scored 3
0 Assists 0
  
29(3) Season (League) 62.33
29(3) Appearances 12(12)
2 Goals 7
0 Assists 1
46 Chances Created 12
591 Passes 312
442 Passes Completed 230
74.8% % Completed 73.7%

 Last Meeting 
29 December 2012
 Events 
1-0 Pavel Pogrebnyak 5'

4-2-3-1 Starting Formation 4-2-3-1
 Starting XI 
Jussi Jääskeläinen - Adam Federici
James Tomkins - Chris Gunter
James Collins - Alex Pearce
Winston Reid - Adrian Mariappa
Joey O'Brien - Ian Harte
Mark Noble - Mikele Leigertwood
Gary O'Neil - Jem Karacan
Matt Taylor - Jimmy Kebé
Kevin Nolan - Danny Guthrie
Matt Jarvis - Jobi McAnuff
Carlton Cole - Pavel Pogrebnyak

Mark Noble Best Player Pavel Pogrebnyak
65.8 CI Rating 65.76
Jack Collison Worst Player Noel Hunt
51.8 CI Rating 57.33

 Absentees 
 Injured/Doubtful 
West Ham United: George McCartney, James Tomkins
Reading: Adam Federici, Jimmy Kebé, Jason Roberts

 Suspensions 
West Ham United: n/a
Reading: n/a

  Opposition Last Time Out
vs Manchester City
 Goals Scored: 0
 Goals Conceded: 2
 Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1

  Alex McCarthy

Chris Gunter  Adrian Mariappa  Sean Morrison  Stephen Kelly

  Jem Karacan  Danny Guthrie

  Gareth McCleary  Jobi McAnuff (69')  Hal Robson-Kanu

  Pavel Pogrebnyak (62')

subs: Stuart Taylor, Alex Pearce, Ian Harte, Daniel Caricco, Hope Akpan, Nick Blackman (69'), Adam Le Fondre (62')

 Best Player: Alex McCarthy
 CI Rating: 64.54
 Worst Player: Adam Le Fondre
 CI Rating: 56.11
  
 Top 5's (min 5 apps) 
 Goals Scored 
Andy Carroll 7 - 12 Adam Le Fondre
Kevin Nolan 7 - 8 Pavel Pogrebnyak
Modibo Maïga 4 - 7 Hal Robson-Kanu
Mark Noble 4 - 6 Noel Hunt
Mohamed Diamé 3 - 5 Jimmy Kebé

 Assists 
Joey O'Brien 4 - 6 Jobi McAnuff
Ricardo Vâz Te 4 - 4 Nicky Shorey
Gary O'Neil 3 - 3 Ian Harte
Mark Noble 2 - 3 Hope Akpan
Guy Demel 2 - 2 Gareth McCleary

 Passing Accuracy 
Mohamed Diamé 84% - 79.7% Jay Tabb
Mark Noble 82.4% - 79.2% Danny Guthrie
George McCartney 79.8% - 79.2% Jem Karacan
Joe Cole 79.8% - 75.4% Mikele Leigertwood
Guy Demel 79.4% - 74% Nick Blackman

 Chances Created per game 
Gary O'Neil 1.5 - 2.7 Nicky Shorey
Joe Cole 1.5 - 1.2 Danny Guthrie
Mark Noble 1.4 - 0.9 Jobi McAnuff
Matt Jarvis 1.4 - 0.8 Gareth McCleary
Andy Carroll 1.2 - 0.8 Ian Harte

 Successful Dribbles per game 
Mohamed Diamé 2 - 1.3 Jobi McAnuff
Guy Demel 0.8 - 1.1 Jimmy Kebé
Ricardo Vâz Te 0.7 - 1 Jason Roberts
Matt Jarvis 0.5 - 0.7 Hope Akpan
Mark Noble 0.4 - 0.6 Mikele Leigertwood

 Tackles per game 
Mark Noble 3.6 - 3 Mikele Leigertwood
Mohamed Diamé 3.5 - 2.4 Jem Karacan
James Collins 1.9 - 2.3 Shaun Cummings
Winston Reid 1.9 - 2.1 Jay Tabb
George McCartney 1.8 - 1.9 Danny Guthrie

 Aerial Duels Won per game 
Andy Carroll 9.4 - 4.3 Sean Morrison
Carlton Cole 3.9 - 3.5 Alex Pearce
James Collins 3 - 3.4 Kaspars Gorkss
James Tomkins 2.7 - 3 Pavel Pogrebnyak
Winston Reid 2.4 - 2.9 Adrian Mariappa

 Manager 
Sam Allardyce - Nigel Adkins
41.9% Current Club Win % 14.2%
39 Won 1
25 Drawn 2
29 Lost 4
  
40.0% Managerial Career Win % 50.4%
333 Won 225
224 Drawn 89
274 Lost 132

2 League Titles 3
0 Cup Wins 0