Blog Posts

  • Not so boss Ross at a loss with his pos?

    There’s a lot of fans questioning what’s happened to Ross Barkley this season. In terms of incisiveness, the answer is ‘nothing’. He’s the same as ever. Barkley made 25 ‘key’ passes that led directly to shots last year. None of those shots went in. This was in a year when Everton’s conversion rate was higher…

  • Are Everton in a false position?

    Everton go into the International break with 14 points on the board, 20 goals in the bag and 18 against. The Blues may have dominated plenty of games and ‘won the possession’ but have they deserved anymore than they’ve got so far? The model’s answer is an emphatic ‘no’ – in fact it gives Everton…

  • Baines v Sigurdsson

    Swansea’s visit to Goodison brings together two of the most frequent chance-creators in the Premier League this season. Both Leighton Baines and Gylfi Sigurdsson lead the way in ‘key’ passes for their teams. When it comes to providing goals, Baines has 6 assists and Sigurdsson has 7. Only Cesc Fabregas (8) has more. The different…

  • The Hole on the Left

    Everyone is aware of the Baines-Pienaar axis and how delightful it can be to watch. Leicester first game of the season is a good example. However, I’ve also been critical of it (here in the opening para) in the past. Over-play between the two sometimes leads to defences getting set in numbers. Play has to…

  • Are Aston Villa really the worst team in the league?

    Is this a stupid question seeing as Villa are now 10th and were 2nd only a few weeks ago? Maybe, but the underlying numbers tell a different story. Villa currently sit bottom of my Expected Goal Difference table. If asked, most people would class Villa as a ‘counter-attacking’ side. However, Villa are taking far more blows than…