wiseyboy, Author at FootballOwl

Masters of Defence: A Statistical Analysis of Wolves

Post author:wiseyboy
Post published:January 13, 2019
Post category:Statistical Analysis
Post comments:2 Comments

Sitting in 10th place, with victories over Tottenham and Chelsea, Wolves certainly don’t look like a traditional newly promoted team. Playing with a swagger of an established top flight side, and the results to match, Wolves are here to stay. On the surface, they are a tough team to figure out, but dig a bit deeper and the philosophies and standards that Nuno Espirito Santo drills into this team are very much visible. As with our Liverpool and Chelsea article,…

The maturing of Liverpool: From Premier League entertainers to title contenders

Post author:wiseyboy
Post published:December 29, 2018
Post category:Statistical Analysis
Post comments:6 Comments

Jurgen Klopp has certainly got a unique style, his recent pitch invasion in the Merseyside derby is just the latest in a long line of Twitter soundbites and newspaper headlines, and in previous years the team on the pitch seemed to take after their manager. Liverpool last year were known for being the team to watch, there were never boring games. They had the second highest goal difference in the league, the top scorer in Salah who broke all sorts…

One to Watch: Tanguy Ndombele

Post author:wiseyboy
Post published:December 26, 2018
Post category:One to Watch
Post comments:0 Comments

Think of footballing nations, and one of the first thoughts has to be France. Runaway winners of the World Cup earlier this year with a squad so deep some of the biggest names in football couldn't even get a sniff. Part of this success surely has to come from the central midfield of dreams, Kante, Pogba and Matuidi, a perfect balance of defensive quality, selflessness and the ability to pick a pass that sometimes even surprises the target. Using Tanguy…

Chelsea and Sarri – A Statistical Analysis

Post author:wiseyboy
Post published:December 24, 2018
Post category:Statistical Analysis
Post comments:2 Comments

After a tough 3-1 loss at Wembley and a midweek mauling by Wolves, many thought Maurizio Sarri's Chelsea had been found out. Keep Jorginho quiet and they lose their spark. Sarri has done his best to bring his 2017/2018 success with an outstanding Napoli team to the Premier League, and it is no secret that the tactics that worked so well in the Serie A were brought to London with him. As the graph below shows when comparing Napoli's stats…

Player Spotlight: Felipe Anderson

Post author:wiseyboy
Post published:December 24, 2018
Post category:Player Spotlights
Post comments:0 Comments

After a poor showing in the 2017/2018 season, and the departure of one of the most creative players the club had seen in a long time in Dimitri Payet, it's no surprise that the West Ham fans expected something to change. In comes signing after signing as well as a new manager and things were looking rosy at the start of August when the new season started. Cut to 4 weeks later and the team were right at the bottom…