Is a new team mentality needed next season? And some random stats.

I thought I'd have a gander through the league stats, just to see if we had any good performers or the team had good areas and were unlucky in some, or if we were just incredibly inconsistent and there was a through thread of mediocrity in the play.... but one thing is glaringly bad!

We need to get right next season a proper "start strong" mentality in the team. We are bottom of the L2 table for first half performance. We've only been in the lead at the break 8 times out of our 41 games this season, and have gone into the break losing on 17 occasions. By contrast, we are 6th for second half performances. It's like we need to get a kick up the backside to start playing. But what makes it jump out, is the fact we've only been leading a home game at the break twice all season. Just twice from 22 attempts, we've used our home advantage and gone in with the lead, against Crewe in August and MK back in February. Of the 8 games we went into HT leading, we have yet to lose and went on to win 6, only dropping the lead to Stockport and Colchester, both away from home. But going back on the first half issues, we have conceded 15 goals inside the first 15 minutes of games which is not only the worst record in L2, but it's the joint worst in the EFL with Rotherham. We have conceded 9 times at home in the first 15, which is the worst home record in the EFL. What do we need to bring onto the pitch to try and make a go from the off?

Odd other random stats that might say we need a rethink on certain other areas

• We currently have 71% of our shots on goal from inside the box, which is the highest in L2 and 2nd highest in the EFL. As we have recently seen with Pointon, we shouldnt be afraid to have a go from outside the box but it seems we want to try and walk it in. Which you'd associate with possession based football rather than hoof?
• We also have the highest average number of long balls in the league per game at 86, with only Stevenages 89 higher in the EFL.
• We are also joint bottom of the goals from set piece table with 7, this has seemingly been an issue for years? Which is weird, as we have the second highest aerial win percentage in the league, suggesting we need a better set piece taker? (Which all fans have known for a while).

Interestingly, the league has seemingly dropped the long ball and physical style and gone to a more controlled passing possession style. Even going back to the 20/21 season, there were only 4 teams with a pass completion percentage over 70%, currently this season there are 15 teams with a pass completion over 70%.... hoof ball is dying, even at this level! Can Alexanders long ball tactic work in a league that doesn't use it anymore?

What changes do we think we need on the pitch next season to correct this course and challenge again?

 

Good spot, I knew there were 8 results and must have read that one wrong. The 8th result I missed on the list was Doncaster away, 2-1 win at HT, 3-1 win by the end. So in the 8 games we've been winning at HT this season, we've gone on to win 7 of them. Still just the 2 HT leads at home all season.

For anyone interested in the 8 -> Crewe (h), Newport (a), FGR (a), Gills (a), Donny (a), Colc (a), MK (h) & Accrington (a).

 

Experience I think is key to promotion in this league. Looking at squad average ages, the teams that often field a team with the average age of around 30 are Mansfield, Barrow & Wrexham, all teams trending upwards. Squads with the lowest average age seem to be Accrington and Colchester, teams trending the wrong way.

Might be a thing with the leagues changing style? As shown, teams are moving away from long passes and trying to keep the ball more. Having a few blokes with hundreds of EFL games under their belt in your defence and midfield, knowing when to slow down, when to play, when to go long to relieve the team will be far more beneficial. You could say we have them, but just bad recruitment. So in defence, we have Platt, Stubbs, Tomkinson & Kelly, all with low to OK amounts of EFL games under their belts, so if you bring in that 30+ defender who can challenge for a place and teach, that's perfect..... we signed Ash Taylor. And in midfielder we just got the balance wrong all season. Smallwood & Gilly has always been a questionable partnership, but McDonald cant play twice in a row, certainly not 90 minutes and we didn't strengthen that area enough.