Well that was a real Kick in the heart, huh? I put all my positive talk on this into the podcast, so if you want me to say reassuring things and add perspective, check in there. I’ll skip that and dive straight in to the data.
1) Was it that bad?
I have not rewatched the game yet, with the midweek game I wanted to get this column out. I am actually excited to watch the way we played in the game since we looked as good as we have in months. But, it was a bad time for a loss.
According to sportsclubstats we have a 0.9% chance of making the final playoffs. Two weeks ago at 11am EST (before kick-off against CRW), we had a 47.4% of making the final.
In the last two weeks, our Elo rankings have fallen by 71 points. Kickers have added 70 points this season.
Ok enough of this. Never say never, but *bleep* that hurt.
2) How about that reshuffled midfield?!
I had no evidence of it, but I was curious if Ethan played right midfield at the end of the Revs II game when we were in the diamond. Ethan’s skillset seems very well suited to a winger, but we have two great wingers. Good thing one of them can also play striker pretty well. I LOVED Jay’s choice of Evan up top, Sebas on the left, and Ethan on the right. LOVED IT. But did they actually play in different spots?
This looks pretty close to what our usual average position chart looks like, perhaps a bit more compressed. Our outside backs are up and wide, our wide midfielders are a bit pinched in, and our forwards are stacked. Here is our formation against OCB.
So, I like the way our average positions look against RVA a little better. One interesting thing to note is that Ethan still managed to be our most advanced player in the average positions.
Man that looks good. Too bad we didn’t score.
3) But we dominated though…
Yeah we did. Using FotMob, we won 30 of 36 categories losing only big chances, shots on target, long balls, tackles both attempted and succeeded, and interceptions. I’m going to build off a stat I saw on FotMob, which was that the Kickers completed 47 (said another way: forty seven) passes in our half.
The full chart looks even worse.
The problem with soccer is that sometimes you dominate the game, you throw everything you’ve got at the goal, and you lose the game on a set piece.
In our three game scoreless streak, we’ve taken 48 shots (41 in the last two games), 19 corners (15 in the last two games), and 71 crosses (59 in the last two games). I’m looking forward to the pendulum swinging back our way and us beating Lauderdale 4-0. See you Wednesday!
Who Gives A Hoot? 