Times that we concede: Slow out of the blocks.

[cleavers]

That's really interesting. Goes hand in hand with what I am saying, perhaps. A lot of people have said that when we win games it's because we have the players, rather than the way we set up. Probably a bit harsh on pellegrini, but would those stats back it up. When the players decide to take it into their own hands and turn it on, they really turn it in - but ultimately we aren't set up in a way to ensure we do it across an entire game.

It could also suggest entirely the opposite - we only follow orders for short periods in a game - who knows. Its a really interesting set of stats, though.

Yeah, I don't know what it means either, but its something that's bugged me a bit, because it shows just what we are capable of, how we can control a game, and more importantly, how, for long periods we're simply not doing it. I haven't looked back at previous seasons, but my purely empirical evidence is that it wasn't the case, and we were much more consistent in scoring, shall we say, more regular goals, but we played more consistent periods of football than we do now.

Like many of these bits of information I suspect its much ado about nothing, but never the less its bugged me enough recently to actually look it up, because I think scoring has been an issue this season, we've missed a ridiculous number of chances in some games, and then created virtually none in others, and that just isn't us, even at our worst last season we still created chances, this year in the bad results (Spurs, and perhaps Arsenal apart) we really seem to be struggling even to create chances.

 

[The blue phantom]

You can pretty much tell 'what City' have turned up after about 2 minutes. As ridiculous as that sounds, you can often get a clear picture as to whether we are up for it or not, after the first few minutes of the game.

I've thought for a while that we seem to concede goals early on, and even more so, just after half time. I haven't done loads of research, or compared this to other clubs, but it has got me wondering why we 'come out of the blocks' so slowly. We concede 10% of our goals in the first 10 mins (maybe not as glaring as I thought), but 25% between 40 -60 mins (granted, some of these will be just before half time).

What is, or isn't said to us in the changing room - particularly at half time. The way we started both halves against Leicester was a disgrace. And whilst we ended up dominating the 1st half, we got worse in the 2nd. Is it a lack of motivation by the manager - I don't know. It does seem like the opposition is much more ready for us, than we are for them. I'm not necessarily talking about the lack of preparation as referenced in another thread, but more a lack of motivation that is causing us to start so sluggishly.

A few examples of goals conceded:

Leicester: 3, 48, 60 - 2 goals 3 minutes into each half
West Ham: 1, 56
Watford: 55
Stoke: 7, (15)
Southampton: 49
Liverpool: 7
West Ham (h): 6

Some are less relevant, and more into the game (Stoke's second for example) but there is a pattern of goals being scored early into the halves against us.

I wouldn't say two mins but your def right abt knowing which city turns up. There's abt 6 or 7 of us and near enough every game we are all turning to each other after 10 mins and predicting how the rest of the game will unfold.

 

[NanaToure42]

I usually defend Pell, but for me the slow starts are on him. Either the set up or the mentality. Or a mix of both. Needs to be addressed.

 

[Lovebitesandeveryfing]

I think everybody's been noticing this. I said it to the bloke next to me at the Etihad last Saturday, after Leicester's first. We just seem to be dozy at the opening of most of our matches, especially those at the Etihad. Three exceptions to that, imo, which were very, very striking. Arsenal away, Sevilla away, and Everton at home in the return leg of the league cup. In those three matches, we went haring out of the blocks, with every single player running, harrying, closing down, fighting like shit to get the ball back. It didn't quite work at the Emirates, although I continue to consider that we played much better in that game than in some away games that we've actually taken the three points from. But I'd just like to see us go tearing into teams right from the off. In all honesty, it was a hallmark of many United teams under Ferguson. In some periods of the match you've got to be patient, fine. But rattle the opposition at the start, to see what they're made of…

 

[Manci7y]

Just started doing some research into our goals (for and against) this season. Not for any particular reason and not that it will affect anything but for those geeks amongst us.....

I thought I had it done but then it dawned on me that finding out if our goals are linked in anyway to subs being made may be interesting. Once I have checked this I will share the stats, some very interesting information coming out and some surprising stuff.

 

[I'm With Stupid]

We apparently score more from outside the box than anyone, yet most of the time we appear to be trying to walk the ball into the goal.

It's worth mentioning that we score more of every type of goal than most teams. A better stat would be what percentage of our goals scored are from different areas compared to other teams.

 

[Bluekiwi]

There have been a few games this season when we have kicked-off in the first half and I have seen enough in the first minute to know which team has turned out onto the pitch. The ball goes backwards, side wards, repeat that move a few times so the back four and midfield can get a feel of the ball and then look forward to see if we can get over the halfway line.
How long did it take us to score the first goal against the spuds when we beat them 6-0 a couple of seasons back? That's how we should approach games - on the front foot!

 

[ROCKET80]

We generally score in quick succession when the game is tight and we have either just broken the deadlock or equalised. I think this is due to to the opposition having been broken mentally after such concentration when defending against us, Watford away and Everton at home in the cup there was an inevitability that once we got one that we'd get another.

The importance of scoring early is huge for us as we rarely lose when we take the lead (Spurs away being the only time in the league this season).

 

[Pablo ZZZ Peroni]

Yeah, I don't know what it means either, but its something that's bugged me a bit, because it shows just what we are capable of, how we can control a game, and more importantly, how, for long periods we're simply not doing it. I haven't looked back at previous seasons, but my purely empirical evidence is that it wasn't the case, and we were much more consistent in scoring, shall we say, more regular goals, but we played more consistent periods of football than we do now.

Like many of these bits of information I suspect its much ado about nothing, but never the less its bugged me enough recently to actually look it up, because I think scoring has been an issue this season, we've missed a ridiculous number of chances in some games, and then created virtually none in others, and that just isn't us, even at our worst last season we still created chances, this year in the bad results (Spurs, and perhaps Arsenal apart) we really seem to be struggling even to create chances.

Not scoring goals away from home has been a particular problem this year. Our failure has been almost freakish because we have created the most chances and are 3rd in the list of attempts on target.

As regards "consistent periods of football" a very interesting big picture indicator is the amount of time we are ahead or behind in a game.

In 11/12 under Mancini we were only behind for a grand total of 177 minutes in the entire season. That is 177 minutes out of 3420 minutes based on 38 games @ 90 minutes. IMO a truly staggering stat and only bettered once in PL history by an Arsenal team in the late 90s.

In 13/14 under Pelle we were only behind for a total of 263 minutes out of the 3420 minutes. Not as good as Mancini but still v v good. To put 263 minutes into perspective it is better than the rags have ever achieved in any PL season. In 13/14 under Pelle we were also ahead in games for a total of 1933 minutes - a PL record - based on a far higher frequency of early goals.

By comparison this season is obviously crap. Only 25 games in and already we have been behind in games for a total of 518 minutes. By way of comparison the figures for Spuds, Arse and Leicester are 206, 335 and 346 respectively.

 

[BLUEMATT23]

Blame the Manager