I'm not sure if anyone else will thank you captain obvious, but that statistic was what caused the bloke too start the thread. Just wanted to point that out. Repetition is dull. That no one has run away with it means they have dropped points in places we didn't. Flat track pussies?I'm not sure if anyone above has said what City's record this season against the top teams is, apologies for the repetition if they have, but in a mini-league of the top eight teams in the division, City's record is Played 11 Won 0 Drawn 3 Lost 8, which gives a Points Per Game of 0.27 and a Goal Difference of minus 16. That City are still in with a chance of the title shows first how much flat track bullying has gone on, and second how no other team has run away with the title race.
See your point. But I am not sure it would get boring. Attention would switch away from run of the mill games to both Europe and a few mega battles in the League. We would become very complacent and unbearable to outsiders but we would mostly be very happy with life in our own private bubble. As the titles were clocked up we would get closer and closer to the Rags total and that in itself would act as a motivating factor. The same would apply in Europe as we chased their tally of three. That my friend would be neither boring or pointless as far as I am concerned. That said I expect the League to be far more competitive in the years ahead and dominance by one side is not very likely. If their is to be a king pin I sincerely hope that it is MCFC!!!!It's an interesting discussion for another thread (maybe even another forum judging by some of the replies in here from the lamenters) - but without competitiveness I think football very quickly would become very boring. If the league were weak and City were one of two teams guaranteed to win the title every year amassing 90 points + each time and regularly hammering sides by four or five goals - how long before it'd seem a bit pointless? For me very quickly. The football we've put on show hasn't been to my liking for a lot of this season, but beyond that i've got no problem with being in a league where four or five teams can win it and where you have to accept that the competition is fierce.
It's a cricket term and refers to a batsman who excels on a flat pitch (i.e. one without a great deal of bounce or movement) but struggles when the pitch means the bowler can make the ball move.At a guess (and I know nothing nor care a jot about cricket) I would have thought it was about a runner who can't go up hills but is fast otherwise. Aren't all cricket greens flat? Daft relating it to footy either way.
Could point to our heavy reliance on Kun this season. When he is fit and firing we look dangerous home and away. But when he is not there or is starved of good supply we look impotent. Last wed was a case in point. He was marked tightly and any ball that did get to him was of little use as he was set upon. Since Bony has generally been a waste of space and the goals from midfield have not flowed away from home we have consequently struggled.Personally I think, and possibly related, an even more worrying stat is the number of goals scored away from home this year.
At the moment we have managed 13 goals in 13 games in comparison to the 39 we have managed at home in 15 games.
It places us the 15th highest goal scorer out of 20 in the league with only the likes of Norwich, Villa, Newcastle, West Brom, southampton having scored less. Quite damming Sunderland have out scored us with our rivals Leicester hitting 28, Arsenal 27, Spurs 24, West Ham 23.
I do not fully understand the huge contrast. I appreciate there is always a slight difference in results/goals when comparing home and away form but with the attacking players we have we should not be the 15th highest scorers.
What's the idea behind a thread like this? 'City win but I still want to moan' springs to mind...
Could be , but perhaps there should be just a dedicated MOAN forum with no particular topic or target - just a moan, moan moan theme ?
ahahhhaJust rethought my last post - because I'm sure somebody would moan about that too.
Could point to our heavy reliance on Kun this season. When he is fit and firing we look dangerous home and away. But when he is not there or is starved of good supply we look impotent. Last wed was a case in point. He was marked tightly and any ball that did get to him was of little use as he was set upon. Since Bony has generally been a waste of space and the goals from midfield have not flowed away from home we have consequently struggled.
What's the idea behind a thread like this? 'City win but I still want to moan' springs to mind...
Oh ok then, feck the win.Maybe some fans can see beyond the last game and on a City forum think it's acceptable to discuss trends/ patterns which last longer than the last minutes.
As for moaning it's a football forum. The exact purpose for these types of discussions.
All those points are true but it does not explain the discrepancy between goals scored at home and away. For me it's the fact teams press up and deny us space as opposed to at home where teams sit back enabling us to dominate the game.
Away from home we have to earn the right to play by matching the oppositions work ethic and commitment. It appears that is not happening
Best in Europe at it, along with Barca and Real.
I had a debate with a rag about the "flat track bully" syndrome. If anything theyv'e been the experts at it. As an example in their last 3 title years (2 of which they also reached CL Finals) their away form particularly wasn't good against top third/top half sides:
2009- 0 wins against teams from the top 8
2011 - 0 wins against teams from the top 11
2013 - 3 wins against teams from the top 11
This year theyv'e already got 2 wins against top half teams and have another 3 games to play. I'm sure they would prefer a repeat of 2009, 2011 and 2013 instead.
It is a statiscal anomaly. We have an expectation to score more based on the underying figures.
We have more attempts per game away from home than other team. We have the 5th highest attempts per game away from home on target. Simplistically, there is normally a correlation between these stats and the number of goals scored i.e the teams with the greatest number of attempts/attempts on target score more goals. It's football sense if you think about it and if you check the stats historically it is pretty consistent. Effectiveness of strikers and quality of chances is obviously important as well.
Our figures, home and away, have been bang on in recent years as indeed they are for all the top teams. This year there are 2 standout anomalies - us away from home and Arsenal at home. It's the randomness of sport mate - we haven't been as good at converting our chances away from home.
All that is very true but as we are lying fourth in the league and have the best record against the bottom sides it's our results against the top sides which means we're outsiders for the title, hence the discussion.
It is not a necessity to beat the top sides but sadly this year it is proving our Achilles heel and the reason we're outsiders for the title. How did they do at home Pablo as we are currently failing there also?
Great stats as always pal.