The defensive myth.

abu13

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We have all heard it until we are blue in the face about how crap our defence is. We are fed this line unjustly and by the rags in particular. We all know that they are held up as the benchmark for all things defensive and so this makes interesting reading.

All stats from the official premier league side, stats section.

So far this season we have conceded 10 goals in the league, an average of 0.67 goals per game.
The rags have conceded 9 goals over the same period so an average of 0.60 goals per game.

On the face of it there is little difference but a difference non the less.
Now assuming that if a shot on target fails to find the back of the net then it must have been saved or blocked it would seem reasonable to consider these stats as well. This is where the fun starts.

DeGea and Ederson have both played every league game this season and so the comparison is straight forward.

Ederson shots saved = 20 - the lowest number in the league.
Mcfc shots blocked = 20 - the lowest number in the league

DeGea shots saved = 53 - the 2nd highest number of saves made in the whole league, only Swansea have had more saves.
Rags shots blocked = 47 - the 8th best number number in the league.

In summary,
City, 10 goals, 20 saves and 20 blocks = 50 chances against us.
Rags = 9 goals, 53 saves, 47 blocks = 109 chances against them.

On average we give the opposition 3.33 opportunities per game.
On average the rags give the opposition 7.26 opportunities per game.

Our defence is much better than theirs and the stats prove it.

It really highlights that without DeGea they would be fucked, he is the only thing keeping them where they are, without him they would be in big trouble.
 
I could point you to many many Salford/stretford/Trafford (delete as appropriate to non offend) supporters, who have no understanding of stats.

Too add to your list, Arsenal had the biggest difference between xG and actual goals, since xG started. That’s only down to the goalie saving far far more than expected.
 
We have all heard it until we are blue in the face about how crap our defence is. We are fed this line unjustly and by the rags in particular. We all know that they are held up as the benchmark for all things defensive and so this makes interesting reading.

All stats from the official premier league side, stats section.

So far this season we have conceded 10 goals in the league, an average of 0.67 goals per game.
The rags have conceded 9 goals over the same period so an average of 0.60 goals per game.

On the face of it there is little difference but a difference non the less.
Now assuming that if a shot on target fails to find the back of the net then it must have been saved or blocked it would seem reasonable to consider these stats as well. This is where the fun starts.

DeGea and Ederson have both played every league game this season and so the comparison is straight forward.

Ederson shots saved = 20 - the lowest number in the league.
Mcfc shots blocked = 20 - the lowest number in the league

DeGea shots saved = 53 - the 2nd highest number of saves made in the whole league, only Swansea have had more saves.
Rags shots blocked = 47 - the 8th best number number in the league.

In summary,
City, 10 goals, 20 saves and 20 blocks = 50 chances against us.
Rags = 9 goals, 53 saves, 47 blocks = 109 chances against them.

On average we give the opposition 3.33 opportunities per game.
On average the rags give the opposition 7.26 opportunities per game.

Our defence is much better than theirs and the stats prove it.

It really highlights that without DeGea they would be fucked, he is the only thing keeping them where they are, without him they would be in big trouble.

Very impressed and an excellent post.
 
They will argue that making that many saves/blocks etc while conceding the least is what makes them the best defensively, but, I think the price of that is that they are a less attacking side than us. This is certainly highlighted by our superior goal difference and to me goal difference is a better measure of a teams defence/attack ratio. I would much rather us play the way we are than that negative philosophy practised by the rags. Its just annoying that the media highlight the one aspect to beat us with, but come sunday we can change that anyway. A win by just one goal will even our goals conceded,a two goal win and we have conceded less lol, then they will have to dig up some other worthless stat to do us down.
 
We have all heard it until we are blue in the face about how crap our defence is. We are fed this line unjustly and by the rags in particular. We all know that they are held up as the benchmark for all things defensive and so this makes interesting reading.

All stats from the official premier league side, stats section.

So far this season we have conceded 10 goals in the league, an average of 0.67 goals per game.
The rags have conceded 9 goals over the same period so an average of 0.60 goals per game.

On the face of it there is little difference but a difference non the less.
Now assuming that if a shot on target fails to find the back of the net then it must have been saved or blocked it would seem reasonable to consider these stats as well. This is where the fun starts.

DeGea and Ederson have both played every league game this season and so the comparison is straight forward.

Ederson shots saved = 20 - the lowest number in the league.
Mcfc shots blocked = 20 - the lowest number in the league

DeGea shots saved = 53 - the 2nd highest number of saves made in the whole league, only Swansea have had more saves.
Rags shots blocked = 47 - the 8th best number number in the league.

In summary,
City, 10 goals, 20 saves and 20 blocks = 50 chances against us.
Rags = 9 goals, 53 saves, 47 blocks = 109 chances against them.

On average we give the opposition 3.33 opportunities per game.
On average the rags give the opposition 7.26 opportunities per game.

Our defence is much better than theirs and the stats prove it.

It really highlights that without DeGea they would be fucked, he is the only thing keeping them where they are, without him they would be in big trouble.

Nice post. And there are more stats to add to those :)

City are restricting opponents to an average of 6 attempts per game and of those 1.8 are on target. These are the best figures in the league by a distance and, in fact, the best in the Big 5 European.

Meanwhile our raggy neighbours with the best defence in the world are running at an average of 12.2 attempts per game of which 4.27 are on target. This ranks them joint 9th in the PL this season with Huddersfield and Burnley and behind the superior defences of Brighton, Newcastle and West Brom.
 
Our defence is much better than theirs and the stats prove it.
Stats can be made to prove most things. You could equally argue that our opponents score from a far greater percentage of the chances we concede, and therefore we are worse. In reality, that just comes down to the style of play. We have so much of the ball that our opponents rarely get a chance, but when they do, our defence is usually more exposed as a result, and therefore more likely to concede. But yeah, the idea that we have a dodgy defence is bullshit, especially when you consider the fact that we currently have £100m worth of defenders on the treatment table. There has been a noticeable drop in quality since John Stones got injured, particularly from set pieces, which highlights the importance (and what has been missing for a few seasons) of having a settled back four.
 

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