Mikejl
Well-Known Member
Well we finished 2nd, but I like many Blues feel surprisingly underwhelmed. That feeling that 'if only' yes we've seen perhaps the worst refereeing in living memory, realistically seeing double figure penalties not awarded in our favour and usually crap teams having goalies making worldie saves. However being a bit of a stats bore I was contemplating how we did in the head to head fixtures and the results were interesting.
First set is our head to heads as a final Top 4, so matches between the eventual final four. These matches matter as they really see how we match up in the so-called crunch fixtures vs. our supposed rivals for the title (I include ManUre in there as they did finish 4th)
City vs Chelsea 1-1
Chelsea vs City 1-1
City vs Arsenal 0-2
Arsenal vs City 2-2
City vs MUFC 1-0
MUFC vs City 4-2
Chelsea vs Arsenal 2-0
Arsenal vs Chelsea 0-0
Chelsea vs MUFC 1-0
MUFC vs Chelsea 1-1
Arsenal vs MUFC 1-2
MUFC vs Arsenal 1-1
mini table reads
1st Chelsea 10 pts +3 GD
2nd MUFC 8pts +1 GD
3rd Arse 6 pts -1 GD
4th City 6 pts -3 GD
So pretty abject, we only managed to win one of our 6 matches which was ManUre at home.
Second analysis was how each of the Top 4 matched up against the eventual 3 teams that were relegated, so again big match pressure, but against vastly inferior teams.
Results:
City vs QPR 6-0
QPR vs City 2-2
City vs Burnley 2-2
Burnley vs City 1-0
City vs Hull 1-1
Hull vs City 2-4
Chelsea vs QPR 2-1
QPR vs Chelsea 0-1
Chelsea vs Burnley 1-1
Burnley vs Chelsea 1-3
Chelsea vs Hull 2-0
Hull vs Chelsea 2-3
Arsenal vs QPR 2-1
QPR VS Arsenal 1-2
Arsenal vs Burnley 3-0
Burnley vs Arsenal 0-1
Arsenal vs Hull 2-2
Hull vs Arsenal 1-3
MUFC vs QPR 4-0
QPR vs MUFC 0-2
MUFC vs Burnley 3-1
Burnley vs MUFC 0-0
MUFC VS Hull 3-0
Hull vs MUFC 0-0
If we produce a mini table for this it reads
1st Arse 16 pts +8 GD
2nd Chelsea 16 pts +7 GD
3rd MUFC 14 pts +11 GD
4th City 9 pts +7 GD
So again we failed again, in fact worryingly enough we only won 2, yes TWO games out of 6 against the 3 relegated team, which is pathetic, we were also the only top 4 team to lose to a relegated team.
Lots of ifs, whys and maybes I know but in these 2 very different match ups we cocked up badly, just a win not a draw against Chelsea and turning a couple of those draws against the bottom three into win and we're 8 points better off and champions. What it also highlights to me is either a tactical naivety or a complacent in the games against lesser teams or a lack of a big game mentality. Whatever the cause it needs identifying and fixing for next season
First set is our head to heads as a final Top 4, so matches between the eventual final four. These matches matter as they really see how we match up in the so-called crunch fixtures vs. our supposed rivals for the title (I include ManUre in there as they did finish 4th)
City vs Chelsea 1-1
Chelsea vs City 1-1
City vs Arsenal 0-2
Arsenal vs City 2-2
City vs MUFC 1-0
MUFC vs City 4-2
Chelsea vs Arsenal 2-0
Arsenal vs Chelsea 0-0
Chelsea vs MUFC 1-0
MUFC vs Chelsea 1-1
Arsenal vs MUFC 1-2
MUFC vs Arsenal 1-1
mini table reads
1st Chelsea 10 pts +3 GD
2nd MUFC 8pts +1 GD
3rd Arse 6 pts -1 GD
4th City 6 pts -3 GD
So pretty abject, we only managed to win one of our 6 matches which was ManUre at home.
Second analysis was how each of the Top 4 matched up against the eventual 3 teams that were relegated, so again big match pressure, but against vastly inferior teams.
Results:
City vs QPR 6-0
QPR vs City 2-2
City vs Burnley 2-2
Burnley vs City 1-0
City vs Hull 1-1
Hull vs City 2-4
Chelsea vs QPR 2-1
QPR vs Chelsea 0-1
Chelsea vs Burnley 1-1
Burnley vs Chelsea 1-3
Chelsea vs Hull 2-0
Hull vs Chelsea 2-3
Arsenal vs QPR 2-1
QPR VS Arsenal 1-2
Arsenal vs Burnley 3-0
Burnley vs Arsenal 0-1
Arsenal vs Hull 2-2
Hull vs Arsenal 1-3
MUFC vs QPR 4-0
QPR vs MUFC 0-2
MUFC vs Burnley 3-1
Burnley vs MUFC 0-0
MUFC VS Hull 3-0
Hull vs MUFC 0-0
If we produce a mini table for this it reads
1st Arse 16 pts +8 GD
2nd Chelsea 16 pts +7 GD
3rd MUFC 14 pts +11 GD
4th City 9 pts +7 GD
So again we failed again, in fact worryingly enough we only won 2, yes TWO games out of 6 against the 3 relegated team, which is pathetic, we were also the only top 4 team to lose to a relegated team.
Lots of ifs, whys and maybes I know but in these 2 very different match ups we cocked up badly, just a win not a draw against Chelsea and turning a couple of those draws against the bottom three into win and we're 8 points better off and champions. What it also highlights to me is either a tactical naivety or a complacent in the games against lesser teams or a lack of a big game mentality. Whatever the cause it needs identifying and fixing for next season