The Derby Chart Study

It's Monday, which must mean I'm going to go through the charts of Saturday's victory and see if there's a story being told that wasn't immediately noticeable during the game. There's a lot I want to get through, so I'm not going to post the actual charts here today because this system struggles enough with them. You'll just have to take my word for it, and really what about me would tell you I'm not a trust-worthy fellow? Hmmm? The bald head and drinking problem? Bah, so short-sighted you lot are. Anyway..

-Before we get to the usual Charlie Adam slagging off session, it's worth pointing out what a fine match Lucas had. The first stat that jumps out at you is that he only misplaced seven of his 75 attempted passed. Granted, Lucas rarely attempts anything over 5-10 yards, but still to be that tidy in possession is the mark of class, I should think.

-He also attempted over four times as many tackles as his central midfield partner, and won three times as many. This was helped by Adam only attempting and winning two. and none after the 12th minute. So he got his "I don't give a fuck about defense, I don't give a fuck about the CIA" routine in early.

-Another aspect of Lucas's game is affected by the central defensive pairing. When it was Agger- Carragher, their passes tend to generate about five yards, sometimes more, higher up the field than when the axis is Carragher-Skrtel. In turn, Lucas has to drop deeper to get the ball, and the fluidity of the side is not as great. This isn't news obviously, but it's weird to see it laid out for you.

-Right, on to Adam then. He completed 36 of the 47 passes he tried, which seems like a low total for a match when Liverpool were up a man for 40 minutes that he was on the pitch. Still, I guess that's about one a minute. And if we take out the corners, he only misfired on four "Hollywood" balls, though it seemed like more. But this combined with the lack of tackles, and only two shots (one blocked, one on the bar), and you can only conclude that there's just a lack of activity here.

-Especially when you compare Steven Gerrard, who was only on the field for 23 minutes. He attempted over half the passes that Adam did, and at the same percentage.

-Stewart Downing only managed to complete 66% of his passes, and had no shots. Still, this would be his first ineffective match you'd have to say.