A common tool utilised by many top clubs when looking at where to improve, not only in the Isuzu UTE A-League Men’s competition but in Europe, are statistics.
Basically in football, stats like average possession per game, xG or goals conceded per game are really handy in terms of getting an indication of how a team has been performing over varying periods of time.
Through the use of the FotMob app, I’ll be looking at the Glory’s major statistics from their opening four games this season, looking specifically at what’s been going well for them but also where some improvements should be made.
I could imagine that Head Coach Richard Garcia and his team would be looking at where the Glory can improve from a statistical basis, particularly as this season is needing to be an improvement from last season with finals being the key objective.
At this present moment, Perth Glory are ninth with four points following one win, one draw and two losses.
Despite only playing four games, the Glory have had an average match rating of 6.9 out of 10 with only Sydney FC, Adelaide United, Brisbane Roar and Wellington Phoenix having worse match ratings. This indicates that the Glory’s performances this season have been slightly above average.
Offensively, Perth have looked hit and miss thus far this season. Four goals have been scored, with three resulting from open play and one from a set piece. This has resulted in Perth having an xG (expected goals) of 4.0 following their four games.
xG is a relatively new statistic in football, where it is basically a statistical measurement of the quality of goalscoring chances and the likelihood of them being scored. A team’s total xG in a match can give an indication of how many goals they could’ve expected to score, given the quality and quantity of the chances created.
As a comparison, the current league leaders in Melbourne Victory have an xG of 8.4 and the cellar dwellers in Brisbane Roar have 4.0.
The Glory having a low xG so far could be explained by a number of reasons, one of them potentially being a lack of shots on target. This season, Perth are ranked equal last with Western United and Macarthur, where all three teams have 3.8 shots on target per match.
Chance creation and completion of those chances have also been below par this season as well, with Perth having created five big chances this season, compared to Brisbane (same games played) who have created three and Melbourne Victory (the best team in the competition) with twelve.
Goals per game has been interesting for Perth so far, as Glory have arguably one of the best attacks on paper, boasting star players such as Daniel Sturridge and Bruno Fornaroli. So far this season, the Glory average a goal per game which isn’t that bad given teams like Western Sydney Wanderers have less goals scored per game (0.8) despite having played one more game.
Defensively, the team has seen a tremendous improvement and credit can be 100% directed to Garcia and his team. There was no secret last season that Perth were woeful defensively and it could be strongly argued that this contributed to the Glory not making the finals last season.
So far, the Glory have conceded 0.8 goals per game, which is the second best in the league with only Western United doing better, having conceded 0.7 per game.
But this is only a start, as more work is required. In terms of clean sheets, the Glory have only recorded one this season against Melbourne Victory away from home, which was very impressive. However, despite the single clean sheet, Perth have conceded three goals although in those three games, the Glory only conceded one goal per game.
A game where it could be highlighted how defensively resilient the Glory were, was against Melbourne City. Despite losing 1-0, City only had 6 shots on target out of 23 (an accuracy of 26%) and 12 shots off target.
Saves per match has certainly aided Perth with not conceding a large number of goals. The Glory are ranked 3rd in the competition, with 4.3 saves made per match. Cameron Cook against Melbourne City was very impressive, as he made 5 saves, which certainly contributed to limiting City to only 1 goal.
In terms of clearances per game, the Glory are the best in the A-League, as they’ve made 29.8 clearances per game, 10.3 more than Melbourne Victory in 2nd. While that is a very good result, successful tackles per game has been poor, with Perth only making 9 per game whereas a team like the Victory make 13.3.
When looking at some team based statistics, it’s clear that Perth Glory need to work on a few areas. Accurate passes per match has shown that the Glory have been pretty poor, as they’re ranked 11th with 325.8 passes per game at a pass success rate of 79.1%.
That can partly be attributed as to why the Glory have been unable to dominate possession as much this season, with Perth averaging 43.7% possession per game. A slightly unusual statistic given the Glory would usually look to dominate the ball where possible, unless they were forced to defend deep against certain opposition sides.
At home, it’s more common for the Glory to dominate possession yet against Adelaide United in the opening game of the season at home, Perth had 39% possession of the ball.
Another reason why this statistic could be so low is that the Glory are ranked last in the competition for possession won in the final third. For me, I’ve felt that our pressing up front has been quite passive with a frequent lack of urgency and intensity particularly when we lose the ball.
This could explain why the Glory have won possession 12 times in the final third and only 83 times in the midfield. Compare this to Melbourne City, who rank number one in the competition for possession won in the final third with 36 and for possession won in the midfield, it almost doubles the Glory as the Citizens have won possession 161 times this season in those areas.
To conclude, no one has been expecting an amazing start from Perth given the ridiculous fixture scheduling and lack of key personnel. However, the Glory have a squad of 23 not 11 so the players overall need to step up should they all wish to achieve the main objective of finals.
It’s possible, as many key players will return following the Glory completing their quarantine which should help the overall balance within the team and should improve Perth statistically, but more importantly in terms of results.
About the Author
