Is Game preperation time contributing to our run?

[Nolan]

We have now played 10 games this season 3-4 days following the previous game.

P10 W0 D1 L9   

1pt   or 0.1 Pt Per game

 

Of Games we have had 5 or More Days since the previous game. 

P15 W8 D5 L2  

29 pt or 1.93 Pts per game.

 

Coincidence or contributing factor?

 

 

[Wade Garrett]

Didn’t affect Leeds that much.

[stevy777_x]

Contributing factor. 
Gives us time to prepare the game tactically and to recover physically from our pressing game.

[davefizzy14]

Just now, stevy777_x said:

Contributing factor. 
Gives us time to prepare the game tactically and to recover physically from our pressing game.

Absolutely this.

[Teddeer]

Same for most sides and some have it worse than us. It's part of football so we should be dealing with it not using it as an excuse for what we have become.

[trousers]

7 minutes ago, Nolan said:

We have now played 10 games this season 3-4 days following the previous game.

P10 W0 D1 L9   

1pt   or 0.1 Pt Per game

 

Of Games we have had 5 or More Days since the previous game. 

P15 W8 D5 L2  

29 pt or 1.93 Pts per game.

 

Coincidence or contributing factor?

 

 

Blimey. Stats don't get much more clear cut than that, do they? I guess in a perverse kinda way it highlights how good Ralph is at preparing for games when he gets the opportunity to do so. Underlines that his whole strategy is based on meticulous preparation, which he has been ill-afforded this season. Helps explain why we did so well in 2020. 

A beacon of hope there for next season once match frequency returns to 'normal'...?

Edited 23 February, 2021 by trousers

[Lallana's Left Peg]

Contributing factor considering the lack of facilities available at Staplewood to recover and energy we need to expend to a result in any game.

But also entirely predictable and known going into the season, so also avoidable had we worked to get a squad of appropriate size.

[Nolan]

9 minutes ago, trousers said:

Blimey. Stats don't get much more clear cut than that, do they? I guess in a perverse kinda way it highlights how good Ralph is preparing for games when he gets the opportunity to do so. 

Ralph originally came with his Video Assistant. He still analyzes games and play against opponents weaknesses (in both teams and individual players)

I think Ralphs already spotted this preperation time anomoly and he tried something different today. I think Tella, Adams and Armstrong today were specifically given extra days to prepare for playing Leeds. It was very close to paying off in the first half. 

 

Edited 23 February, 2021 by Nolan

[Teddeer]

3 minutes ago, Nolan said:

Ralph originally came with his Video Assistant. He still analyzes games and play against opponents weaknesses (in both teams and individual players)

I think Ralphs already spotted this preperation time anomoly and he tried something different today. I think Tella, Adams and Armstrong today were specifically given extra days to prepare for playing Leeds. It was very close to paying off in the first half. 

 

Pity games are made up of two halves.

[Nolan]

2 minutes ago, Teddeer said:

Pity games are made up of two halves.

Its also a pity our squad depth is miniscule. 

[woodsaint1]

23 minutes ago, Nolan said:

We have now played 10 games this season 3-4 days following the previous game.

P10 W0 D1 L9   

1pt   or 0.1 Pt Per game

 

Of Games we have had 5 or More Days since the previous game. 

P15 W8 D5 L2  

29 pt or 1.93 Pts per game.

 

Coincidence or contributing factor?

 

 

Interesting spot and no doubt a big factor on us. However, it shouldnt come as a surprise to Ralph that there are plenty of midweek games during a PL season and we therefore need a sustainable system/style of play to be able to deal with that (because we will never have the luxury of a big, quality squad to rely on). If we have any ambitions to play european football again then the games will come even quicker

[aintforever]

1 hour ago, stevy777_x said:

Contributing factor. 
Gives us time to prepare the game tactically and to recover physically from our pressing game.

This, our lack of depth in the squad, injuries and the hectic schedule combined with our  high energy game has fucked us.

 

[Whitey Grandad]

1 hour ago, aintforever said:

This, our lack of depth in the squad, injuries and the hectic schedule combined with our  high energy game has fucked us.

 

Yes it has.  The why us more than others?

[TWar]

8 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Yes it has.  The why us more than others?

Small squad, high energy style. If you look at other teams with a high pressing, high running style like Liverpool they also look a lot worse than they did when games were less frequent, Leeds had also been on a downturn of form.

[StrangelyBrown]

19 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Yes it has.  The why us more than others?

IMO it's because our game is entirely reliant on energy and everyone following a highly detailed game plan. Less time between games means less detail and time to practice. Less time means less recovery. Unfortunately as soon as our players have to think for themselves and we have to deviate from the game plan (i.e. when someone gets sent off) we go to pieces.

[bpsaint]

Didn’t affect us in League 1 and Championship when it was the norm to have a game every few days.

We had the players there for a strong line up yesterday, the fault lies with the set up and mentality.

Besides,other teams don’t seem to suffer like we do, Leeds had 6 players out yesterday and still beat us comfortably 

Edited 24 February, 2021 by bpsaint

[aintforever]

19 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Yes it has.  The why us more than others?

Playing style and depth of squad, plus the fact that we have put out strong sides in the cup.

having a settled lineup worked in our favour in the early part of the season but now we should be rotating and can’t do so without a big drop in quality.

[Saint Billy]

A lot of comments mention high energy, it makes me wonder if it's actually the high energy that is doing us in. 

Perhaps High Energy = Tiredness, Capitulation and injuries. 

Edited 24 February, 2021 by Saint Billy

[Lord Duckhunter]

It’s just fucking excuses. Other sides press, other sides work hard, other sides have injuries, poor refereeing decisions, limited time between games, small squad depths. Why do some of our supporters try and cover up poor management and poor performances from players, by making out we’re somehow  unique. 

Edited 24 February, 2021 by Lord Duckhunter

[Nolan]

Still only got 1 point from games we've played 3 or 4 days after the previous game.

Edited 14 March, 2021 by Nolan
Fixing error as spotted by Grandad

[Whitey Grandad]

8 minutes ago, Nolan said:

Still only got 1 point from games we've played 3 or 4 games after the previous game.

Days, of course, but you’re right. Whether that’s enough of an excuse is a moot point.

We flew back from Manchester on Wednesday night, four days ago. Brighton’s last game was eight days ago. At home.

[Nolan]

It's not an excuse. It's an observation.

But If a pattern emerges then something should be done to change the pattern.

Edited 14 March, 2021 by Nolan

[aintforever]

The mental schedule has definitely had an effect, luckily the next month looks better fixtures wise.

[SuperSAINT]

On 23/02/2021 at 21:13, Nolan said:

We have now played 10 games this season 3-4 days following the previous game.

P10 W0 D1 L9   

1pt   or 0.1 Pt Per game

 

Of Games we have had 5 or More Days since the previous game. 

P15 W8 D5 L2  

29 pt or 1.93 Pts per game.

 

Coincidence or contributing factor?

 

 

Contributing factor, for sure. 

[Saintsfanuk]

It is a clear pattern and a massive issue. Trying to play the same way in a hectic schedule clearly doesn't work with his tactics.

In weeks of many games perhaps we need to go back to sitting in tight and conserving energy and counter attacking. He used to say last season we didn't like to have the ball!

Even resting players ready for today didn't work. Maybe the players need a week to learn how to pass the ball to each other after each game.

[JustinSFC]

No it's the fans creating a negative atmosphere in the stadium.

[Chapel End]

57 minutes ago, JustinSFC said:

No it's the fans creating a negative atmosphere in the stadium.

🙄🙄

[Nolan]

Vs Burnley. Lots of preparation 3 PTS.

[S-Clarke]

4 hours ago, Nolan said:

Vs Burnley. Lots of preparation 3 PTS.

Lots of time to get players fit/fresh as well tbf.

[Saint86]

7 hours ago, Nolan said:

Vs Burnley. Lots of preparation 3 PTS.

You saw our first 30min right. Great preparation in action 🙄

But whilst I agree prep time is a factor for our small squad, a lot of the players have been away on international duty so I wouldn't consider this as a game with lots of prep time.

[The Cat]

1 minute ago, Saint86 said:

You saw our first 30min right. Great preparation in action 🙄

But whilst I agree prep time is a factor for our small squad, a lot of the players have been away on international duty so I wouldn't consider this as a game with lots of prep time.

The starting line up only featured 4 who had gone away. The bulk of today's team had a long time together to work on things, and going forward it looked like these worked. 

[Nolan]

On 04/04/2021 at 22:09, Saint86 said:

You saw our first 30min right. Great preparation in action 🙄

But whilst I agree prep time is a factor for our small squad, a lot of the players have been away on international duty so I wouldn't consider this as a game with lots of prep time.

of course I saw the first 30.

stats remain:

• >4 days between games  P18 W10 D4 L4 ppg 1.89
• 3-4 days between games P12 W0 D2 L10 ppg 0.17

(NB looks like I attributed a draw in the wrong place on my original calculations)

 

 

[Forester]

Excellent statistic.  Very stark

[Saint86]

2 hours ago, Forester said:

Excellent statistic.  Very stark

It's not stark though, its an incredibly narrow view to take if  anything, and it assumes that preperation time is the main thing that may be effecting that run of results. Just speaking objectively, the reality is that generally the games we've had more preperation time and won also occurred at times of less fixture congestion and greater sqaud availability / less injuries.

Prep time is important, but what's more important is not having the spine of an already small sqaud out injured for weeks on end - at a time with heavy fixture congestion and limited recovery time for the players who were fit. Yeah, lack of prep time doesn't help, but i don't see it as the governing factor in that scenario. 

Edited 6 April, 2021 by Saint86

[Forester]

6 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

It's not stark though, its an incredibly narrow view to take if  anything, and it assumes that preperation time is the main thing that may be effecting that run of results. The reality is that generally the games we've had more preperation time and won also occurred at times of less fixture congestion and greater sqaud availability / less injuries.

Prep time is important, but what's more important is not having the spine of an already small sqaud out injured for weeks on end - at a time with heavy fixture congestion and limited recovery time for the players who were fit. Yeah, lack of prep time doesn't help, but i don't see it as the governing factor in that scenario. 

Think you need to check dictionary definition of stark!  As opposed to causality!

[benali-shorts]

It's reasonable to claim that the higher frequency of games this season has had a particularly adverse affect on us, having one of the smallest squads in the Prem. I think the consensus would be that our first XI with a normal 1 game/week schedule is decent (top half arguably), and that Ralph prepares the team well when given sufficient time between matches. Our 2nd XI quality is very poor comparatively, which has led to overusing the first team players, with inevitable higher rate of injuries mid season. It'll be interesting to see how we go next season, with a normal frequency of games, and presumably resolving the obvious squad weaknesses which have been apparent this season (full backs). Hard to have a definitive position on Ralph from the extreme fluctuations during the season, but overall I would very much back him for next season to prepare the team competently when given sufficient time. I'm much more worried about the prospects of squad ability minus Ings and Jannik, than I am the quality of coaching under Ralph.