Gloversblog (Page 3)

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And now you’d better believe us.

Fire up your favoured live scores app and you’ll notice that Yeovil Town are top of the National League South by way of 13 points. Thirteen(!) points clear and we’re not even close to the end of January. You could argue that for a full-time club in a part-time division with the budget we have, 13 points clear is exactly where we should be. But for the sake of this piece, and for the sake enjoying the moment to the fullest, I’m going to ignore that and pour praise onto the manager and the players for what is, so far, a monumental effort. After all, saying you’ll piss the league and actually pissing it, are two different things.

So why are we so far clear?

Compared to last season’s National League South it does seem like the quality in the division may have dropped slightly. In terms of points tally, after 26 matches last season, the eventual winners of the league Ebbsfleet United were top on 57 points – two fewer than where Yeovil are now.

The key difference being the teams around Ebbsfleet in 2022/23. The above graphic shows that Dartford and Havant were keeping pace with the league leaders last campaign, whereas the below graphic shows that this season Yeovil have no competition towards the summit of the division.

Whilst we now know the Glovers are the best team in the league by miles, let’s for argument sake look at who might challenge in the final three months of the run in.

Maidstone United don’t score enough goals, Worthing concede too many goals and Torquay United, the pre-season bookmakers’ favourites for the league, are a huge 18 points adrift of the Glovers. Mind The Gap. Hampton have been winning games narrowly and won’t last the distance near the top while Bath City’s Plan A; Get It Wide To Jordan Thomas lacks a Plan B when they’re having an off day. You only have to look at our decision to loan out Will Buse to Bath (who were 3rd in the table at the time) to see how Mark Cooper rates their chances of challenging Yeovil.

The fact is, we’re better in every metric. We’re scoring more goals, we’ve started keeping clean sheets, we’re controlling games as Cooper wants us to and even the underlying statistics such as xG suggest the table isn’t lying. There is no team in this league that will be able to mount a sustained challenge from here on in – they just don’t have the depth or quality. It does, at times, feel like watching the Year 11s vs the Year 7s in terms of resources and experience, but we must enjoy every ounce of it because it will not be this good in seasons to come.

The squad seem to be able to grind out performance after performance and each display shows off a different weapon to the armoury. Go long against us and you’ve no chance. Jake Wannell engulfs strikers like a white blood cell protecting the body from infection and Morgan Williams gobbles up long balls like Bruce Bogtrotter. Go short against us, play us at our own game like Farnborough and Aveley tried, and our passing quality, our pressing and fitness will almost always win the day. Try to bully us like Taunton on Boxing Day and we just bully back, but harder.

Picture Courtesy of Gary Brown

Joe Day has now kept five clean sheets in the last seven games and we’ve begun showing a sturdy, robustness that has allowed the team to string runs of wins together without playing all that well on occasion. In the past four games we’ve dug out 1-0 wins at Eastbourne and Taunton – these are the gritty, determined performances that wins you leagues in the cold, winter months.

The quality we have in the squad is genuinely mind-blowing for the level. In the past month the club have been able to loan out Jordan Maguire-Drew and Alex Fisher, two players who can’t get near the starting line-up, to teams in the division above. We’ve too lost Josh Staunton, who also couldn’t get a sniff of a game, to a National League outfit. Staunton has started life well at Boreham Wood, earning Man of the Match on his home debut for the club and finding himself in the National League Team of the Week.

If these players couldn’t get a game at Yeovil but are shining in the division above, that surely bodes well for next season.

There are still 20 games to play in this league though – the manager referenced as such in his post-match interview after the 1-0 win away at Taunton Town. Complacency might be our biggest danger from now until April. The facts would say there are still 60 points to play for so promotion is far from wrapped up but if the evidence of the first 26 games is anything to go by, Yeovil Town are going to win the league.

And now you’d better believe us.

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Ian’s fingers have finally thawed out after a chilly evening in Taunton as Yeovil Town ran out victors. The gap at the top of the National League South has widened and here are his conclusions from the County town.

Frank Nouble was the difference maker. It was a game of few opportunities and when they weren’t kicking lumps out of Yeovil players, Taunton defended well. When the big chance came, Frank Nouble took it with conviction. The assist from Worthington was laid on with precision but Nouble still had work to do before beating Taunton’s keeper. It’s four goals in four games for Nouble and his connection with supporters is getting stronger each week.

Frank Nouble celebrates his fourth goal in as many games.

Sonny Blu Lo-Everton took his chance. After an exciting cameo against Bath, Lo-Everton was given the opportunity from the start against Taunton and I really enjoyed his performance again. He was direct, carried the ball through midfield and some of his touches were sublime. When he plays like that, Sonny is a joy to watch and to see him further forward gives yet another attacking combination up top.

We seemed to pick up a few knocks. The break couldn’t come at a better time. Rhys Murphy came on and went back off again after feeling his hamstring. At the time, Josh Owers was poised to come on at Charlie Cooper appeared to be struggling. Jordan Young was subjected to some pretty forceful tackles. With ten days until the visit of Hemel Hempstead, there’s a nice chunk of time to rest, recuperate and come back refreshed for the home stretch.

Courtney Senior. Picture Courtesy of Gary Brown

I’d be surprised if we extended Courtney Senior’s loan. The midfielder has shown glimpses of trickery and pace and I totally understand the logic behind his signing before Christmas. He was swapped for Rhys Murphy at half time and with the addition of Dylan Morgan I think we’ve got strength in depth in that position now. Will Dawes is growing increasingly popular and Jordan Stevens will return to training at the end of January, so we’ve got plenty of options. There’s definitely a player there, but I’m not sure we’ve seen the best of him. We were worried about options a few weeks ago, and we have managed that situation well.

And now you’re gonna believe us. Thirteen points clear. Momentum is with Mark Cooper’s team. The players are a close-knit group, that clearly believe. The teams below are wildly inconsistent and we are anything but. I know we’ve been scarred from the last decade, and as supporters we will always keep our expectations low, but come on, deep down know what’s happening here…

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Yeovil Town won again at Huish Park against Bath in a game where the Glovers weren’t at their ‘fluent best’ according to Mark Cooper. It was an important win, putting Yeovil 10 points clear at the top and here are Ian’s Conclusions from a bouncing Thatchers Stand…

It was a controlled performance. In the match at Twerton Park the Glovers never really felt in control of the game, but it was different at Huish Park. We controlled possession and after Jordan Young’s opener I thought we were comfortable. It wasn’t until the second half and Bath’s long ball where they started to get forward, and even then we won everything and looked resolute at the back. 

Yeovil Town celebrate Jordan Young’s opener. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

The first goal was a moment of magic. It was the only part of the match where things really flowed and it was Cooperball at its sumptuous best. Frank Nouble’s pass split Bath’s defence, it was inch perfect to feet of Michael Smith and his one touch pass couldn’t have been any better for Jordan Young to finish. We did that against Taunton frequently but Bath were a trickier proposition and we had to take our chances when they fell. Mark Cooper described it as a ‘trademark goal’ and it was a pattern of play we’ve grown familiar with.

Picture Courtesy of Gary Brown

I thought we invited Bath onto us with the switch to a back three. With Cody Cooke’s introduction, Bath changed tact to get the ball forward quickly and in the air. Williams and Wannell dealt with it well. Jay Foulston came on in the left of a back three and it felt like Bath grew into it. Thomas got more of the ball and we got deeper and deeper. Once Dylan Morgan came on and we switched to a back four again, we regained control with a lot of help from…

Sonny Blu Lo-Everton, who made a big impact off the bench. I thought Sonny was quality, almost like he a point to prove. He was direct, forward-thinking and really got Bath chasing back towards goal. At the time we needed someone to step in and alleviate the pressure and he did it it brilliantly. Being able to bring on someone with his ability (and the rest of the bench to be fair) is a big part of the reason why we’re 10 points clear at the top.

Picture Courtesy of Gary Brown

It’s going to take a catastrophic collapse to let this slip. The gulf between Yeovil and the rest of the league is clear. Mark Cooper’s side have been the only consistent team at the top end of the League. Yesterday, Hampton lost, Torquay drew and Worthing lost. At home we’re imperious and you’d bank on us against everyone at Huish Park. Maidstone away could be tricky, but with their cup run the subsequent fixture pile up could come back to bite them. This group has every reason to be confident, and Mark Cooper will keep them grounded to get the job done, but win against crisis-stricken Taunton on Tuesday night and a gap of 13 points is surely insurmountable for the chasing pack.

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It was a Boxing Day Bonanza at Huish Park, as Mark Cooper’s Glovers put four past Taunton in front of a record-breaking crowd. Here are Ian’s Conclusions from a packed Huish Park…

It was a day when everything clicked. From the outset, Yeovil were dominant yesterday. The Glovers controlled the ball brilliantly, the attacking play was free-flowing and, in the first half in particular, it felt like every attack could have been a goal. Defensively we were strong and controlled and it was the type of performance which clearly showed the gulf between the two teams. The early change saw Rhys Murphy come on much sooner than expected and his impact was devastating as the front four caused chaos for the Peacocks defence.

Jake Wannell gets a DDT from Nat Jarvis. ? Gary Brown

There were big performances across the pitch, in each department. Jake Wannell was in a wrestling match for the first half and was extremely impressive in not taking any bait against his former side. I thought Charlie Cooper had a great game in midfield, picking passes, making the play tick over and breaking things up. Alex Whittle, back in the side from injury, picked up where he left off. Morgan Williams, as reliable as they come. Frank Nouble was absolutely purring up front. His goal was well taken in a free-flowing move, but his assist for Michael Smith was something else. As was the performance from the right back…

Michael Smith. What else can be said about the man? He finally scored his goal, in front of the Thatchers Stand and his adoring congregation. He was relentless on the right hand side with pacey running, great deliveries into the box and was an overlapping outlet all afternoon. As I said in conclusion one, it all clicked. His partnership with Jordan Young on the right is a joy to watch on days like yesterday. This team is a result of some brilliant recruitment from Mark Cooper, but the decisions to bring in Joe Day and Smith have been game-changers for this squad.  

Michael Smith plays the ball vs Taunton
? Gary Brown

It was great to see another record-breaking crowd at Huish Park. There was anticipation in the air upon arrival to Huish Park yesterday. The Ciderspace was packed, the Chairman was behind the bar and it was all hands on deck. A club that was on life-support this time last year, is absolutely thriving, with a wave of good-will and optimism behind it. With a performance like that, in front of a crowd of 6301, some casuals will have turned into die-hard Glovers! A great afternoon on and off the pitch for a club that is unrecognisable from 12 months ago.

6301 People in Huish Park, another NLS record. ? Gary Brown

Ten Points Clear. Results below Yeovil all went the right way and the gap – which was already big – has got even bigger. We’ve had the blip and come out of it on the other side looking strong and head into the new year with momentum again. We can go to Taunton with confidence, welcome Bath for another West Country derby and make another statement. You can’t help but look at the fixtures and feel confident. And now you’re gonna believe us…

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Yeovil Town sit proudly (and deservedly) eight points clear at the National League South table this Christmas thanks to a 1-0 win at Eastbourne Borough yesterday.

A first half goal from Frank Nouble put the Glovers’ ahead before an excellent rearguard action ensure they ground out the three points.

Here are Dave’s conclusions from his vantage point in the away end of the East Sussex coast….

 

Not pretty but that’s the stuff: As halves of football go, there are not many duller ones I have seen than the second half of this one. But that was absolutely lovely. The first half saw us dominate the game, create the better chances and, see Conclusion #3, score a completely legitimate goal and after that we just had to make sure we did nothing silly. Eastbourne did not look the side which caused us issues at Huish Park and, even though they probed in the second half, I don’t recall Joe Day having a meaningful save to make. Meanwhile, we were able to rest players (notably Rhys Murphy) and conserve our energy for a busy next week. Lovely stuff.

The surface at Eastbourne was everything you fear in a 3G surface.

The surface was a shocker: With the Gloverscast gagging order on 3G pitches removed, I can say that surface was everything Josh Staunton spoke about bad surfaces in the summer. It was rock hard, did not look like it had been touched in months, and totally unpredictable as to where the ball was going to go. We’ve played on half of the eight 3G surfaces in this division with Aveley, Maidstone, Slough Town and Tonbridge Angels still to come. But that’s two wins in our last two matches on 3G, so we’ll consider the hoodoo passed.

Eastbourne assistant Jamie Strong is shown a red card. Picture courtesy of LR Photography.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with our goal: Eastbourne coach Niall Clark saw red for his protests about the manner of our goal, but there was nothing wrong with it. Referee Jack Bloxham gave the drop ball to the home side’s Freddie Carter and he did absolutely nothing to play it, so Rhys Murphy nicked in, fed Nouble and goal. For my money it was naivety from Carter and nous from Murphy.

Courtney Senior looked lively: In the first half, we saw plenty of what Courtney Senior, the winger signed on loan from Barnet the day before, could bring to this team. There’s pace there, there’s trickery there, and enough to make you think that one the right surface he could cause issues. There were a couple of occasions where he lost it, or misjudged something but that is just the life of a winger, isn’t it? 

Courtney Senior in action.
Picture courtesy of LR Photography.

Enjoy your Christmas Glovers: Eight points clear at the top of the table this Christmas, 50 points in the bag and having shown an ability to win convincingly and when we’re not playing well. I’ll take that and so will 99% of other Glovers’ fans. There’s been a few things said about us being a difficult fanbase to please, but let’s not obsess with a vocal minority. Social media is not the consensus. Given where we’ve come from to get here, this first half of the season has been outstanding. Yes, there’s half-a-season to go and nothing is won in December, but this team and this manager has us believing again. Let’s keep doing what we’re doing. Enjoy your Christmas Day one and all – and let’s have Taunton for dessert! Okay, second dessert!

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In Part Three of his statistical analysis of Yeovil Town’s centre midfield, Jonathan Hooper takes us through the varying combinations we’ve seen under Mark Cooper so far this season. You can read Part  One and Part Two here.

Midfield Combinations

Before I dive into this, I love data and what it can tell you about what is happening on the pitch, but I also know it doesn’t give the full picture. Data such as xG is done on averages, as an example some teams may play above their xG for a period of time, such as German side Union Berlin did last season to qualify for the champions league but this isn’t sustainable for a long period of time, now this season they’re near the bottom of the Bundesliga. However, xG and other metrics are good indicators of the underlying performances of teams and players.

Jordan Young celebrates his opener after 16 minutes at Welling United.

xG can only show so much, for example Yeovil had a higher xG than Welling despite losing 4-1. If we look at the xG story you can see Welling’s xG was superior to Yeovil’s until the very good Fisher chance late on.

Please bear this in mind as we look at performances from different combinations and analyse the performances.

THE DATA

Yeovil have lined up with 7 (seven) different midfield combinations so far this season in the league. Here they are:

ComboGamesWonDrawnLostPointsGoalsConcededPPMGoals PMGA PMOppo StrengthExpected PPMPossesion
Worthington & Cooper641113852.171.330.8310.81.156.3%
Worthington, Lo-Everton & Cooper41215761.251.751.5012.01.655.3%
Lo-Everton, Cooper & Williams10101111.001.001.0010.02.058.0%
Worthington, Owers & Williams11003323.003.002.0012.00.540.0%
Owers, Lo-Everton & Williams11003323.003.002.0021.00.752.0%
Worthington & Owers33009723.002.330.6710.01.656.0%
Worthington & Lo-Everton6411131382.172.171.3313.31.756.0%

Worthington & Cooper and Worthington & Lo-Everton have both player 6 games and have the same record, won 4, drawn 1 and lost 1. This gives them a PPM of 2.17 which are both above the teams average PPM of 2.14 so far this season. Worth noting that Worthington & Cooper have played against harder opposition on average. Oppo strength = league position of opposition / number of games, lower the number harder the fixtures.

Next with 4 games Worthington, Lo-Everton & Cooper, lowest PPM of a combination to play more than 1 match together. Then it is Worthington & Owers with 3 games and 3 wins, against the hardest opposition as well.

Quick look at a 2 combo v 3 combo

2 in the middle: 15 games, 11 wins, 2 draws & 2 losses. PPM of 2.33

3 in the middle: 7 games, 3 wins, 3 draws & 1 loss. PPM of 1.71

Cohesion, in team sports, especially football, I believe this is one of the most underrated parts of the game. Fans want new signings nonstop, but at what point does that become detrimental to the team? Just look at the amount of signings Chelsea & Nottingham Forest have made recently and how their performances are in relation. One company I like is Gainline analytics, they are mainly Australian sport dominated but their piece on Leicester in 2015/16 is very good, You can view it here.

Mark Cooper sends instructions on vs Hampton & Richmond. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

Keeping Mark Cooper over the summer gave Yeovil a better start to this season as it bought consistency, and his success in retaining many of the squad. During the winning run the back 5 stayed the same throughout, this can only help the team grow and understand as it moves forward. However, the rest of the team changed frequently, below I will go through the games, trying to read Mark Coopers mind, or should we call him Claudio Cooper after Claudio “the Tinkerman” Ranieri, lets find out…

START OF THE SEASON

First 4 games of the season, it was consistently Worthington & Cooper. Going by xG Yeovil slowly got better, the gap in xG between the teams grew each game. Yeovil finished ahead of their Expected points despite the loss to Hemel.

Worth pointing out Jordan Maguire-Drew, started just in front of the 2 in in midfield for each game.

OpponentPointsXG DiffExpected Points
Hemel Hempstead Town0-0.120.70
St Albans City30.231.50
Truro City30.291.50
Maidstone United10.331.50

Yeovil finished ahead of their Expected points despite the loss to Hemel. Actual 7 Expected 5.2.

Next up was Tonbridge, we started with Worthington, Cooper, & Lo-Everton for the first time. We dominate the game, xG difference is 1.10 and xPts is 2.3. Here its looks like a good change from the gaffer, 2 goals and a clean sheet. JMD didn’t start this game, in his place was Jordan Young for his first start of the season.

Sonny Blu Lo-Everton. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Next up was Havant after a 2 day turn around. Cooper selected the same trio as Saturday we started with Worthington, Cooper, & Lo-Everton, 2 changes in the back 4 and all 3 up front. However the system remained the same. We lose 4-3, we also lose the xG battle by 0.66 and our expected points is 0.5.

THE UNBEATEN RUN

Chelmsford at home sees the introduction of Williams as a DM, playing just behind a duo of Lo-Everton and Cooper. Yeovil win the xG battle by 0.75 and their xPts is 2.00 but the Glovers fail to make their chances count and draw 1-1. A positive performance.

Next up was Weston away, first of plenty Somerset derbies this season. Yeovil start Owers for the first time, Worthington and Williams joining him. Cooper misses via a suspension. Yeovil win 3-2, thanks to 3 set piece goals. However, the data suggests Yeovil got lucky. Losing the xG battle by 0.66 that means the Glovers expected points from the game was 0.5. This is where the xG story I mentioned above  comes into it a bit better, Yeovil scored 2 goals before the 20th minute. WSM got one back from a long range effort late in the first half. Yeovil get a 3rd in the 55th minute. Yeovil shut up shop and WSM throw everything at it and get a goal late on. Interestingly this game was Yeovil’s lowest possession game so far this season in the league with 40% of the ball.

Josh Owers
Josh Owers. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz

Last two games, going by data, dominate one and draw, get dominated and win.

Eastbourne were next on the list, Yeovil lined up with Owers, Lo-Everton and Williams in the middle. Worthington started as well but in more of a left wing role. Again according to the data Yeovil were lucky to come away with the win. losing the xG battle by 0.29. their xPts was 0.7.

Winning whilst not playing well, champions stuff. Despite the wins, was Cooper happy? I don’t know but for the next match he reverted back to…

Worthington & Cooper to face Hampton and Richmond. Yeovil got the win but once again lost on data and xG difference of -0.15 and xPts 0.7. However, H&R got their goal from a late penalty, in xG a penalty is worth roughly 0.75, which means on average a penalty is scored 3 out 4 times. If you were to take the penalty away, Yeovil would have won on the data.

Aveley were the next visitors, Mark Cooper changes the midfield again, due to an injury to Charlie Cooper. Incomes Josh Owers to partner Matt Worthington. this is the midfield duo for the next 3 league games (4 if you include FA Cup against Southend) These games are also the first time Yeovil reverted to a more traditional 4-4-2. Here is how the data lines up

OpponentPointsXG DiffExpected Points
Aveley30.642.00
Worthing3-0.190.70
Weymouth30.852.00

A pretty successful run of games, winning on data comfortably on two of them. The other Worthing were awarded a penalty late on, same as the H&R game. Without that penalty Yeovil would have won each game by over 0.5 on xG.

Despite the success of this partnership, it was broken up for the Braintree game. I am unsure if this was because of injury to Owers or another reason but it was the start of a six game run for a new partnership Lo-Everton and Worthington.

OpponentPointsXG DiffExpected Points
Braintree Town3-0.070.70
Torquay United30.351.50
Dover Athletic33.002.70
Farnborough30.341.50
Chippenham Town11.012.30
Welling United00.081.50

You can see against Braintree it was a pretty even affair, not helped by the weather. Yeovil got a bit lucky in this game as the data shows. Then a strong run of form winning each game on data as well as on the pitch.

Matt Worthington. Picture courtesy of Iain Morland.

Chippenham, looking at the data it was one of our best away performances of the season, we did struggle to score on the day but the xG suggests we should have been comfortable winners.

Welling, as I mentioned at the start, we won the xG but they were leading until late on. It wasn’t Yeovil’s best performance of the season but not one where you’d expect them to concede 4.

RECENT GAMES

After the loss to Welling Mark Cooper decided to change up the midfield duo and formation.

OpponentPointsXG DiffExpected Points
Bath City3-0.160.70
Dartford11.652.70
Hampton & Richmond1-0.130.70

Bath game, Cooper replaces Lo-Everton and partners Worthington. we got lucky, had one chance and took it. That said Bath never really created a golden opportunity and only just beat us on xG. Dartford, we revert back to 3 in midfield with Worthington, Cooper and Lo-Everton, the data suggests we played well, created numerous chances but didn’t take all of them, whilst Dartford were the clinical ones. Similar to the Chippenham game.

Hampton & Richmond, continuing with the trio in midfield of Worthington, Cooper and Lo-Everton. Pretty even game one that we did lose the xG battle on just but a draw was probably a fair result.

RANKING

I have scored each of the combinations, based on fixture difficulty and xPts, here is my rankings

RankingComboScore
1Worthington Owers0.47
2Worthington Lo-Everton0.28
3Worthington Cooper0.22
4Lo-Everton Cooper Williams0.20
5Worthington Lo-Everton Cooper0.16
6Worthington Owers Williams0.13
7Owers Lo-Everton Williams0.10

Worthington & Owers come out on top, do you think they should start more often?

HOME AND AWAY

I am often interested in how teams fair differently playing away from home. Yeovil’s PPM is 0.80 per game less away from home. What causes this I do not know. Teams do seem braver at home. The fact Yeovil have lost to 2 of the bottom 4 also baffles me. Lets have a look to see what combinations have done what home and away

CombinationHome GamesHome PointsHome PPMHome xPtsAway GamesAway PointsAway PPMAway xPts
Worthington Cooper372.334.50362.002.10
Worthington Lo-Everton Cooper242.003.00210.503.20
Lo-Everton Cooper Williams111.002.00000.000.00
Worthington Owers Williams000.000.00133.000.50
OwersLo-Everton Williams133.000.70000.000.00
Worthington Owers263.004.00133.000.70
Worthington Lo-Everton393.004.90341.335.30

Conclusion

In the first part what struck me was the slight imbalance of having 2 or 3 right footed players in central midfield. I didn’t have the data to compare the midfield to a midfield with one right and one left footed player.

The second part we could start to see different aspects of players games from different metrics and stats. each player had their stand out aspect, from Owers being more feisty and getting stuck in to Lo-Everton creating chances.

In this part we can see how the different combinations fair. Owers & Worthington finished top in my metric, is that because of the balance of a right & left footed player, luck or something else? Do the tweaks that Mark Cooper makes help or hinder the side over a long term?

As Mark Cooper said in his recent press conference, we may not be winning every game currently but the data performances are generally good, if not better now than they were during the winning run. As I said at the start data can only tell you so much, if you take an early lead then look to control the game may be a success getting results but the data looks poor. We all know which one we would prefer to win between actual points and xG/xPts.

What we can see from the data is that every player and every combination has their strengths & weaknesses, lets all hope Mark Cooper can get this best out of them. Go on the Glovers!

What duo or trio would you pick to start?

SPEED OF PLAY

One thing I’ve heard recently from other supporters is that some players slows down play, I do not have the data to prove or disprove this. However, as a bonus, below is a chart showing passes per 90 and passing rate for every team in the league. Higher the passing rate the faster a team moves the ball.

Do you have any thoughts about Jonathan’s epic three-parter? Leave a comment below.

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Here is the second of three posts looking into Yeovil Town’s central midfield and what the data tells us. You can read Part One here. As with  part one, I have included Brett McGavin from Torquay as a reference point and  Luke Russe from Bath City.

ATTACK

GOALS AND ASSISTS

NameGoalsGoals per 90xGAssistsAssists per 90Expected AssistsSecond AssistsThird AssistsShotsShots per 90xG Per Shot
Worthington20.092.1330.141.8701231.050.09
Cooper00.000.7920.161.1300110.890.07
Lo-Everton10.090.2930.272.320170.720.04
Owers10.140.18000.340050.640.04
McGavin60.390.91000.3310171.10.05
Russe00.000.41000.741100.260.00

We can see Matt Worthington is leading the way with 2 goals from an xG of 2.13, with a goal every 10 games or so. Worthington is also our only midfielder to have equal or more than 1 shot per game on average.

Sonny Blu Lo-Everton as the same goals per 90 but has scored one goal and played less games. Lo-Everton only has an xG of 0.29 from 7 shots, thats less than 1 shot per game on average. Which I find quite surprising after the positioning analysis done in Part 1. 

Charlie Cooper is yet to score, despite having 11 shots and 0.79 xG. Surely his first Yeovil goal is coming soon.

Josh Owers
Josh Owers. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz

Josh Owers has a goal, a winner against this weekend’s opponents Eastbourne Borough. Of our 4 midfielders Owers has the least shots per game (0.64) and the lowest xG created 0.18.

McGavin has an impressive 6 goals from 0.91xG, tip for anyone playing Torquay watch the edge of your area with him about!

ASSISTS

King of the assists from midfield is Lo-Everton with 3, that’s an assist once every 4 games. His expected assists is slightly lower than his actual at 2.32. Part of that could be explained as he passed to Nouble as he chipped the Eastbourne keeper from miles out. His other two assists were both to Hyde and Young and were both passes. He also has one third assist to his name.

Next up is Worthington with 3 assists from an expected assists of 1.87, which shows he is getting more assists than you would expect. His assists include a cross to Wannell to win the game against the Truro, his other two are both passes to Jordan Young.

Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Charlie Cooper has 2 assists currently, one from a free kick against Bath. He was also the corner taker against Havant where we scored our first goal, which I don’t think is counted. His open play assist came against Truro with a pass to Olly Thomas. He has an expected assists of 1.13 and an assist every 0.16 games.

Josh Owers bottom again, no assists yet for him this season but he does have an expected assist of 0.34.

Interestingly from open play our central midfield have  provided 3 assists in the opening 5 games and only 4 in the 16 since.

CROSSES, DRIBBLES AND FOULS

NameCrossesCrosses per 90DribblesDribbles per 90Touches in the BoxTouches in the Box per 90FouledFouled per 90
Worthington291.32210.96200.91140.64
Cooper90.73161.2950.4292.34
Lo-Everton80.73201.8290.8240.36
Owers50.7250.7220.2971.00
McGavin40.26161.0450.32110.71
Russe01.250.170.82

Worthington makes the most crosses by over 0.5 per 90 compared to other Yeovil midfielders. The other three all make just under 0.75 a game.

Matt Worthington.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Lo-Everton makes the most (1.82) dribbles per 90, next is cooper with 1.29 per 90, then Worthington with 0.96 and finally Owers with 0.72 per 90.

Worthington has the most touches in the box per 90 but it is still below 1 per game. Lo- Everton second, followed by Cooper and Owers.

Cooper is the 3rd most fouled player in the league winning 2.34 free kicks per 90. Owers is second most fouled Yeovil midfielder with 1 per 90, Worthington third with 0.64 and Lo-Everton last with 0.34 per 90.

DEFENCE

NameDuels per 90Duel SuccessInterceptions per 90Aerial Duels per 90Aerial Duel SuccessShots Blocked per 90Progressive Passes Allowed per90Fouls per 90
Worthington5.4862.50%3.702.4748.15%0.095.661.19
Cooper7.8369.07%3.961.780.405.330.97
Lo-Everton5.2063.16%3.190.640.404.470.64
Owers9.3260.00%3.733.150.146.452.01
McGavin8.2262.99%5.833.3761.57%0.393.561.10
Russe6.4365.77%5.873.280.305.310.56

Owers starts to show himself here, he makes the most duels however his success rate is below the others, The number of successful duels is still the highest at 5.6 per game, Cooper next best with 5.4 successful duels per game. Unsurprisingly Lo-Everton makes the least amount of duels.

Interceptions, if you look at Russe and McGavin both are around 2 more per 90 minutes than any of Yeovil’s midfielders. It may just be a style thing, Yeovil are ranked 39th out of the 48 teams for interceptions (808) and rank 7th for possession, 53.6% on average.

Aerial Duels is a metric that interests me as I often notice Yeovil either not competing for the ball or losing the second ball. Whilst there is no data on the second ball part. Aerial Duels suggest we don’t compete much for it when it is in the air middle of the pitch. Owers makes the most attempts with 3.15 per 90, then it is Worthington with 2.47, but he only wins 48% of them, that’s 1.2 aerial duels he wins a game. Cooper is third with 1.78 a game and Lo-Everton only has 0.64 aerial duels per game. This order pretty much matches their height order (Heights from Wyscout)

  • Owers 6’1″
  • Worthington 5’10”
  • Cooper 5’9″
  • Lo-Everton 5’7″
  • McGavin 6’0″
  • Russe 5’5″

McGavin has the most duels and wins the most out of the 6 players listed. However, Russe the shortest player competes for the second highest amount of aerial duels per 90. Does this mean its a tactic from Yeovil not to compete for them or they just don’t happen that often in Yeovil games?

Sonny Blu Lo-Everton. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Progressive passes allowed per 90, here the lower the number the better, Lo-Everton comes out on top for the Yeovil players, but is that because he plays further forward generally? Worthington and Cooper are about the same, but Owers lets 6.45 past him per 90, the highest amount on our list. McGavin once again topping this stat.

The last metric I’m looking at today is fouls per 90, Owers tops this one with just over 2 per 90, which is 0.22 duel per foul. Worthington also has a 0.22 duels per foul, whilst Cooper and Lo-Everton also have a similar duels per foul of 0.12. McGavin may give away 1.1 foul a game but his duels to fouls ratio is 0.13. For transparency, Russe duels to fouls is 0.09.

CONCLUSIONS

Before going this analysis I had some preconceptions, especially about Charlie Cooper and his defensive role. The number suggest he is better than I thought. However, when you compare all four of our midfielders’ defensive stats to Torquay’s McGavin, all come second best. If this was football manager, a tall Defensive Midfielder is a player I would be scouting for, if I couldn’t get McGavin.

Attack wise Lo-Everton’s stats come out on top. Because Yeovil do not have a singular DM I do wonder if this limits the attacking threat of the midfielders.

  • Best attacking midfielder is Lo-Everton
  • Best all round midfielder is Worthington
  • Best defensive midfielder is McGavin (Cooper for Yeovil)

In the next and final piece on Yeovil central midfield I will look at the midfield combinations used so far this season by Mark Cooper, or is it Claudio Cooper?

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In a series of posts I am going to be looking into Yeovil Town’s Central Midfielders, their individual stats, positioning and how they get on in different combinations.

In this, the first part I will look at High level stats, construction, and positioning. Coming up later in the week will be the second part on attack & defence and a third and final piece on the different combinations that Mark Cooper has used so far this season.

Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Seven players have played in central midfield this season, Matt Worthington, Charlie Cooper, Sonny Blu Lo-Everton, Josh Owers, Morgan Williams, Josh Staunton and Jordan Maguire-Drew. The latter two played in the cup against Didcot, whilst Williams started 3 league games at Defensive Midfield (DM), for the data analysis all 3 players are excluded.

Also included Brett McGavin from Torquay as a reference point. He is one of, if not, the best midfielders in the league who is not at Yeovil. When we look at positioning we will look into Luke Russe from Bath a bit more depth.

There will be a lot of terms you may not be aware of such as “Smart Pass” or “Key Pass”, if so please visit Wyscouts Glossary here

HIGH LEVEL

Here are each players high level stats.

NameFootAgeAppearancesMinutesGoalsAssistsPPMPoints Difference
WorthingtonRight25201971222.190.05
CooperRight26131115021.73-0.41
Lo-EvertonRight2113987131.83-0.30
OwersLeft219628103.000.86
McGavinRight2317139060
RusseRight2422208500

If you were planning to play 2 in the middle, from an quick initial look you would say Worthington and Owers should start as when they play the team picks up more points.  Lets dive deeper into the data to see if it aligns.

CONSTRUCTION (AKA PASSING)

NamePasses per 90Pass Accuracy %Accurate Passes per 90Long Passes per 90Long Pass Accuracy% of Long PasesPasses to Final Third per 90Passes to Final Third AccuracyThrough Passes per 90Key Passes per 90Smart Passes per 90
Worthington39.5483.95%333.2447.89%8%6.8571.33%0.640.370.32
Cooper43.5979.81%356.7045.78%15%9.7760.33%1.610.080.16
Lo-Everton39.2186.51%342.286%5.1166.07%0.730.550.46
Owers23.6573.33%173.4415%5.8856.10%0.860.140.14
McGavin44.0383.53%373.6353.57%8%7.971.31%0.580.060.45
Russe37.2180.05%306.3555.10%17%6.9965.43%0.470.090.22

From this we can see that Cooper makes the most passes on average, however, both Worthington and Lo-Everton are both more accurate with their passes. Whilst Owers plays less passes and his accuracy is below the other 3.

Charlie Cooper sends the ball forward
Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

Cooper also plays more long passes than the others despite his accuracy being below 50%. Bother Cooper and Owers pass the ball long 15% of the time. Whilst Lo-Everton only plays long passes 6% of the time.

When passing to the final third Owers’ and Cooper’s accuracy goes AWOL. Cooper attempts nearly 10 a game which is 3 more than Worthington who has the second most passes to the final third, however, Worthington’s accuracy is 11% better.

With Key passes and Smart passes, Lo-Everton is a class of his own. Whilst it shows Owers and Cooper are more conservative players not looking for the miracle ball, or could it be they are more defensive as if you compare these two metrics to Russe they are pretty close.

PROGRESSION

Next up is Progression (attempting to draw the team significantly closer to the opponent goal by running with or passing the ball)

NameProgressive Passes per 90Progressive Pass AccuracyProgressive Runs per 90Ball Progression per MinuteBall Progression by run per 90Ball Progression by passes per 90Deep Complitions per 90
Worthington6.8082.551.192.52.178.110.82
Cooper7.3572.530.732.483.1214.870.97
Lo-Everton5.0272.731.912.125.3012.081.64
Owers4.870.291.22.6512.780.57
McGavin6.7368.272.522.7511.920.32
Russe7.3467.650.522.090.997.120.3

Worthington’s accuracy here is a step above the others, his ball progression per minute is also 2.5 meters per minute. At the other end Owers, who doesn’t run or pass the ball as much as the others only progresses with the ball 1.2 meters per minute.

ONE LINE SUMMARY ON EACH PLAYER

Worthington – Best passing midfielder we have.

Cooper – Good passing accuracy but when going forward his accuracy drops.

Lo-Everton – Our most creative player in the middle of the pitch.

Owers – Only left footed player of the 4, doesn’t have the ball as much as the others.

POSITIONING
VS BATH CITY

Yeovil lined up 5-2-3, with Cooper & Worthington in the middle. This formation changed to a 4-4-2 near the end of the first half after Dawes had replaced Whittle.

From this passing position graphic you can see that Yeovil’s midfield were all central right. Leaving Dawes/Whittle alone on the left. I found this surprising especially as Jordan Thomas was attacking the side where the space is on the picture above, 61% of Bath’s attacks came down this side.

Attacks wise with the position of the central midfielders, you would assume most attacks came from the right or centre. However, only 48% came from the right, 50% came from the left (Thanks to Mr Dawes), whilst only 2% came through the middle despite playing incredibly narrow, were we missing Lo-Everton?

Cooper & Worthington only made 36 passes between them the whole game, only 1 pass to each other the whole game, despite them playing so close, or is it because they were playing too close?

7 of Cooper’s 15 passes went to the starting centre backs, 3 to Young and 3 to Dawes. 6 of Worthington’s passes went to Smith, and 8 to the starting centre backs.

There is a reasonable gap between defence and midfield.  You can see below, Hayfield, Bath’s number 8, had a bit of space to work in.

If we look at Bath’s passing position chart, guess which player Russe is?

He is number 19! Bath are a lot more symmetrical on the eye, not that symmetrical means better on the grass. Note number 2 Raynes and 15 Jordan Williams, they made 26 passes to each other. The most in the game, was this because of Yeovil’s lopsided midfield?

VS DARTFORD

Sonny Blu Lo Everton tries his luck. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.Yeovil lined up 4-4-3, with Cooper, Lo-Everton & Worthington in the middle.


You can see from the image, Cooper (24) is the deeper of the 3, almost level with Wannell (6), unsurprisingly because of their closeness Cooper passed to Wannell 7 times during the game, which was over 20% of his passes.

Worthington (8) filling the left space which was empty against Bath, makes 12 passes to Dawes, thats over quarter of his passes. Less than 20% of his passes were to the centre backs.

Lo-Everton only made 21 passes the whole game, 33% to the centre backs, next highest was 20% of his passes going to Jordan Young.

Cooper and Lo-Everton passed to each other 3 times
Cooper and Worthington passed to each other  8 times
Worthington and Lo-Everton passed to each other 5 times

Was Lo-Everton too far forward and isolated or was it because Cooper was playing too deep and/or playing further to the left?

Attack wise 45% came from the left and 42% through the middle.

POSITIONING CONCLUSION

The data sample is too small to jump to any firm conclusions. However, it does raise a couple of questions, Cooper and Worthington seem to bunch in the examples shown. Are they too similar of a player to play in the same team or could it be that the players may struggle with the changes in tactics each game.  This is especially apparent when you look at Bath’s positioning, they have system and stick to it and have strong cohesion.

Another thing to bear in mind is 3 of the 4 players are right footed which means the balance is out. Left footed centre backs are rare in today’s game. Thanks to Wannell it is not a problem for Yeovil, however is left footed central midfielder an issue?

Maybe in part 2 some of these questions will be answered…

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It wasn’t quite the fairy tale return to Huish Park after four weeks on the road, in-form Hampton and Richmond came to town and battled to a 0-0 draw. Ian was at Huish Park and here are his conclusions…

It was another game where we spurned chances. It’s become a growing theme in recent games that we’ve not been able to finish good chances. We saw it at Chippenham and Dartford on the road, and it was the same on the return to Huish Park. Rhys Murphy had two good opportunities in the first half and Frank Nouble should have scored when he was played through by Sonny Blu Lo-Everton. With Hyde and Stevens injured, Fisher still finding fitness and Cox back at Exeter we could do with a top up up top.

Rhys Murphy wide of goal. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

You can see why Hampton and Richmond have enjoyed a good run. They had early chances in both halves and we struggled to break them down. They were disciplined defensively and when they our press and got the ball to Jake Gray they had good moments around the edge of the box. When they brought on Bloomfield in the second half if gave them an extra man up top and his physicality gave our defence an extra battle to contend with. While Joe Day had more routine saves to make, I thought we were pretty comfortable defensively.

Sonny Blu Lo Everton tries his luck. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

We took too long to get some pace on.  It wasn’t until the 88th minute that Will Dawes was introduced and he had one sprint down the wing which had Hampton backpedalling towards goal. It was a flat atmosphere at Huish Park, and we needed a spark to get the fans going. Dawes gives us that with his direct running so it was a shame to not see him earlier. Without Stevens, Dawes is the only attacking pace we have and when Mark Cooper says he wants to strengthen in the forward areas, that’s where I think we could do with more.

Jay Foulston had a solid debut. Our Friday night signing came straight into the team while Alex Whittle is still recovering. He got himself into good positions going forward and looks to have fitted in straight away. Before the match, Mark Cooper said he’d been on the club’s radar for a while but the deal wasn’t financially possible until now with Taunton’s troubles. We’ve been wanting depth at left back to provide cover for Alex Whittle and now we’ve got a genuine battle for position.

Jay Foulston finds his man. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

I have questions about the midfield. We’ve reverted to a three, with Charlie Cooper, Matt Worthington and Lo-Everton. Matt Worthington was given a license to roam yesterday but spent of a lot of time in left midfield in the 2nd half as it became more of a 4-4-2. In the switch to 4-3-3, I feel we’ve taken away from the attack. It was a familiar tale to the start of the season with a lot of possession in between the boxes but that lack of magic as we entered the box. I think we’ve got four good centre midfielders in Cooper, Worthy, Lo-Everton and Josh Owers and I think we’ve played better with two in midfield rather than three. Three gives us control of game but if Jordan Young doesn’t produce a moment there’s no one else who can.

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Welcome to Yeovil, Jay Foulston!

There’s a new Glover in town, Jay Foulston has followed Jake Wannell from Taunton to Yeovil and it’s an exciting signing, Callum Hallett has taken a deep dive into the new man in town… here’s what we can expect!

In this analysis I will be explaining who Jay Foulston is and what sort of player he is using, prior knowledge as well as getting a point of view from @Jaakecruump, who has watched many of the Welshman’s games over the last few years! Finally I will be using stats from the brilliant @Hoopsss to backup my points to give people a clear understanding of what type of player Yeovil have signed.

Enjoy the read! It’s a lot of words!

 

What sort of player is Jay Foulston?

Foulston is a player Yeovil have been crying out for in the last couple of weeks. A versatile, left footed defender who can play at left wingback in a 5, left back in a 4 or even left side of central defence in a 3 or 4! His quality both on and off the ball at such a young age (23) is why this is such a brilliant signing for Mark Cooper and his Yeovil side. This is vital for a manager like Cooper as we know he is always changing his formation game by game and even in games as well!

I spoke to former Taunton Town media assistant Jake Crump to get an opinion on the Glovers’ new signing from the eyes of someone who would’ve seen the talented defender player dozens of times for the Peacocks.

The way Jake described Jay is that “he was the first player you’d fall in love with when you watched Taunton”. This is always a good thing you want to hear after signing a player is that they fight for the badge and leave nothing out on the pitch. These words are backed up with some stats from Foulston so far this season:

• 4.71 Ariel duels per 90.

• 4.59 defensive duels per 90.

• 6.12 interceptions per 90.

As Jay is a defender, these 3 stats are massively key for him, 6.12 interceptions per 90 is the 29th highest out of any player in the National League South.

Mark Cooper is a manager who likes his defenders to be commanding and powerful when challenging for duels.

However, he is also a threat going forward as well, whether that be from a set piece, which is where he scored his only goal this season, or whether it is from distance in play or in a deadball situation. Jake said that Foulston has a “fantastic strike on him!”

As we know, Wannell and Williams both have 3 goals so far this season and (Wannell especially) loves to come out of defence and have a shot if he can 

It isn’t just his shooting that causes trouble for opposition defences, his passing is impressive as well! In a Taunton side that isn’t always looking to keep the ball for long periods, Foulston still manages to make 31 passes per 90, including 7.76 progressive passes per 90. A progressive pass is ”a pass that significantly advances the ball towards the opponents goal.” Despite playing the majority of his football this season as a left sided centre half, Jay Foulston still makes 0.71 deep completions per 90. A deep completion is where “a pass is completed within the penalty area of the oppositions goal.” 

This is Cooper’s perfect style of centre half, someone who is confident on the ball, allowing his sides to progress the ball forward. Foulston will be able to show his skill set even more in a Yeovil shirt as we are a side who like to keep the ball.

How many times have we seen Jake Wannell bring the ball out of defence from that left side position, into the midfield to create a massive overload, allowing us to keep the ball?

This is exactly how Jay Foulston will thrive in this team, giving him the freedom to roam out of defence when we have the ball, giving us an extra body in midfield. So far this season, Foulston completes 1.76 dribbles per 90 and travels with the ball 2.43 metres per minute! To put that into perspective, Will Dawes does 2.5 metres per minute!

Jay Foulston chases down now Yeovil Town team-mate Alex Fisher in last season’s FA Cup tie with Taunton.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

How does Foulston fit in?

Cooper has made his intentions clear in many games this season, he is willing to change formation and player positions around on many occasions from game to game, or even sometimes minute to minute! For example, against Bath, we started in a back 5 but when Whittle got injured we changed to a back 4 or even a back 3 with Smith stepping into midfield. Personally, I believe Foulston is best suited at left centre half in a back 2 or back 3 as it allows himself a lot of time on the ball, where he can show off his quality, progressing the ball into midfield.

It will be interesting to see how Cooper sets up, and whether Foulston plays at all on Saturday. Good luck Jay!

Once again thank you too Jonathan Hooper, and Jake Crump for their help with this Foulston analysis, i hope you enjoyed the read!