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Let's talk about Frank Lampard being unable to coach defense.
Chelsea are 8th in goals allowed. That's bad, right?
Chelsea are 8th in goals allowed. That's bad, right?
Looking into it a bit further, though, Chelsea have the worst xGA-GA difference of these 8 teams, allowing 7 more goals than expected given the shots they faced. If you rank teams by xGA, they go up to 5th
But, there's more. If we look at xGA from open play and shots against from open play, we're actually second in the league behind City. Both City and use give up easier shots (xGA/Sh), but we give up so fewer shots from open play that it balances out.
Where we are really, really bad is xGA from set pieces. We have given up 4 more actual goals and 5.5 more expected goal from set pieces compared to City.
So what's our problem in defence?
1. Poor goalkeeping (or bad luck, depending on how you choose to interpret the GA-xGA difference).
2. Poor organisation on set pieces (which is partially a coaching issue that should be addressed and partially personnel issue)
1. Poor goalkeeping (or bad luck, depending on how you choose to interpret the GA-xGA difference).
2. Poor organisation on set pieces (which is partially a coaching issue that should be addressed and partially personnel issue)
However, our open play defence is fine, even with the boners from Christensen and Rudiger. We're not giving up many shots. We're not giving up a lot of expected goals. The quality of the shots we give up isn't significantly different than other teams and is better than City's
We literally need a better keeper (editorial interpretation of GA-xGA difference) and better set piece organisation from having one of the best defences in the league.
(all stats are from http://www.understat.com )
(all stats are from http://www.understat.com )
