Trying not to lose perspective for the worse, when arguably having lost perspective for the better after the Coventry win. That was so chuffing good though, a bolt-out-of-the-blue away performance, followed by nearly a month of home comforts. Today was about as tough an away fixture as you can find at this level, but boy was the first half bad again, regardless of opponent.
16 points from our 13 away games, this places us 12th on a PPG basis. A little worryingly, our remaining fixtures lean towards travel: 10 away, 8 home. By contrast, Boro have 8 away and 9 home. Spinning positively, we've played all the very best now, but we also struggled badly against two of the very worst in the division, so is that a compelling caveat? Maybe it is.
The second gremlin remains the Nunez alternative. When he starts in his rightful place we average 2.38 PPG. When he doesn't we average 1.27 PPG. It's the difference between finishing 1st and finishing 14th and, much as I wish to attribute this discrepancy to our notorious "gelling" at the beginning of the season, a rare performance without him in the side doesn't inspire such confidence. He's truly the glue.
Our third and final gremlin, battling back, we're 18th for points gained when conceding first. This is when averaged to a PPG basis, otherwise we'd be 19th: 4 draws, 6 defeats, 0.40 PPG. To our credit, we're dominant when scoring first and are very good at not conceding first, which concurs with our defensive strengths. Coventry by contrast average 1.63 PPG, Boro 0.85.
Whether this was a blip or the continuation of season-long trends, thankfully we don't have long to wait. February will reveal all. I'm going positively in favour of the blip on two counts, respecting Sheff Utd's strengths, just not in the Nunez dilemma. Prayers go to our Chilean. 🙏 |  |
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