Our CB situation.

[Code]

Everyone know we have struggled big time at CB this season, but its difficult to fully understand it before you see it infront of you.

 

I’ve put together a spreadsheet just to show how bad its been in all its glory.

 

We started the season with three CB’s and Fabinho was going to be our 4th choice.

 

Our best CB pairing, Van Dijk - Matip, have just played together once all season, away to the bitters when Van Dijk got his injury.

 

Van Dijk - Matip 1 game together

Van Dijk - Gomez 3 games together 

Matip - Gomez 1 game together.

 

Just twice have we seen three games in a row with the same CB pair.

 

Gomez and Fabinho against Ajax, Sheff Utd and FC Midtjylland, and Henderson and Kabak against Leicester, RB Leipzig and Everton.

 

These numbers are truly shocking when we actually look into it, on top of that we have had to change our goalkeeper more than normal as well because of injuries and other circumstances. 
 

Our most used player at CB this season is a midfielder.

 

Fabinho 21 games

Matip 11 games

Gomez 10 games

 

But the worst stat of all, is the fact we have started with 17 different CB pairings in 38 games so far this season. As if that was not bad enough, there will probably be more. 

[TheHowieLama]

Are you doing this stuff on government time Frode?

[Code]

3 minutes ago, TheHowieLama said:

Are you doing this stuff on government time Frode?

I’m supposed to have a week winter holiday now, so I can bring some joy to everyones life with some useful stats instead of working. 

[Bjornebye]

Imagine having that bird working for you and instead of spending every waking hour trying to get her pants off you do a spreadsheet about a crisis we all know about anyway 

[Pete]

1 minute ago, Bjornebye said:

Imagine having that bird working for you and instead of spending every waking hour trying to get her pants off you do a spreadsheet about a crisis we all know about anyway 

Oops. I misread Waking...

[Code]

1 minute ago, Bjornebye said:

Imagine having that bird working for you and instead of spending every waking hour trying to get her pants off you do a spreadsheet about a crisis we all know about anyway 

Haha but did you really know though, that it was actually this bad I mean?

 

Getting the numbers out like this makes some shocking viewing. 

[an tha]

Can you knock up a spreadie or some sort of chart to show how much we spent to try and solve this crisis...maybe comparing that spend with the average price of PL centre halves....

[Bjornebye]

10 minutes ago, Code said:

Haha but did you really know though, that it was actually this bad I mean?

 

Getting the numbers out like this makes some shocking viewing. 

I did mate yeah. And yes it is shocking 

[Guest]

The most impressive thing to come out of that spreadsheet is that Matip has played more games than van Dijk and Gomez. But only just. 

[Jennings]

I admire your data driven approach and hard work fella - but I don't need a spreadsheet for this stuff. I just know its shit.

[Trumo]

Until the Sheff Utd game yesterday, the last time we picked two out-and-out centre backs was way back in November at home to Atalanta. Since then, we've had to use Fabinho and/or Henderson in defence. That we've had to chop and change so much at the back has really hampered our midfield which has in turn hampered our attack.

[Bjornebye]

5 minutes ago, Trumo said:

Until the Sheff Utd game yesterday, the last time we picked two out-and-out centre backs was way back in November at home to Atalanta. Since then, we've had to use Fabinho and/or Henderson in defence. That we've had to chop and change so much at the back has really hampered our midfield which has in turn hampered our attack.

Can you put that in excel format please. 

[Tony Moanero]

[SasaS]

We are only just starting. There are five more untested pairings with currently fit CBs alone.

[Kevin D]

1 hour ago, Bjornebye said:

Imagine having that bird working for you and instead of spending every waking hour trying to get her pants off you do a spreadsheet about a crisis we all know about anyway 

 

Please keep your disgusting naked woman fetish to yourself.

[TheHowieLama]

Are we voting on the top two from this group?

[Bjornebye]

7 minutes ago, Kevin D said:

 

Please keep your disgusting naked woman fetish to yourself.

She's naked? 

[alles ist gut]

23 minutes ago, SasaS said:

We are only just starting. There are five more untested pairings with currently fit CBs alone.

Also Klopp was watching the reserves keep a clean sheet against Arsenal on Saturday...

[Anubis]

Screw the haters, Frode. I and many others appreciate your hard work on this topic.

[AngryOfTuebrook]

3 hours ago, Code said:

Van Dijk - Matip 1 game together

Not one game.

Ten minutes. 

 

Ten. Fucking. Minutes. 

[KMD7]

2 hours ago, Tony Moanero said:

Repped. Remember in the 80's there was always one of your mates who always went with a completely unfashionable player then the rest of us who'd want to be a Dalglish, Maradona or Zico? Well my mate is a Derby supporter and his favorite player was Steve Foster. He even wore a head band when he played footy. We still call him Foster to this day. God I miss the 80's 

[Red_or_Dead]

TL;DR we've been fucked since October.

 

 

[VladimirIlyich]

4 hours ago, Bjornebye said:

Imagine having that bird working for you and instead of spending every waking hour trying to get her pants off you do a spreadsheet about a crisis we all know about anyway 

He just imagines he's working with Nicola Sturgeon.

[cloggypop]

4 hours ago, Bjornebye said:

Imagine having that bird working for you and instead of spending every waking hour trying to get her pants off you do a spreadsheet about a crisis we all know about anyway 

Harvey Weinstein over here

[Trumo]

3 hours ago, Bjornebye said:

Can you put that in excel format please. 

 

 

As you can see, Fab has been our most reliable player at centre back. Defensively we've been much better with him back there alongside an actual centre back. The two-centre-backs figures are skewed by the anomaly that is the Villa 7-2 game where everything Villa did around our penalty area resulted in a goal. There were at least 2 deflected goals for them in that game. Our attacking numbers dropped off badly with Hendo at the back, who was mostly only played there because Fab was missing. With two centre backs, our midfield shape looks better and links better with our attack because we can play with more tempo and intensity. When we can do that, we pin teams back, make them fret and force mistakes. Looking more like our usual selves gets results. Who knew!