Shooting
If you don’t shoot, you won’t score. There are plenty of stats around shooting, so let’s get straight in.
In terms of actual numbers of shots, Jorge Grant leads the way with 71 throughout the season. Next up is Brennan Johnson with 67, and Anthony Scully third with 58. When that is transferred to shot per minute, it makes Anthony Scully the most prolific in terms of efforts, having one every 39 minutes. Theo Archibald is actually ahead of him with one every 34, but hasn’t been on the field enouh to collect meaningful data (if there is such a thing). It does make me wonder if Theo might be a good shout in the dying embers of games, but it’s Michael’s call, not mine. Johnson is next up with an effort every 43 minutes, and Morgan Rogers third (or fourth if you count Theo) with a shot every 45 minutes. I do find it interesting that Tom Hopper averages a shot every 91 minutes, behind Howarth and James Jones (62 minutes), Grant (52 minutes) and Harry Anderson (51 minutes). Given Liam Bridcutt’s goal against MK Dons last season, it’s also a surprise to see his shooting stats very low, an effort every 210 minutes.
Accuracy is a little different because it doesn’t take into account a defender who might get just six shots away all season, but come out with 66.7% accuracy (Joe Walsh has that stat). Conor McGrandles is hugely impressive from midfield, coming in with 68.2%, with Remy Howarth’s next on 61.5%.
The forwards are expected to be lower down, as they shoot more, with the most accurate dedicated attacking player being Anthony Scully on 53.4%. What I would say is McGrandles is looking very impressive in these stats, both passing and shooting accuracy is decent. Also, those shots on target from all players might be accurate, but if they’re trickling through to the keeper there is little point, so take the numbers subjectively.
The other stat I love which I’ll touch upon is xG, but I’ll be brief as I know it winds a few up. I took the players xG, and their actual goals, to see if anyone stood out as being particularly lethal (higher goals than xG), or wasteful (lower goals than xG). I’d say a two-goal swing in either direction would be notable, and the most wasteful player according to the xG is Jorge Grant. This stands to reason though, as a missed penalty contributes quite a bit. Jorge has 13 goals and an xG of 14.94. Other ‘wasteful’ players (used in the loosest terms), are TJ Eyoma, with no goals but xG of 1.28, and Brennan Johnson, with six goals and 7.7 xG.
At the other end of the spectrum, Lewis Montsma is still the biggest overperformer thanks to his early season strikes, with a 2.94 swing in the other direction. This might surprise some, but Tom Hopper is next, with nine goals and just 6.63 xG. The Devil’s Advocate point to make here is the relatively low xG for a striker, pointing to the other work Hopper does. As a balance, Matt Rhead’s xG from our first season back in the league was 11.13 from 3300 (approx) minutes and nine goals. It does suggest Hopper has been more clinical than some might think, but that he doesn’t get the chances as often as some.
Two others who are in considerable credit are Tayo Edun (1.52 more goals than xG) and Callum Morton (1.01). I like the fact Morton is ranked there, it suggests we might have a goal machine just waiting to kick in and get us over the line in these next few months.
Dribbling
I’ve left this until last, which might be unusual. In years gone by, I’ve felt we have always had one or two players who like a dribble, but no more. this season, that is much different and we have plenty of players who want to run at defenders.
The most ambitious dribblers, without surprise, are Johnson and Rogers, with 6.56 and 5.82 per game respectively. Harry Anderson is next, he makes 3.64 dribbles per game, with Tayo Edun fourth (3.18) and Jorge Grant fifth (2.90).
In terms of dribble success, you might be surprised. A successful dribble is classed as a dribble with a positive action at the end of it, a pass, shot etc. This will definitely surprise a few, but our most successful dribbler is Morgan Rogers, with a 73.4% success rate. That is the third-best figure in the entire division, and for me goes some way to dispelling the notion that I’ve seen from some that he is struggling. Omitting the next two placed players (Max Sanders with just three dribbles and Adam Jackson with just six), Jorge Grant is impressing with 60.3% success, followed by Harry Anderson (56.9%). Brennan Johnson might be ninth in terms of success, but his 210 dribbles this season include 194 in the league, the fifth-highest from any player at any club.
It suggests to me that one of these days, those two explosive players who some consider a luxury are going to put a team to the sword with devastating consequences.
Average Rating
As you may have seen, I have been collecting average ratings from players starting in October, so the final stat isn’t from Wyscout, it is from you. I’ve only included players with ten games or more on this by the way.
The players with the highest average rating so far are Joe Walsh and Jorge Grant, tied on 7.12. Of course, Grant has played more matches, but it does show how impressive Walsh has been. Next up, on 7.04, is Harry Anderson, with Liam Bridcutt third (or fourth if you count the first two as tied), with 6.99. It is worth mentioning McGrandles, the hidden threat, who is just behind Bridcutt on 6.94, but having played many more minutes.
Conclusion
I guess you can draw whatever conclusions you want from stats, you’ll either find this interesting or dull as dishwater. Personally, I love compiling them and find it fascinating to see the rise of Conor McGrandles, who did not feature all that much when we did the same numbers in October. He’s certainly grown into the side and he’s going to be really important with no Grant or Bridcutt over the coming weeks.
I liked the fact most of the players still appeared high up in something, as they did back in October. It shows we still have a rounded team of able players and it suggests we should have the ability to get through this sticky patch and back to the automatic promotion places.