Helping Hands 2023/2024

07/05/2024 10:00

To repeat the annual explanation… my definition of “assists” is on the generous side, including as it does deflected final passes, shots which are saved and the rebound converted and so forth.  I’d also include being fouled for a converted penalty.

In contrast to the 41 players used last season this is a short list, the 28 names used in 2023/24 (of whom only 24 made more than a token number of appearances) reflecting a much smaller squad and better management of fitness.  It’s not completely unprecedented…  we used fewer players in total in 2018/19, for example, when thanks to our cup run we played 46 games in all competitions as compared to this season’s 50.  Nor are our figures outrageously low by the standards of the division;  four other clubs, including champions Leicester, used 27 players or fewer in League games.  Nonetheless, the smaller roster reflects a (necessary) change in tack under the Pozzos, particularly in the days of five from nine substitutes which might have been expected to inflate the numbers.

If our lack of traditional goal threat contributed to the focus on shooting from distance which saw goals spread around a bit, so too the assists;  13 players assisted between twice and four times (comparable tallies in the last five seasons ranged between 4 and 7) and it’s an unsurprising cause for concern that only likely departee Yáser Asprilla recorded more than this number (again, between 2 and 5 recorded 5 or more in each of the last five seasons).  Worth noting, however, that only one of Asprilla’s assists – the final day corner for Wesley Hoedt – came from a set piece, the majority of the others crosses or passes in open play.  More than anything, the figures reflect what Tom has already intimated, the lack of goal threat manifesting as a scatter of assists across the whole squad.  No reliable threat means no stock goals, no Ardley dumping the ball back stick for Heidar to throw himself at.

A lot of water has passed under the bridge since the opening day, but you’d have gotten long odds on Watford and Queens Park Rangers finishing the season on the same number of points on the evidence of that afternoon.  Long odds, too, on the creators of the four goals – Ken, Louza, Ngakia and swashbuckling midfielder Francisco Sierralta – providing only five more assists between them over the course of the rest of the season.  In the former two cases, injury and of course mid-season departure contributed to previously reliable sources of goals having lower contribution rates this time out.

If you’re looking for reasons to be optimistic, Giorgi Chakvetadze managed three despite coming to a new country and rarely being given a full ninety minutes until later in the season when his form kicked on, whilst Ismaël Koné perhaps boasted the most aesthetically pleasing selection, releasing Ryan Andrews to score against Sunderland, executing an alert, dextrous flick to put Matheus Martins through at Preston and, the pick of the bunch, providing an outrageous pass to feed Yáser Asprilla’s late run against Sheffield Wednesday, albeit the Colombian had plenty to do.  If he can add a few more mundane assists to the spectacular efforts next season we’ll see him taking up some of the slack.

End of Term Report to follow…

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