With the A-League season edging towards its climax, I thought I’d see what the statistics for the season so far can tell us about our teams and how they were doing.
The below statistics are accurate as at submission, and are drawn only from the teams’ A-League clashes.
Brisbane Roar
A pre-season fitness focus seems to have paid off for the Roar, who were getting a bit slow last year.
Of the Roar’s goals this season, 30.8 percent were scored in the 75-to-90 minute period and 61.5 percent were scored in the second half.
The Roar have consistently finished strong, taking the lead or building on it towards the end of the match. This has helped them to 39 goals for and only 21 against. The number 14 in the wins column is also telling as a statistic.
Adelaide United
Their attack (39 goals) has been similarly strong to the Brisbane Roar, however their defence (31 goals against) has been atrocious. Less than half of their goals (48.8 percent are in the second half) and a third of them are in the 15-to-30 minute mark.
In a contrast to the Roar, who get stronger over the course of the game, the Adelaide get weaker. They on average get their first goal at 31 minutes and concede their first at 39, but have as many wins as losses.
Also noteworthy is their strong home and poor away form, winning six at home but only two away.
This said, their form is good coming into the second half of the season and though this is not quantitative, their football is great to watch.
Western Sydney Wanderers
One thing that comes out of Western Sydney Wanderers statistics is consistency.
They have beaten no team by more than 3-1, nor has a team beaten them by more than 3-1.
They finish reasonably well, given that they concede first on average in the 44th minute and score on average in the 49th minute, but have gone on to nine wins versus six losses.
Melbourne Victory
In contrast to the Wanderers, the Victory seem quite inconsistent, sometimes playing brilliantly and sometimes struggling (failing to score in seven games).
The most telling statistic is goals against (37 at 1.68 per match), though they’ve had nine wins and seven losses.
In the Victory’s favour they’re quite similar to the Roar in that they finish strong, with 27.3 percent of goals in minutes 75 to 90 and an amazing two-thirds of their goals scored in the second half.
As an aside, before the Glory on Saturday, there was a 15-game run without a clean sheet. They’ve only had one away clean sheet this season.
Though Coe’s replacement should fix this going forward, it has negatively affected the team stats.
Sydney FC
Sydney seem to play either well or badly. Their low number of draws (two) is telling, as is the fairly even goals for and against (32), which belies the fact that many of these come from big wins or losses.
Their strong home form is notable (seven wins, with only three away), though their high goal return at home (1.58 p/m) is tempered by conceding 1.50 p/m in Sydney.
Sydney’s statistics, form and position on the table suggest that the huge criticism they and Farina have received is possibly too harsh, particularly given their strong performance against a good side in the derby last weekend.
Central Coast Mariners
The Mariners do well at home and poorly away, with a tendency to score early (33 minutes) and concede late (51 minutes).
Goals for in 23 matches are low (26, 1.13 p/m) for their position and they seem to win few (two) and concede many goals (19) away from home.
They have six clean sheets at home and only one away. Having said the above, the statistics underrate what a challenging opposition the Mariners can be.
Newcastle Jets
The Jets are strong in the middle third of the game, scoring 65.2 percent of their goals there, but seem week in the starting (8.7 percent) and finishing third (26.1 percent).
They seem to have smaller wins or losses, with their biggest victory being 3-1 and their biggest defeat being 3-0.
Even more puzzling is their dominance over the league leaders Brisbane Roar, with the relevant statistic being three wins to none – a whitewash of dominance.
Yet they have only 24 goals for and 30 against from the season. The Jets have truly been an enigma.
Wellington Phoenix
Given Phoenix’s big numbers – 32 goals for, 35 against (19 for, 22 against away), 5-0 and 4-1 victories, 5-0 and 5-1 defeats – surely the biggest thing to come out of these statistics is a need for consistency.
When they’re good, they’re very very good, and when they’re bad, they fold more often than a deck of cards.
I love their style and often amazing play. The problem is from week to week that you don’t know whether you’re going to see it.
Melbourne Heart
The statistics for the Heart this season are impossible to analyse as one block, as they have really had two seasons – one under John Aloisi and one under John van’t Schip.
The only one I will note from the whole season is that 88.7 percent of their goals come in the second half.
The most relevant statistic is six – the number of wins they’ve had this season, all since van’t Schip was made coach, including a 5-0 walloping of Phoenix and a 4-0 walloping of Victory.
They have gone from one of the worst teams to one of the best.
Perth Glory
The only positive statistics I could find were best utilisation of new young talent and most animated coach on the sideline, so I’ll discuss these.
New players from the youth side with lots of game time at Perth Glory include Davies (1055 minutes), Woodcock (917), Makeche (149 min) and Clisby (845 min).
This is a real positive, as is the 11.275 percent rise in entertainment value (not actually quantifiable) from seeing Kenny Lowe on the sidelines.
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