Lennon Spurs most creative player say stats

We looked at the Premier League shot statistics which highlighted a problem we have, we shoot considerably less than Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal. Also the shots we do have are from too far away, 16 teams shoot from closer to the goal on average than we do, suggesting a creativity problem.

Do we have enough of the ball to create, well stats show we sit 6th in the possession table but that again Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal are all above us, as they are in the pass success table, where we are a lowly 8th.

Simply put, the figures would suggest we need more of the ball, to use it better, get closer to the goal and shoot more often. All rather difficult if you play with not many players in the box though. Both defensively and in an attacking sense our midfield are not performing to the levels we need them to consistently enough.

WE may have a lot of midfielders but as a unit they are not effective enough which explains why Pochettino is looking to change personnel and bring in fresh faces.

Possession Stats
1. Manchester City 59.9%
2. Manchester United 58.7%
3. Everton 56.9%
4. Arsenal 56.7%
5. Chelsea 56.4%
6. Tottenham Hotspur 55.7%
7. Liverpool 55%
8. Southampton 51.9%
9. Swansea 50.4%

Pass Success Rate
1. Manchester City 85.2%
2. Manchester United 84.8%
3. Chelsea 84.6%
4. Everton 84/4%
5. Arsenal 84.1%
6. Swansea 83.1%
    Liverpool 83.1%
8. Tottenham Hotspur 81.3%
9. Southampton 80.4%

Spurs pass completion: Lennon 85%, Eriksen, Chadli 84%, Lamela 82%, Townsend 79%
Key passes by minutes of playing time: Eriksen every 36.3, Lennon 41.0, Lamela 51.5, Chadli 66.8, Townsend 76.8 minutes per key pass.
Spurs chances created: Eriksen 51, Lamela 30, Chadli 26, Lennon 9, Townsend 6
Chance created by minutes of playing time: Lennon every 31.89, Eriksen 35.59, Lamela 44.6, Chadli 53.95, Townsend 64 minutes per chance created.
Assists by minutes of playing time: Lennon every 143.5, Chadli 280.6, Lamela 334.5, Townsend 384.0, Eriksen 1,815.0 minutes per assist.

Major actions (goal, assist, key pass) by minutes of playing time: Eriksen every 30.76, Lennon 31.89, Chadli 42.52, Lamela 43.16, Townsend 54.86 minutes per major action.

The stats tell us Aaron Lennon creates twice as many chances as Andros Townsend and is one of our most creative attacking midfield player on a per minute basis, yet the little winger can't get a look-in.

Shots on target per game
1. Chelsea 6.2
2. Manchester City 5.7
3. Arsenal 5.5
4. Liverpool 5.0
5. Tottenham Hotspur 4.5
    Manchester United 4.5
    Everton 4.5
8. Southampton 4.4
    West Ham United 4.4

Only Crystal Palace (56%) shoot less times from the middle of the pitch as we do, 59% and yet if you listen to commentators they say we are always trying to go through the middle and have no width. To the eye we do seem to but we don't shoot, we always want the perfect opportunity, which with a packed midfield simply isn't going to happen.

We shoot from the right-hand side 21% of the time which is more than any other side and from the left 20% of the time, which puts us 8th.

For shots from inside the 6-yard box we sit 11th and from inside the penalty area we are bottom of the Premier League, from outside the box only Everton have a higher percentage.

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