 |
Pass Masters
|
| Team
Name |
Passing
Accuracy |
Short Pass
Accuracy |
Long Pass
Accuracy |
| 1. Cardiff City |
68.44% |
73.78% |
56.65% |
| 2. Wigan Athletic |
68.43% |
73.22% |
58.20% |
| 3. Bristol City |
67.90% |
72.41% |
57.86% |
| 4. Preston North End |
67.83% |
73.35% |
55.95% |
| 5. Wrexham |
65.80% |
69.73% |
56.54% |
| 6. Cambridge United |
65.69% |
70.96% |
51.72% |
| 7. Oxford United |
65.63% |
68.90% |
57.20% |
| 8. Gillingham |
65.37% |
71.11% |
52.03% |
| 9. Reading |
64.96% |
68.78% |
55.58% |
| 10.
Bournemouth |
64.23% |
68.13% |
54.24% |
| 11.
Burnley |
63.84% |
69.51% |
51.52% |
| 12.
Luton Town |
63.36% |
66.94% |
54.40% |
| 13.
Oldham Athletic |
63.05% |
67.41% |
53.28% |
| 14.
Chesterfield |
61.91% |
66.27% |
51.90% |
| 15.
Scunthorpe United |
61.74% |
66.96% |
48.71% |
| 16.
Bristol Rovers |
60.96% |
66.64% |
49.12% |
| 17.
Brentford |
60.86% |
65.04% |
51.32% |
| 18.
Colchester United |
59.24% |
64.24% |
47.71% |
| 19.
Stoke City |
59.15% |
64.57% |
46.92% |
| 20.
Notts County |
58.60% |
63.93% |
47.98% |
| 21.
Blackpool |
58.06% |
61.78% |
49.38% |
| 22.
Bury |
56.31% |
60.48% |
46.99% |
| 23.
Millwall |
55.81% |
59.61% |
47.39% |
| 24.
Wycombe Wanderers |
55.44% |
60.73% |
44.53% |
|
Division Two's Pass Masters and Loose Cannons
or, Are Wycombe a passing team?
BY OPTA
Lawrie Sanchez's side suffered their first defeat in six games on Tuesday
night, when Colchester United eventually made their two man advantage count with a goal from talented forward Lomana Tresor Lua Lua. Defeat should never be regarded as heroic, but this was as close as it got, with a defiant nine-man performance by the Wanderers.
Putting this game to the side however, one of the questions being increasingly asked at Adams Park is whether Wycombe are playing too much long-ball football under the manager, a Wimbledon legend. This week, Opta have published a comprehensive passing table that shows the Chairboys are far and away the least accurate passers in Division Two.
The Blues have an overall pass completion of just 55.44 per cent, a huge 13 per cent behind the Bluebirds of Cardiff City, who are the most accurate ball players in the division. Saturday's opponents Preston are in fourth place with an accuracy of 67.83 per cent.
The table seems to bear out the general assumptions of most fans in Division Two, as to whether 'their' team is a passing side or not. Wigan, Preston and Cambridge are all renowned for their slow but effective build-up play, whereas clubs such as Millwall, Bury and Notts County join Wycombe in the direct-play camp.
What is noticeable is that while Wycombe may want to play the long ball, there are sides that are far more accurate at doing it. And the ones that do it well, such as Oxford United, often have a rangy target man (in this case Kevin Francis and Steve Anthrobus, once coveted by Wycombe) to win possession. Lawrie Sanchez's repeated pleas for a big man up front should be heeded if he wants to pursue this style of play.
In the Wycombe team, the most accurate passer is Michael Simpson, with a completion rate of 64.82 per cent. He is followed by Dave Carroll (62.08%), Sean Devine (60.65) and Keith Ryan (55.83). But compare this with Darren Ferguson at Wrexham, who has a completion rate of 80.30 per cent.
The most inaccurate distributors at Adams Park are Andy Baird (44.75%), Jermaine McSporran (49.38%) and Chris Vinnicombe (49.76%). For the record, the worst ball player in Division Two is Dennis Pearce of Notts County with 43.68 per cent. Keen Wycombe fans might remember that Pearce elected to join the Magpies instead of Wycombe in the summer of 1997, when John Gregory was trying to fill the slot vacated by Mickey Bell.
Duncan Alexander
Statistics courtesy of
Carling Opta
|
statistics courtesy of
FIXTURES 
NEWS 
