| Name | Position | ATT VPM | DEF VPM | OVRL VPM | WR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brandon Goodship | CF/W | 1.1 | 1.4 | 2.2 | 0.49 |
| Stephen Humphrys | CF | 2.3 | 3.0 | 4.8 | 0.73 |
| Charlie Kelman | CF | 1.9 | 1.0 | 2.4 | 0.51 |
| Mark Milligan | DM/CM | 0.9 | 3.9 | 4.5 | 0.76 |
| Stephen McLaughlin | LW/LWB/AM | 1.6 | 4.1 | 5.1 | 0.78 |
| Sam Mantom | CM | 1.0 | 2.3 | 3.0 | 0.69 |
| Isaac Hutchison | RW/CM/AM | 1.7 | 2.7 | 4.3 | 0.77 |
| Timothée Dieng | CB/CM | 0.8 | 6.2 | 6.8 | 0.69 |
| Elvis Bwomono | RB | 1.2 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 0.67 |
| Jason Dimitriou | RB/CM | 1.7 | 3.5 | 4.8 | 0.76 |
| Nathan Ralph | LB | 1.7 | 5.7 | 6.9 | 0.73 |
| Harry Lennon | CB/LB | 1.1 | 4.8 | 5.6 | 0.62 |
| Joe Shaughnessy | CB | 0.8 | 4.1 | 4.7 | 0.59 |
| John White | CB | 0.7 | 3.7 | 4.4 | 0.55 |
| Mark Oxley | GK | 0.9 | 0.8 | 10.1 | 0.31 |
| Squad Averages | 1.3 | 3.4 | 5.0 | 0.64 |
Report
It has been a difficult season for Southend United, to say the least. The Shrimpers are into their fifth consecutive season in League One after winning promotion via the League Two playoffs back in 2014/15.
Currently, 22nd in the league and 16 points from safety, and only nine games left. Kevin Bond started the season as manager but resigned in September. The new boss is Sol Campbell who took over in late October. Before Campbell took the reigns on matchday 16, Southend were 23rd on form with 1 win, 2 draws, 12 losses and a -28 goal difference.
Since Campbell came in they are still 23rd on form and would be bottom if not for Bolton’s point deduction. There have been signs of improvement though. Since the New Year, they have 3 wins, 2 draws, 7 losses and a goal difference of -8.
There are issues all over the pitch in both defence and attack. In defence they’ve conceded the most goals with 85, which is 19 more than any other team. They have the worst crossing accuracy with 25.3% and the least amount of touches in the penalty area with just under 10 a game.
Southend only average 46.6% possession but they do pass the ball around 12 times per possession which is near the league average so they’re not as direct as one would think. 74.2% passing accuracy, which is just under the 75% league average further highlights that they’re not just playing long balls up to the forwards.
The problem is that they’re not creating chances or finding as many openings with the possession and land passes they do have. As a team they don’t have players who can deliver consistently good crossing, although from a small sample size, Tom Clifford at left back has shown some promise.
No one in the midfield has an attacking VPM over 2.0 despite having work rates between 0.69 and 0.78. Unfortunately, not enough of the actions they are attempting are attacking ones of any value and their success rate is lower than it should be. This in turn means that the forwards are starved of any real opportunities which explains why their work rates are low - with the exception of Stephen Humphrys - and their attacking VPMs are mostly lower than their defensive VPMs.
They currently only have 15 regular first teamers who have played made more than ten league appearances, yet, they have 14 other players who have made less than ten appearances. Most of these players with less than ten games are under 20 years of age too. This hasn’t necessarily been bad for the squad who as shown above, have enjoyed a bit more success in the second half of the season.
Formation-wise, there has been a lot of changes with no formation featuring more than 12% of the time. This could come down to problems with squad from suspension, injuries or losing players to other clubs. When in winning positions there have been around four formations used, with 4-2-3-1 being one that has slightly more appearance than the others.
In a team that needs to sure up their defense, an extra defensive midfielder is not a bad thing. Having wingers will allow the full backs to also stay back a bit more to help out the defense. This puts an added amount of responsibility on the wingers and central midfield to support and create for the lone forward.
At least one of the defensive midfielders should be given free reign to venture forward when in possession which will allow the central midfielder to play off the forward and use the width created by the wingers. The wingers need to be proficient crossers of the ball but not overly rely on it as the final ball.
Movement and support will offer up more chances and take the pressure off defence in transition and the forwards. However, this is helped by having a settled squad of players that can play in the positions that they’re at their most comfortable in.
* The 4-2-3-1 formation has been the most used in winning positions of the many formations employed during the season.
