The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
How United’ s attacking stats compare after return to top
Lawrence Shankland, Nicky Clark, Marc Mcnulty and Louis Appere – Dundee United, on paper, have one of the best strikeforces in the Scottish Premiership.
Throw wide men Logan Chalmers and Adrian Sporle into the mix and it’s an embarrassment of attacking riches United boss Micky Mellon has at his disposal.
In reality, however, the Tangerines gaffer has opted to use his squad in a different way – one that has seen them solidify their place in the Premiership following promotion last season.
Mellon’s decision to set up his team with a defencefirst focus has been met with some dismay by a fanbase that expects to see a swashbuckling Terrors side, similar to the one which romped its way to the Championship title last term.
It hasn’t always been easy on the eye but no Arab can deny that “Mellonball” has been effective, with the Tangerines sitting comfortably in eighth spot, clear of relegation trouble headed into the split.
In fact, in his first season in the hotseat, former Tranmere manager Mellon has led United to within a point of snatching a top-six finish with his approach.
All season long he has spoken of having to work with a Championship squad and he seems to have got the best out of them.
Whether it’s in a 3-5-2, 5-3-2 or 4-4-2, the Terrors have definitely been hard to beat.
Mellon thinks deeply about the game, something he will touch on in his book – The First 100 Days: Lessons In Leadership From The Football Bosses – out later this week, and his players are no different.
In the wake of their 1-0 win over Aberdeen on Saturday, thanks to a wellworked goal finished off by Sporle, hitman Mcnulty expressed his frustration at playing in a team that creates little in the final third to work off.
“We are probably not a team that creates a lot of chances every game which can be frustrating for us strikers,” Reading loanee Mcnulty said.
“That’s just the way it has been. The manager wants us to press from the front, try to nick it higher up the pitch and then create chances.
“We have been getting better at that recently. Hopefully in the remaining games of the season we can score a few goals between us.”
But just how tough is it to be a striker for Dundee United this season? The stats suggest very. In terms of having the ball, allowing them to start attacks, the Terrors have only had the majority of possession in 12 of their 33 Premiership games.
United rank among the league’s worst teams in some key attacking categories, too, explaining why their forwards have struggled to hit double figures at this late stage of the season.
Clark has eight top-flight goals to his name,
Shankland seven, Sprole four, Mcnulty two, Appere one and Chalmers, who has missed a large chunk of the season with a bad ankle injury, none.
It’s not surprising their numbers are quite low when you look at how the team has performed as a whole.
In fact, you could argue it’s testament to Clark, Shankland and Sporle, particularly, that they’ve managed to find the back of the net as often as they have.
In terms of total shots – the metric Opta use to measure how many chances a team creates – United have the second-lowest total in the league (312).
Only bottom club Hamilton Accies fare worse than the Terrors in that category – with Mellon’s men only hitting the target 97 times.
That works out at less than three times per game on average.
When it comes to crafting those sparse opportunities, United’s problems are welldocumented as the likes of Shankland, Clark and Mcnulty have struggled to get on the ball in the danger zones.
In the opposition box, the Tangerines sit thirdbottom of the top-tier standings for touches with 528.
Again, struggling Accies are at the basement with 460, while John Hughes’ relegation-threatened Ross County have registered just 483.
For crosses from open play, United are dead bottom with 343, a fair distance behind Premiership rivals.
On the face of it, these are alarming statistics.
However, you must say, for the Terrors to be falling behind the rest of the pack in attack but still finding themselves in the mix to make the top six until the last suggest they play with some efficiency.
Certainly in defence they have shone. No 1 Benjamin Siegrist has kept 11 clean sheets this term, as United have scrapped and fought for each one of their 39 points.
A whopping 12 of those have come from draws with half of those matches finishing 0-0.
With 29 they are the league’s second-lowest scorers. However, at the other end, they have only conceded 43 – a number more reflective of their league position.
Even in the transfer market, the club have been pretty efficient.
Hamstrung financially by Covid-19, Mellon was only able to add Mcnulty, defender Ryan Edwards and midfielders Luke Bolton and Jeando Fuchs, with all impressing at Tannadice, however they are employed on the pitch.
Will they open up more headed into their post-split bottom six fixtures? It’s hard to say.
What is for certain is everyone after the club will be looking to build over the summer as they look to avoid a difficult second season. It is only then that we’ll be able to fully assess what kind of team Mellon intends to mould. their