Expected points

I know many don't like the xg stats, but I personally do think they are a good barometer of performance and at showing a teams trajectory.

So far, Rooney has only finished one game where we've had a higher xg than the opponent. Which was Blackburn.

Our xg for has been up and down similar to the previous manager but it's our xg against where the contrast is damning. 13.42 xg against in the 8 games. 10.45 xg against in the first 11 games of the season.

For me, we've got to get back to being compact for a little while to stop the rot. Our forward players are good enough on the ball to score and create with very little but our defence is unable to cope with anything other than being solid and also well protected by those in front of them.

Let's get to relative safety and then pick this back up when there's less pressure to get it right and start planning for who can and can't play in this new desired way next season.