“Quality without results is pointless. Results without quality is boring.” Johan Cruyff’s prophetic words, but he certainly wasn’t talking about Charlton. Monday night’s drab farewell to 2019 had neither quality nor results as the Addicks were brushed aside by Derby.
The hosts were strong and resolute, but Charlton were rather nothing. Not good enough to go close, nor audacious enough to miss crucial chances, Charlton were just 90 minutes of nothing. Or at least 83 minutes of nothing.
The Addicks held 61% of the ball, particularly controlling possession after Derby were reduced to ten men, but that ball led to fewer shots than Derby, fewer shots on target, fewer big chances created, and crucially, fewer goals.
Bowyer’s Disappointment
Veracious in victory and particularly so in defeat, Lee Bowyer didn’t hold back in his post-match comments. “I’m disappointed. Derby had Krystian sent off early and in my eyes, we should go on and win the game – and we don’t, for a number of reasons.
“We were poor in possession and didn’t create nothing – nothing at all. The first shot we had on target was the penalty. We got ourselves into so many good areas. We tried to work it and get the overload out wide but our crossing and final ball was poor all night long.”
In truth, this is becoming a bit more than a trend. The 11 shots Charlton mustered was less than their ten-man foes but comfortably clear of their season average. Despite sitting 11th in goals with 34, and 15th in possession with an average of 47.9%, Charlton rank dead-last in the Championship for shots-per-game.
But it gets worse. Every one of the 23 other teams in England’s second division have managed more than the Addicks 9.3 shots-per-game and Bowyer’s men rank 92nd of all 92 clubs in the football league in terms of that particular statistic.
Derby’s Early Lead
The final match of the decade at Pride Park was more of the same. Right up until Curtis Davies’ rash challenge on Conor Gallagher gave Lyle Taylor a golden chance from the spot, Charlton had exactly seven ‘shots’. The quotations around shots is mandatory as some of those attempts were so tame it counts for the statistic and really nothing else.
Charlton’s first effort didn’t arrive until the match’s two early flashpoints were long in the rear-view mirror, the Addicks up a man but down a goal.
Derby struck first in the tenth-minute through teenager Jason Knight. Andre Wisdom crossed for Martyn Waghorn and the striker’s partially saved shot looped up perfectly for Knight to nod home. A heavy-legged and distracted start saw Charlton on the back foot from kick-off, the deficit no major surprise.
Derby Down To Ten
The complexion of the match seemingly changed with Krystian Bielek’s rash challenge just after the quarter-hour mark. Perhaps the former Addick was too amped up to face his former employers, but his assault on Conor Gallagher could only be met with a straight red. The home crowd sent cascades of boos towards the Chelsea loanee for the rest of the night, Gallagher having the audacity to nearly get his leg broken.
Bielek’s moment of madness should have sparked Charlton into life, but in reality, it just acted to revoke any full-time excuses.
Armed with the lead, but down to ten men, Derby sat back and allowed Charlton to keep the ball, sensing their ineptitude to turn possession into chances.
The first of the aforementioned seven unsuccessful attempts before Taylor’s consolation came from Dejo Oshilaja, the defender heading tamely into the hands of Ben Hamer. But a shot! And it only took half an hour.
Macaulay Bonne had the next shot in the 35th minute. The striker, starting up front on his own with Taylor resting on the bench, latched onto a cross from Tom Lockyer. Hamer watched it fly harmlessly over the crossbar; It was never going in, but it’s shot number two.
Number three, four minutes later, came from Naby Sarr, and it was so sorely lacking in noteworthiness that I didn’t even include it in the original version of this article. The defender let fly from distance, seeing his ambitious effort deflect off a Derby thigh and float lackadaisically into the hands of Hamer. So lacking in danger that the Derby County official Twitter account ignored it completely, and the match report on Charlton’s website has no mention of the “effort” either. Shot number three has vanished from the face of the Earth.
That was all Charlton could muster in the thoroughly dire first half. Taylor replaced Bonne at half-time, the Zimbabwe international forced off with a hamstring strain as Bowyer’s injury headache continues to throb.
Poor Possession
Taylor was immediately in the thick of the action, laying off for Gallagher to fire comfortably high and comfortably wide for a rather disappointing shot number four.
As the second-half wore on, the Addicks’ possession rose and rose, but clear-cut chances remained at a premium.
In the victory against Bristol City, Charlton had just 44.7% possession but came up with 15 shots and a trio of goals. Equipped with the lion’s share of the ball, Bowyer’s men seemed much more on the impotent side.
The concern for Addicks supporters in the impending relegation battle is that this is nothing new. On November 30, Charlton had the majority of the ball against Sheffield Wednesday but could only summon eight shots compared to Wednesday’s 18 in the 3-1 defeat.
One week on against Middlesborough, George Saville scored after 52 seconds, ostensibly killing the game then and there. Charlton dominated possession, to the tune of 55.6%, but had a dismal five shots, creating nothing clear-cut in defeat.
Three days later it was the same result, this time defeat arriving in stoppage time as Huddersfield scored a late winner after out-shooting Charlton 16 to six.
Williams’ Absence Telling
One obvious reason for these troubles is the devastating loss of Jonny Williams. The 26-year old leads the team in assists with five, Gallagher the next highest with two. Williams also led the team in key passes prior to his spell on the sidelines with 1.2 per game. For a team that averages just 7.2 key passes per game, the lowest in the Championship, that 1.2 is a massive loss.
Playing in the National League just weeks ago, teenager Alfie Doughty is picking up some of the slack after the spate of injuries. Doughty notched his first goal for his boyhood club against Bristol City to punctuate a string of impressive performances, contributing 1.4 key passes per game and 1.4 successful dribbles per game, ahead of only Williams.
Derby Seal Victory
It was that man Doughty who had Charlton’s fifth effort, curling a shot towards the bottom corner, Hamer smothering with ease. Closer! I guess…
Albie Morgan had the sixth strike, volleying high and wide.
The final entrance into Charlton’s dreadful seven fits into the category of Naby Sarr classics, high and wide and then high and wide some more.
Unable to get one, the game was sealed when Derby grabbed their second, Knight snatching his brace after the entire Addicks defence ignored the midfielder at the back-post.
77 minutes of toil and more toil earned Charlton a 2-0 deficit and despite Taylor setting up a slightly enthralling finish with his penalty, Derby hung on to claim a deserved win.
Bowyer needs players fit, he needs Williams back on the pitch to pair with Doughty, and he needs an injection of creativity. Thank god, it’s January 1. Now, how about that takeover.
Highlights From Pride Park
