adminIt sounds so simple, in theory, but how many times have we groaned in frustration when the cross strikes the first defender or harmlessly drifts out of play and all momentum is lost?
Well it seems this season, fans of Arsenal, Sunderland and Liverpool have the greatest cause for crossing complaint in the Premier League, while West Ham fare the best.
Opta statistics for the 31 rounds of the Barclays Premier League played to date show that the Hammers’ wide men are more likely to pick out a team-mate in the middle than any others. Just under one in four of West Ham’s crosses find their target, while Matt Jarvis has honed his crossing skills to top the individual chart
That’s unsurprising, however, given that he attempts more crosses than anyone else as part of Sam Allardyce’s game plan to supply ammunition to Andy Carroll.
Jarvis, who was brought in from Wolves for this purpose in the summer, and Jean Beausejour at Wigan, are way out in front in the open play crosses chart, which also features Leighton Baines, Antonio Valencia and Gareth Bale. Beausejour finds a team-mate 21 per cent of the time, Baines 20 per cent and Valencia 21 per cent.
But Bale is down on a paltry 12.5 per cent, which may explain why he shoots from range more often nowadays.
TABLE: Number of crosses played by each Premier League team this season and the percentage that find a team-mate
TEAM OPEN PLAY CROSSES % THAT FIND TEAM-MATE
WEST HAM 633 24.49
NEWCASTLE 594 20.37
READING 578 20.07
MAN UNITED 573 19.55
ARSENAL 558 15.77
EVERTON 550 20.55
SUNDERLAND 544 16.73
STOKE 542 18.08
SOUTHAMPTON 535 21.12
WIGAN 510 19.22
NORWICH 489 21.88
MANCHESTER CITY 483 20.5
CHELSEA 479 17.54
TOTTENHAM 442 16.97
SWANSEA 437 22.88
FULHAM 432 17.36
LIVERPOOL 420 14.52
QUEENS PARK RANGERS 417 16.55
WEST BROM 403 20.35
ASTON VILLA 389 19.02 — Mailonline
Online Reporter