Perhaps the stand out feature of Castellón’s great start to the season has been their home form – it is perfect so far, after all. Last weekend’s 1-0 win against Real Murcia extended the winning run at Castalia to seven, making it a historically great start to the season for the Albinegres. Here are five numbers that really put it into perspective.
2 – Goals conceded
The logical place to start is the goals against column. Only two goals conceded is especially impressive given fourteen were scored, and both were conceded in games with over two goal winning margins (Sabadell and La Nucia), in other words games that were not particularly close. Furthermore, current starting keeper Alfonso Pastor has only conceded one goal, with Sarr, who started the season in goal, conceding the other.
78% – Percentage of total points obtained at home
While some might argue that 78% indicates an overdependence on home advantage to obtain points, it’s also a sign that, for Castellón, playing at Castalia really gives them a huge advantage. Conversely, teams know this season that they can’t expect to come away with anything if they’re visiting the Albinegres, which is an important psychological edge ahead of any game.
5 – Clean sheets
The whole Castellón defence has been superb this season, but as far as clean sheets, special credit must go to Alfonso Pastor. The Sevilla loanee missed the first few games due to personal reasons, but has been virtually faultless since he has come in. In fact, except for his only against La Nucia, he has been perfect. Perhaps his highlight of the season came last weekend, when he somehow kept out Real Murcia’s header to keep the score at 1-0 and ensure Castellón got all three points. Gordon Banks (author of perhaps the greatest save of all time against Brazil in 1970) would have been proud.
3 – 1-0 wins
Annibale Frossi once said that the perfect score in football is 0-0, as it is “an expression of the balance between the attacks and defences out on the field”. Along the same lines, the old school Italian philosophy would be that the best way to win is 1-0, as it could show an ability to restrict your opponent to very little while being opportunistic oneself. Castellón’s ability to win games narrowly at home this season is not just a testament to their defence, but a general ability to grind it out and find a way to get the job done, even when not playing particularly well. It’s a trait that any league-winning team must have, so it’s very promising that it has been on display in the first half of the season.
43% – Percentage of goals from set pieces
Something that has been made clear by manager Ruben Torrecilla throughout the season is ownership’s desire to focus on exploiting set pieces. Bob Voulgaris and Dave Reddin have highlighted dead ball situations as an area where a real advantage can be gained, and that can be seen with a higher percentage than last season. Cristian has shown himself to be both a great free kick and corner taker, and Manu Sanchez in particular has proven adept at converting from corners at a high rate. The team will no doubt continue their efforts to get the percentage up even higher, but it’s clear that the data-driven vision at Castellón is starting to permeate onto the pitch.
Going into the second half of the season, if Castellón can improve their away form while maintaining a similar level of performance at Castalia, promotion would have to be considered extremely likely.