Saw someone saying before (might have been Facebook) that Taylor was our best CB by a mile and that Williamson had a 'nightmare' against Man United.
Some people's opinions are just clouded. He's nowhere near as good as some suggest and last year proved just how little we need him.
If I've added up correctly.
We conceded 12 goals with 13 clean sheets in the 21 league games he played
We conceded 23 goals with 9 clean sheets in the 25 league games he missed
We got by without him last season against Championship attacks, but there was still a significant drop in form when he was out. There are other factors behind those stats of course, but to say we didn't miss him is just wrong.
Some people just hate the fact that he promotes himself as a local lad and milks the crowd and assume that it's the only reason some supporters rate him whilst over-compensating and exaggerating his failings themselves. He'd be nothing like as easy to replace with someone of the same or better ability but on low wages as some suggest.
Our play was far more attacking in the 2nd half of the season, so it would lead to more goals conceded!
Games played by Steven Taylor : 21
Away Games : 9 - 1L 3D 5W
Home Games : 12 - 0L 3D 9W
Goals Conceded : 12
Avg goals conceded : 0.48 (12 in 21)
Avg goals conceded (Away) : 0.77 (7 in 9)
Avg goals conceded (Home) : 0.41 (5 in 12)
Goals Scored : 37
Avg goals scored : 1.76 (37 in 21)
Avg goals scored (Away) : 1.77 (16 in 9)
Avg goals scored (Home) : 1.75 (21 in 12)
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Games played without Steven Taylor : 25
Away Games : 14 - 3L 4D 7W
Home Games : 11 - 0L 1D 10W
Goals Conceded : 23
Avg goals conceded : .92 (23/25)
Avg goals conceded (Away) : 1.07 (15 in 14)
Avg goals conceded (Home) : 0.72 (8 in 11)
Goals Scored : 51
Avg goals scored : 2.04 (51 in 25)
Avg goals scored (Away) : 1.28 (18 in 14)
Avg goals scored (Home) : 3.18 (35 in 11)
As the numbers above clearly display, I have a lot of free time.
Also I don't know or care what they mean. I don't think we'll be too much worse off without him.