Rich

So we had 14 shots and none hit the target? Mustn't happen very often, probably every 8 years or so.

14? Bloody hell.

Ah nice, hadn't seen that stat posted yet.

Nah. He was visibly frustrated when people ignored him in good areas, and he was always asking for the ball. He did that really well, actually - moving into great positions in-between the lines. Fair enough if that was the case, I only saw what the TV provided and found myself getting frustrated at him for not signaling for the ball a few times. I really like him as a player but just didn't feel like he wanted to grab the game by the scruff of the neck there, good that it sounds like I got the wrong impression.

Loads of times yet again where he drifted into good areas but didn't seem to be demanding the pass (i.e. he just looked happy to let play bypass him). Not sure this is ever going to change.

I'm hearing we had 14 shots off target today and it was some kind of record for the past 8 seasons. Can anyone confirm?

Jarvis is quick though I'm sure it was Cole who 'skinned' him near the end of the game. Jarvis.

Expecting a transfer request from Mike soon, RTG are sniffing.

Llambias was very dubious about Moses like, might be a different story with him gone.

You not see the team that has been posted by a few people? Of course we'll not know for sure until 2pm but it's very likely: Krul; Debuchy, Yanga-Mbiwa, Coloccini, Santon; Ben Arfa, Anita, Sissoko, Marveaux; Ameobi, Cisse.

Eee he's a bad 'un.

Doubtful i think, but not definitely out. Santon was taking part in full training the other day, he'll be fine.

Cole, Cole, Andy, Andy Cole.

I like it, I like it a lot. Also in tucks at the bit about Andy

Ah but he's a defensive midfielder though, I was assured that he would be shit.

This is the best part. Introductory price of £4.50 for some racoon lips and a thimble of chips.

I'm wilfully naive, there's a difference. Only from time to time, though.

Otter, gone but not forgotten.

http://i.imgur.com/l0nRSRN.gif

Olbermann's the good guy, right?

A) He doesn't, although he got pretty close in his first season. B) He doesn't. He was 11th/9th/4th overall last three seasons, or 6th/6th/2nd if you just want to consider players involved in 20+ games. C) Questionable, especially if you're in a team or position that revolves around keeping the ball. Depends on the context, of course. D) Surely that's an absolutely key function of a defensive midfielder in a passing side? E) 1/5 ain't bad. 90% was generous. In his last 4 of his last 5 games last season he had a pass completion rate of 84-87%. Although in the other game it was 67% which is terrible. I didn't look but i'm certain that's higher than any of the other midfielders in our side except perhaps Jonas. I saw a stat somewhere that said he had the highest pass completion for us. I'd like to see evidence to the contrary. C-D is the same point. If you're the deepest midfielder of a 3 and your job is to keep it simple, you'll have a fairly high pass completion rate. Tiote manages pass completion higher than most of our players and he's not one of the better passers in our side. I'm certain Arteta has a higher pass completion rate than Pirlo but Arteta keeps it very, very simple. At 85% and above I doubt the incremental value of a higher pass completion rate visa other factors. 12/13 11/12 10/11 In terms of the closing games of last season you were spot-on with the percentages, but not at all with how it compared to others: Pass percentage versus Arsenal was behind that of every other midfielder who played bar Jonas: Here Pass percentage versus QPR behind every other midfielder: Here Pass percentage versus West Ham behind that of Gouffran and Ben Arfa: Here Pass percentage versus Liverpool behind that of Anita, Perch, Ben Arfa and Cabaye: Here Pass percentage versus Sunderland behind that of Ben Arfa and Marveaux: Here Interestingly, Jonas never had a better pass completion than Tiote in that period.

That article is an absolute abomination, punctuated by this bit: Payet, who they signed less than 2 months ago.

You were closer than Dropout, to be fair. Bigi made 87.2% of his passes in the league last season.