ponsaelius

The managers that rat on about statistics in football are cunts like Allardyce and Pardew who's sides invariably play god-awful stuff. I know Wenger uses statistics, he was revolutionary when he first came with regards to players fitness levels, their diets and stuff like that but as far as I'm aware he doesn't encoporate them into the actual gameplay on the pitch.

Well maybe I was overly harsh on Miercoles, so I apologise, but I find his arguments presented on this page to be ridiculous and nonsensical. I just don't think that - outside of maybe set-pieces - statistical analysis will ever be of a huge use in the actual match processes of football. To say that statistics are going to change or revolutionize the sport blankly because it worked in US sports I find ridiculous and showing of a lack of understanding of the sport.

Moyes has kept Everton relevant because he gets good players cheap for numerous reasons. Same we have done getting extremely naturally talented players seen as damaged goods because they're injury-prone/percieved trouble makers (Ben Arfa), undervalued because of a contract clause and playing in an undervalued league/team (Cabaye) or maybe a combination of both of these things (Ba). That's good management and scouting. None of it has been done through statistical analysis. Statistical analysis doesn't tell you that Ben Arfa is a good player, in fact I bet statistics don't favour him particularly well in the productivity department. But he's mint. I don't see how statistics can ever unearth undervalued players. I argue that that is the one thing they fundamentally can't do over other methods.

OK, maybe it has some use on penalties. The one time our sport gets close to the stop-start nature of shit like Baseball.

None of these things are statistical or data analysis, they're all observations made from watching football. Compiling lots of stats on the number of times Reina fumbles the ball on crosses won't tell you anything you don't already know from using your own eye. In fact, they're only likely to confuse the matter because they won't take into account a million different factors. Same goes for first touch. First touch is one of the most fundamental and natural skills of the game, it's not something that can be analysed through statistics. Trying to argue that passing the ball to Robin van Persie because he's geet mint is an example of 'statistics' is absolutely absurd.

It's just knowing which foot the other bloke is using, which you can see the moment he controls the football. 'Statistics in action' ffs. I'm all for sensible discussion on this matter, but that is unbelievable.

We're on the verge of developing robust and influential sabermetrics for soccer (soccermetrics). I think it'll take hold in the U.S. before anywhere else, simply because we already heavily quantify our other sports (football to some extent, but primarily in baseball). It has the potential to revolutionize the way in which the game is viewed and played, giving credit to traditionally (as an aside, I think Carrick is a guy whose value would increase immensely from in-depth statistical analysis) undervalued players and exposing flaws among overrated players. It won't work. Why not? Statistics are just a record of how a player plays. How could that possibly not be useful? A player is better at shooting the ball with his right foot, so you show him onto his left foot, that's statistics in action. Ya'll are just Yankee-phobic up in hurr Mint, people have been doing that since the beginning of time anyway.

I've seen stats applied and used effectively in Baseball and to a lesser extent American football. I can't see any useful applications for it in football apart from very simplistic things such as ground covered by players, something that is already being done effectively. In terms of actually analysing the game itself it is simply too complex, free-flowing and multilayered to ever be interpreted through data and statistics. Not effectively anyway. Whatever you can learn from stats in football can be bettered by the human eye, a top class coach like Alex Ferguson doesn't need statistics to see that Carrick is good at football. I don't understand the argument that stats will expose underrated and overrated players. Scouts and coaches do that. Fans can do that. Anybody who watches and understands the sport can see a good footballer from a bad one. Liverpool bought that tubarse Adam because he got lots of assists one season and made lots of chances. Yeah, because he took every set piece, was given the ball at every occasion and was given the responsibility to do that in a desperately limited side. Fact is when you actually watch him its clear to anybody with eyes he's immobile, not hugely talented, can't tackle, and is generally a shite player in numerous aspects of the game but can strike a ball fairly well with his left foot when given the platform. I've not seen any representation of football through statistics that I've thought can do anything other than reinforce or deepen a pre-held opinion that I've made with my own eyes. They don't make me think a player I thought was shit is actually good, or think a player I thought was good is actually not all that. They won't convince me that the pattern of a football match was different to what I saw either. In football nothing beats the human eye. When this revolutionary soccernomics comes out I'll have a look at it, but up until now most football statistics I've seen have been llargely irrelevant.

How on earth is Carrick 'undervalued' btw? He cost £17 million and Ferguson plays him near enough every game.

Fuck off America

.com reckon we've sold around 3000 so far. Cracking that like.

We're on the verge of developing robust and influential sabermetrics for soccer (soccermetrics). I think it'll take hold in the U.S. before anywhere else, simply because we already heavily quantify our other sports (football to some extent, but primarily in baseball). It has the potential to revolutionize the way in which the game is viewed and played, giving credit to traditionally (as an aside, I think Carrick is a guy whose value would increase immensely from in-depth statistical analysis) undervalued players and exposing flaws among overrated players. It won't work.

Brazil vs Russia on ITV4 in an hour or so.

Shaun Walker ‏@shaunwalker7 9m OK so I just got through to the trusty @JohnMannII who says Roman Abramovich IS the the US but is NOT arrested or detained in any way.

"Canny that like, Papiss"

I don't even know who Wondolowski is, but I remember seeing this article and it my eyes bleed: http://www.forbes.com/sites/zachslaton/2012/12/21/wondolowski-van-persie-ronaldo-and-messi-how-rare-are-their-goal-scoring-totals/

His contract before relegation was signed as a failsafe in case we did go down. I was told from a good source at the time that he was on nowhere near that. He has signed again since in 2011, but I can hardly see it jumping up.

He's on less than that for sure.

Aye.

He's already on a fair pittance apparently.

Gouffran and Sissoko were supposed to be penned in for the summer.

The difference to Maritimo compared to Lisbon is way too little.

Oh wait, kilometres?

Nah I'm lost, what is it? Going as the crow flies?

AFC Wimbledon have pulled themselves right out of relegation trouble. Thought they were as good as down at one point.