The stats not useless, it's basically what would be an assist if the striker had scored. So if we're willing to judge players on assists then its a relevant metric to bear in mind.In the team with the most possession, where the game is played in his area of the field for the most part of the game, you’d bloody expect him to be up there!
When Gundogan was playing there for us in the latter half of 2018-19, he had some the best stats in Europe across the board, and he was rated by Opta as the best player in Europe from February to May.
He was also good in a non-statistical sense too, was our most consistent player in that time, but the stats didn’t mean he was the best player in Europe. He was just in a team that had the most possession and scored the most goals (even though he was excellent in an all-round sense that season).
Again, on the representation of a pass statistic, nowhere does it go into the detail of how good the pass really was. A Key Pass represents a pass that leads to a chance that is missed, this may mean his actual pass was poor hence why the chance was missed.
Opta; “Key Pass. The final pass or pass-cum-shot leading to the recipient of the ball having an attempt at goal without scoring.”
Is there a stat to show the quality of the pass? Is Len Goodman drafted in to give “SEVEEEN”s out for rating the passes? Or are the quality of passes completely ignored for the stat, making the stat useless?
Sorry, I thought you were taking about Rodri.The stats not useless, it's basically what would be an assist if the striker had scored. So if we're willing to judge players on assists then its a relevant metric to bear in mind.
The fact is Mahrez is creative and influential for us, that's undeniable but there is at the same time valid concerns about application, decisions and maybe attitude.
Stats are only a small part of the game and don’t even tell the full story on the actual stat they’re representing.
Show me some stats on speed of his passes being too slow and how many moves they slow down... It’s alright making a successful pass, but what does the actual pass lead to? Was it fast enough to achieve what we needed in a particular move? Were there better passes on? Was a chance worth taking for a different pass that might have ended in giving it away and ruining his stat, but might have ended in a attacking opportunity or even a chance at goal if he’d made it?
The stats don’t show any of that which is why stats and football aren’t always relevant.
Show me some stats on, not just his inability to get back goalside when he’s been run past, but his complete giving up on running back when run past... or the amount of time he stands still when other players have the ball meaning he can’t be passed to nor create a passing space where he should be moving from (Gundogan has moaned at him about this during the game with arm movements talking him to move)... or the quality of his game when other teams try and stifle him because of his lack of pace compared to teams that don’t...
Most of football is non-statistical. It’s not like American sports, where stats are the be-all and end-all.
U watch that first half? Agree with some of your points yes, but he’s out of his depth in this league. Luckily our defence has improved dramaticallySure it doesn't tell you everything. No one ever said it did. People are watching the same player and reaching different conclusions. I.e the very information you possess ( i.e. your eyes) I possess that too. Yet we've come to different conclusions about the same player.
Thus, stats suggesting he passes more into the final 1/3 of the field than any other player in the Prem, simply supports one impression of the player
The thing stat does better than our eyes is skip bias. It doesn't overrate the on missed pass here and underrate the quick pass that opened play there. It simply documents.
I would bet my mortgage you didn't know he passed more into the final 3rs than anyone else in Prem. These kind of stats that contradicts ones perception should cause one to pause and re-examine. Not simply dismiss by claiming a straw man no one ever argued.
Here's a thought though, for someone who's so shit at getting goalside or chasing down, we sure are conceding fewer goals than we ever have and fewer chances than we ever did. Why is that? I mean we apparently have an incompetent guy at DM, who leads all leagues in pass completion and leads the Prem in passes into the final third. Sure, he probably is missing passing to the right guy, and taking less risk to pass his stat. And 'some' of our eyes say he is so slow and is never goalside once beaten. Yet we give up so little.
If nothing else, there must be something special about a player who is so incompetent, that he makes everyone else around him work harder than they ever have to cover both his deficiencies and theirs. So much so that they are defending better now than they ever did when they had better players at his and other positions
That surely is an argument some seem to be making. And there certainly are no stats for that. :)
Agree, I imagine he’d be really good in a defensive minded team with all the play in front of him, but he’s getting found out consistently and keeps turning into trouble and getting bailed out by others.U watch that first half? Agree with some of your points yes, but he’s out of his depth in this league. Luckily our defence has improved dramatically
Fair enough, I disagree though this is his level imo.He's far better than this showing today.He hasn't been a complete disaster as he's mad a couple of excellent interventions but overall.....not good.