Lies, Damn Lies, And Statistics

[SebastianBlue]

So I came upon the new Guardian Chalkboard feature (you can find it: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/chalkboards/create) and started looking through the passes section for each of our boys. I originally intended to see how well Bellers and Johnson provided. I was surprised to find that Barry, based on that single statistic and his distribution, really had a hell of a game against the Rags.

This also seems to support all of our musings about Given being one of the best shot-stoppers in the modern game but one of the worst distributors of the ball in the history of the world.

Give it a look, and consider all the other statistics available for all of our previous matches and let's see if we can't make some conclusions.

 

[MonsallBlue]

Just picked the Birmingham match and picked Given and passes. All his passes at half way line and beyond went to opposition. Doesnt really make johnsons crossing look too hot either.

Away v Chelsea De Jong 35 passes 35 successful

Interesting tool, gonna look at it some more


Edit, wow Nige really does put in a shift

 

[Blue Punter]

Quite good that Seb Blue

Never understood why Barry gets so much stick.

As a matter of interest, have they built that massive casino in Zaragoza yet?

 

[blue1969]

Very interesting that. Had to compare city against them. Look at Giggs stats, he's shite! De jong, kompany and Ned didnt put much astray.

 

[Andouble]

Ireland literally did nothing against United.

 

[Tricky_Trev]

I've used chalkboards a lot in the past, and i've decided that it's a huge, steaming pile of shit. Nearly every game, every single player has about 95% pass completion. It's utter bollocks. They clearly don't count every pass. In fact, i think they make half of it up.

 

[Dave Ewing's Back 'eader]

The problem with these statistics is that they are wholly objective. Not a bad thing, but we need to look at the quality and not just the quantity of successful passes. I love Nige, just waiting for him to score, but only a few of his passes on Saturday were not parallel to the halfway line. When is he going to pass the ball parallel to the touchlines.

The killer pass that puts a striker through, that gets the team the whole three points only counts as a successful pass, the same as Ned, of Kolo, or Vinnie's pass sideways.

 

[NorCalBlue]

Just picked the Birmingham match and picked Given and passes. All his passes at half way line and beyond went to opposition. Doesnt really make johnsons crossing look too hot either.

Away v Chelsea De Jong 35 passes 35 successful

Interesting tool, gonna look at it some more


Edit, wow Nige really does put in a shift

It's apples and oranges comparing the type of passing Johnson does, with a central midfielder (especially a defensive one). Most crosses aren't really aimed at anyone in particular, you're just trying to put it into a dangerous area, and those areas are policed by most of the defense, so you'd expect most crosses to technically be incomplete. However, you only need a couple to find an attacker each game to score a goal, so it's worth risking loss of possession for a goal opportunity. If you're playing deep-mid, you'd better not make too many passing errors, because each one puts you in a very vulnerable position. So it's right that NDJ should complete most of his passes, whereas AJ should be putting the ball in the box a lot, even though most of them will be intercepted by the defense.

 

[Blue Train]

Hmmmmm, one of Nige's 'successful' passes is to Edwin van der Sar, who was on the wing in the 11th minute.

Just shows you how much of the game you can miss.

 

[LoveCity]

Ireland literally did nothing against United.

He did. He lost the ball near their penalty box, if memory serves me right. Other than that, I can't remember him doing a thing though other than throwing his arms in the air after they scored.

 

[NorCalBlue]

Hmmmmm, one of Nige's 'successful' passes is to Edwin van der Sar, who was on the wing in the 11th minute.

Just shows you how much of the game you can miss.

I suppose you could class Johnson's crosses as attempts on goal to improve his passing stats.

 

[Anonymous]

Barry saw enough of the ball against the rags , but he probably spurned our best chance of the entire game ........ he took one touch too many as he burst into the area , when he should have shot first time ....... and , sadly for us , the chance went.