Match Day Thread 2016/17 Premier League, Cups & Euro Watch

Dont dosagree. But dribs said table shows a good defence wins the league. What it actually shows is it's your attack that wins you the league (this year) as proven by the order and united being so low.

 

I suspect that if you do stattery on the PL, the winners usually have the
best performance for at least one of the following :

- most wins
- fewest losses
- highest GF / GD
- lowest GA


When all is said and done, Chelsky effectively had the same performance
as Spurs, but won/drew 2/1 games more.

 

A goal differenxe of +30 virtually guarantees you top 4. this is across the major leagues in Europe over the past 15-20 years.

Get to this number and you get CL pretty much . The only two exceptions are Fiorentina (who had a points deduction) and Arsenal this year.

so the magic number is +30 GD - so either you score a lot of goals or you concede very few.

But the saying goes - goals win matches, defence wins trophies.

 

When I did some stattery several years ago on the traits of a PL
top 4 finisher, GD in the 30s and similarly GA < 40 had high correlation.

 

Is this a saying you just made up?
How do you win trophies if you don't win matches?

 

Apparently it's possible to score a goal and not concede? I'm not sure, I'll have to check if teams have done this, and get back to you.

 

Don't waste the effort - it's demonstrably true. In doing so, you win the match, by scoring a goal.
Winning matches wins trophies - regardless of whether you win 1-0 or 6-5.

 

But which is more sustainable? ... Teams that concede that level of goals do not win trophies consistently.

We should have won the league in 13/14 but our defence let us down (or we over attacked).

Last year, our defence let us down in the Europa League final.

This year, our defence cost us a top 3 place.

The point is - we are already scoring goals. What will take us to the next level? A quality defence.

 

It's the same across all leagues. 30 is the magic number. So we can either score a lot, or concede very few. But just get to 30 GD

 

Ok, so I've just had a nerdy moment and gone back a few years. Only 8 (I'm not a proper nerd obviously).
The highest scorers have been champions 5 out of the 8. The best defences have been champions 2 out of those 8. Only once have the champions held both records.
Make of it what you will, but I still say attacking football gives you the best chance of winning - though obviously you have to be good at it.
Plus it isn't ****ing boring, which is the best thing in its favour as far as I'm concerned.

 

We're going round in circles. The fact is one more goal than the opposition wins you the points no matter how it's achieved. It comes down to how we as fans want to see our teams play, and we differ on that.
I agree with your last sentence, btw. Though I still think a team that attacks a lot is always likely to be vulnerable to the counter, no matter what.
In the rare games when we've undergone sustained pressure the defence has held out better - the mistakes have come by leaving someone like Lucas as last man up against a greyhound.

 

Don't get me wrong - the perfect scenario is us winning 3-0 every match.

Balance is key ...

 

I understand what you mean, Jimmy. I'm sure we both want the same thing, we just put a different emphasis on the way to get it.
I haven't got too many 90 minute chunks of my life left to waste them watching boring games.

 

I am happy with 1:0 in every game that is 38 goals difference =114 points.That is more than invincible.

 

Liverpool supporters start petition to have Michael Owen removed as club ambassador after Man United slip

Now, after United's Europa League triumph, these two factors have combined to create a storm of Liverpool fury.

During the final in Stockholm, Owen referred to the Red Devils as "we", claiming "we need another goal" when talking about United's need to extend their lead against Ajax.

Somewhat predictably, this has not gone down terribly well. In fact, one particularly outraged Liverpool fan has launched a petition to have Owen removed from his ambassadorial role:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/row-zed/liverpool-supporters-start-petition-michael-10498387

 

The little toe rag should never have been given an ambassadorial role in the first place after losing the club millions in transfer fees by running his contract down.

The Mancs are welcome to keep the twat.

 

Given what went on, are we really that petty? FFS.

 

12,163 signed to date

 

Owen is acting like a "double agent". I wonder if he is an ambassador for united also?.

 

Bet it's the same guy who sent in a gov petition against Bramley Dock