Not sure what happened to my previous reply - it seems to have disappeared so I will re-post it. Stay off the pamanga juice !! There is no way on earth Song would get anywhere near those teams and if you seriously think he could, your views shall be tainted forever more, I can't take an opinion like this seriously
Another way of looking at this is; if you guys rate Song and think he is so effective, imagine how much better we would be if we had a decent footballer instead of him ! Song doesn't excel defensively or offensively, imagine if we had a proper DM or a proper AM - we'd either stop conceding as many goals as we do or we'd score more goals than we do. A variation to that would be .. if we had a more technical all round midfielder, he'd be no worse defensively but better offensively. PISKIE if you are asking me who I would play in Song's place, from the players we already have, thats a tough one simply because we don't have anyone good enough to command that position, this is the problem. It is also the reason Song has become so important for us there, because all of the alternatives are so far behind him physically, he has to play when fit, this depresses me. Wilshere, Diaby, Rosicky, Ramsey, Arteta, Coquelin and Frimpong, none of them have Song's physical presence but all of them are better technically. Only Diaby has greater height, Song isn't particularly quick over the ground, only Ramsey is worse at dribbling than him. None of the players have all the attributes I would want to see in a DM, Frimpong is too short BUT Makelele proved you don't need to be tall to play that role effectively. For a box to box midfielder I'd choose all but Arteta in front of Song. So if I had to pick, I'd say Song is easily the best of what we have for the role of DM, but he is one of the worst for being a box to box or attacking midfielder. The solution is, we need to buy the player that we need because we don't have him in our squad.
Why ? They enable managers to manage their teams. A simple stat like 75% of goals conceded are from set pieces would show the manager what he needs to concentrate on in training. Stats allow you to see patterns you wouldn't automatically find and so are a massive help, some stats distort a picture but on the whole they are very useful.
Ya well they are obviously useful for wenger and managers. Like they can see how far players are running and if they need to work on fitness. But I mean using stats to say player x is better than player y is daft imo. Like someone said cesc had more assists and goals than xavi so was better. Clearly this isnt the case as xavi links the play. Kind of like modric and wilshire. They didnt score or get assists last year but both are quality.
I'm not saying Song is better than Cesc (that would be absurd), I am just using Cesc as a comparison to demonstarte what an excellent player Song has become. I really cant understand why some of our fans hate him, although it is interesting that it is all the usual faces on here that are saying Song is rubbish, they are always negative about Arsenal and their players. It seems when there are some good stats to support the quality of the player they just say PAH stats mean nothing, but they are quite happy to use them in any situation where they support their point of view!
Not really. I dont think me or hothead have ever used stats in any point we have made. So you just made that last bit up. Song is quality. Just depends if he is meant to be a holding player. If he is then he sucks. If wenger tells him to attack then wenger sucks. It has been 3/4 years of failure and the main reason (imo) is that we dont play with a holding midfielder. Maybe we should of shelled out for flamini.
Song seems to not read the game well. He 'can' attack well, he 'can' put a good through ball. But most of the time he gives it away. He does want take the ball into opponents in midfield with what seems a belief he will win the ball and then loses it. This often exposes our midfield to dangerous counter attack. Often when others are going forward ( Verm or Kos) he stays out too wide, and doesn't seem to recognise that he should drop into the hole left behind. For determination he's great but doesn't show enough awareness. I have to come back to where is he supposed to play? Does he really have a wandering brief. Big mistake.
Don't let your emotion cloud your view young jedi As Arsenal4life says, stats in some respects paint a false picture because they don't take many things into account, stats being used when a topic is subjective is pointless and stupid, but not when used to "aid" a decision or an argument, they can't be the be all and end all but they can influence decisions and provide backup for an argument. The stats for Song and Cesc prove my point so well, Song isn't half the player (subjective) that Fabregas is but the stats provided will have you believe that he isn't far behind. Hogwash. So I can say PAH to the stats because they don't mean a damned thing This is why stats in this instance are pointless: Ramsey, 23 games, 2 goals, 4 assists. Song , 23 games, 1 goal, 7 assists. Arshavin, 19 games, 1 goal, 3 assists. Clearly Ramsey is on a par with Arshavin then. No wait, Arshavin is better than Ramsey because his stats are similar but he played fewer games. No wait Arshavin is better than Song because he's played fewer games and is only 4 assists behind Song. You can only use stats to back up a view/argument that isn't subjective. What about all the times Song hasn't been where he was supposed to be and let teams waltz straight through our middle ? What about all the crap passes he makes and the needless fouls gifting teams set pieces that are our Achilles heel ?
By the way yes I'm aware a real foul comparison is not possible from these stats as it isnt there, but the passing is. Also allot of Songs fouls are due to his lack of pace which imo is his only failing. But his interception stats show he does have situational awareness.
It might provide evidence he has situational awareness but all statistics are the result of a complex web of factors. It is impossible to disassociate those factors from 1 another and come to accurate conclusions.
Statistics can certainly be used and interpreted in different ways but that is no reason to dis-regard them completely. They are still useful indicators.
I can disregard them when someone provides stats that "suggest" Song is as good as Fabregas - although the suggestion is actually that Song has improved NOT that he is as good as Fabregas. What it gives with one hand it takes away with another. To me Song is a tier 3 premier League footballer, by that I'd have the big 5 as tier 1, the Evertons as tier 2, the Fulhams/Sunderlands as tier 3 and the fodder as tier 4. It wasn't long ago that we were tier 3 bordering tier 4
As I stated in one of my previous posts I was not saying that Song is as good as Fabregas I was just using the comparison to illustrate that In my opinion Song is a very good and massively improved player. However you are entitled to your opinion.
Aye, we shall have to agree to disagree where Song is concerned. I can't ever imagine any top club being "linked" with Song, no way no how Not even the Sunday Sport could get away with that story
You see - I feel that the other way round. When you consider the game we played against Spurs, how anybody can rate him worse than Parker, just defies my understanding. Parker played so badly he almost lost the game on his own, and Song was virtually man of the match. How can you watch a game like that and not see the gulf in class between one and the other? Parker has no ball control, cant beat a man, cant pass straight, is slow, and is late on 50% of his tackles. His positioning was dreadful also. For goodness sake, you saw them both playing against each other and you still couldn't see it?
