And the award for best pointless stats thread of the day goes to luvgonzo for the crap below. http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/latest-news/official-lucas-is-best-tackler-in-pl It may come as no surprise to Liverpool fans but now it's official - Lucas Leiva is the best tackler in the Barclays Premier League. The 26-year-old completed nine tackles in the 6-0 win at Newcastle on Saturday - two more than the entire QPR team in their goalless draw with Reading. The top 10 is: Morgan Schneiderlin - 105 Geoff Cameron - 86 Lucas Leiva - 82 Mohamed Diame - 81 Pablo Zabaleta - 80 Craig Gardner - 79 Ramires - 79 Robert Snodgrass - 77 Claudio Yacob - 76 Steve Sidwell -76 As interesting as the above table is, it doesn't take into account how often a player has featured during 2012-13. For example, Schneiderlin has totally 105 tackles during more than 3,000 league minutes - whereas Lucas has tallied 82 in fewer than 1,700 minutes. Now for a little red tinted spin...................The more telling table below shows the tackles won per 90 minutes of each of the top 10 - and with 4.4 successful tackles per game, Lucas is head and shoulders above the other contenders. The adapted top 10 is: Lucas Leiva - 4.4 Steve Sidwell -3.25 Claudio Yacob - 3.19 Geoff Cameron - 3.15 Morgan Schneiderlin - 3.11 Mohamed Diame - 3.10 Ramires - 3.09 Pablo Zabaleta - 2.91 Craig Gardner - 2.53 Robert Snodgrass - 2.46 We win!
Think I'd prefer him to be lower in these stats (in a 'we don't need to tackle as we hold possession' type of way). Whats his duels won % record like?
stats are great but they only really mean anything if you win something. Carrick doesn't even get a mention on that list for tackles, yet he is in the team of the year, or is he more of a player who sets up play? thought that was more Clevely, but as i don't follow that pile of dung i don't really know, but surely he should have good stats if he is in team of the year, i just thought he was a more defensive player which means he should have a good tackling figure.
Carrick isn't a tackler, he's doing a job a bit like Alonso used to do for us - defensive-minded, occupies space and denies the opposition an easy way through, distributes the ball in possession. Obviously doesn't thread a needle like Xabi used to do for us...
I think it is a good indicator of the importance to us. Nobody else on the team breaks up the play quite like Lucas: Gerrard doesn't have the energy to run down ball carriers anymore, Henderson hassles and contains but doesn't get a foot in and Allen (lol) tackles himself more than the opposition.
does slapping into the back of someone cos you can't get there in time count as a tackly cos lucas does that 4.4. times a game.
Wasn't saying it wasn't a good indicator, what i was saying was we play a varied 433 with attacking fullbacks and only Lucas holding, he is bound to get a lot of tackles per game. I was interested to know his duel percentage as that would show how good he is at a tackle.
http://www.eplindex.com/16366/premier-league-midfield-enforcers-statistical-comparison.html Last season's stats...
**** me MITO. That's you AND St John sounding like you're consorting with MFG. By the way, in case you didn't know, I'm going to the Derby on Sunday
http://www.theliverpoolword.com/2012/07/why-liverpool-must-add-a-defensive-midfielder-this-summer-transfer-window/ http://bags-of-ability.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/lucas-some-instances-of-cruel.html And here are another couple...
You claim it's "crap" yet you have no statistcal analysis to back up this theory. if it was crap, you'd be able to prove it with stats. Unfortunately just "watching the game" - in this case, looking at the post - isn't sufficient proof, even if it rings as true as the Notre Dame bells in your deluded statless mind. If you removed all the stats in your post and just said, "Lucas only ever passes backwards or sideways" then it would be crap. So, to those stats. Lucas was top five regularly for successful passes. "Oh," said the statless, "Stats tell you nothing. Lucas only ever passes backwards or sideways." Needless to say, the stat on his forward passes makes them look as silly as Adrian Durham on this subject. One stat may not tell you much but it warrants further investigaion, perhaps in conjunction with the stat for most successful tackles. And whaddaya know, Lucas was top five for that, too. A shrewd statistical analyser might deduce from this that those two stats suggest some, possibly many, of his successful tackles are followed by some of his successful passes, thus also suggesting that he wins back possession a lot and plays it off to a teammate. i've never heard Adrian Durham insist, with or without stats, that winning back possession and passing the ball backwards or sideways is a bad thing. That would be crap.
You should know better seing as I posted this. I'm no stat person so I find all stats boring and annoying the thread is just for the people who like this kind of thing. I love Lucas and I think I have a good understanding of the player from watching him, I don't need a table to show me how good he is. So the term "crap" was a more a dig at stats in general.
As any fule no, there are lies, damned lies and medal counts... And stats can be used to prove points, or they can be used to inform debates. Lucas used to be the man to polarise debates, but people now generally accept his brilliance as a defensive midfielder. What is surprising is just how good he is at linking play and creating opportunities (althought perhaps not 'chances') in the final third...
