Not really, because I'm happy for him to be a sub and come on and influence the game, I actually think he's done rather a good job in that capacity, I just don't want him starting. I would have done both seasons with regards to games he started but couldn't be bothered to look at which ones he started and which one's he came on in for all of last season. Either way, I think they're quite telling. Few could argue we played with more tempo to our game and attacked more freely over the Christmas period whilst he was suspended or over the last month or so whilst he's been dropped. Shock horror, we also win more games when that happens.
Bale, Bentley and Lennon all played out wide. Modric may have spent some time wide left but he also played a lot of games through the middle.
So 2 years ago when he played all but two games that season. I'll let people on the forum decide which stats they find more convincing.
I'm assuming that Hernandez and Akpom will be up front. If one of them is rested then Diame to play further forward as he did v Middlesbrough, and Huddlestone or Maloney to play instead of Meyler. Hayden is very much behind them in my pecking order.
It's daft to assume that a player starting directly influences results in a sport where there are so many contributing factors. Hernandez made 25 appearances for us last season, 15 starts and ten sub appearances; did we win the games he featured in because he started? Er, no. I honestly have no idea who I'd put in to replace Meyler. We don't have anybody else who plays like he does, the closest thing we have is Hayden but he's so inexperienced and we don't want to heap loads of pressure on the lad. Huddlestone has the quality, he was well off the pace at the start of the season but some bench time looks to have done him some good. He's appearing so much further forward now, something we've been wanting to see him do for ages and now people are saying they don't want him in the team, very odd. We also have Diame or Maloney who could slot in there, but I have to be honest and say Maloney looks much more effective where Diame is currently playing and it'd be folly to change that. You also have to consider our next opposition is Bristol City, hardly setting the world alight are they? If SB thinks Huddlestone has earned his recall, then fair enough. If he sticks Hayden in, it's probably the most obvious choice in terms of like for like but we don't want him choking on the occasion; as confident as he's looked in his little cameos playing 90 minutes in front of the Sky cameras is a bit different.
Yes, but that was two years ago. To be honest, I didn't even think he played particularly well in the second half of that season.
It's a stat. Stats are stats. Aka bollocks. Last season we picked up points in 56% of games he started, and we picked up points in 25% of games he didn't start. How's that for a stat, we're more than twice as good when he plays.
You mean the half where he scored against Cardiff and West Ham, and played a big part in getting us into the FA Cup Final, and then assisted Chester's goal once there?
To add to that, we earned points in 41% of games that Meyler started last season, and 64% of games he didn't start. So that's that, we're statistically a far better team with Huddlestone than Meyler. Don't you just love stats.
That's because most are fickle. If you polled those very same most at this point last season, they'd hve voted that Meyler was a donkey. If we go on a barn storming run and Huddlestone plays like he can, when Meylers back, those same people won't vote for him to take Huddlestones place. If we have a shakey period (which is likely) they'll blame it all on Tom. That's the nature of most football fans.
Fortunately that doesn't matter as it will be Steve Bruce who makes the decision, not a bunch of amateurs like ourselves!
Would you rather draw the rest of our games this season or win half and lose half? We had a higher points % without him than with him. Also, I believe we got points in 16 of the 31 league games he played in last season, which would be 51%.
If 12 minutes sub appearance at the end of a game counts as a start then you're right, I stand corrected.
And you're wrong. We had 0.75 points per game when he didn't start, 0.96 points per game when he did start. Would you rather have more points or a higher win percentage? So much for your stats eh.
