The curious case of Steven Taylor

Came across this analysis of Saylor.
What stats don't tell you is the heart and passion he shows. That can be the difference between an average player and a good one.

http://eplindex.com/39795/steven-taylor-improved.html

This is a question frequently asked by Newcastle fans, especially as Steven Taylor continues to do the same stupid things that he has done throughout his entire career. The latest classic Taylor moment came in the loss against Manchester City during the Newcastle’s first match of the current season. He foolishly decided to fling an elbow, at Sergio Aguero, when the ball was coming towards the two in the air. There was no reason to do this as the Geordie had the beating of the Argentinian in the air. Moreover, the incident is even more ridiculous because there were Sky cameras all around the ground, so there was no chance he was going to get away with it. All it did was to create a huge issue for his teammates who were already 2-0 down at the time of the incident.

please log in to view this image

please log in to view this image

During the relegation season of 2008/9, Taylor played a total of 27 matches. He had a ground 50-50 win rate of 51% with one coming every 22.78 minutes, while he had an aerial 50-50 win rate of 71% with each one coming 36.16 minutes apart. Taylor had a good tackle success rate of 80.77% as he attempted a tackle every 88 minutes. The centre back made four defensive errors throughout the campaign (570 minutes per mistake).

please log in to view this image

In his next campaign in the top flight (2010/11), he only made 12 appearances for the Magpies. His ground 50-50 win rate fell to 48% with one coming every 43.78 minutes. He was more successful in the air with an aerial 50-50 win rate of 80% – as he contested in the aerial duel every 33.57 minutes. His tackle success rate stayed roughly the same at 80% with a tackle coming every 201 minutes. The defender didn’t make one error during this season though.

please log in to view this image

Injury hit his season (again) during 2011/12 as his side did brilliantly to finish fifth. Taylor made only 14 appearances. His ground 50-50 success rate rose to 71% as he made one every 37.06 minutes. On the other hand his aerial 50-50 success rate fell to 61%, when competing aerially once every 35 minutes. His tackle success rate fell slightly to 72.73%, as he made a tackle every 115 minutes. He also made one defensive error in this season.

Last season he made 25 appearances as Newcastle struggled to 16th. His ground 50-50 success rate fell to 59% (one every 36.81 minutes). Taylor’s aerial 50-50 success rate stayed roughly the same at 63% (one every 18.41 minutes). He made a tackle once every 133 minutes and he came out successful 75% of the time. Taylor made two errors last season, continuing a trend. The stats only back up that Taylor has never really made a significant improvement over the last few seasons. He continues to be clumsy in and around the box which leads to a few goals a season. He must handball more than the average player but he has managed to disguise that rather well as he is rarely penalised for it. He does continue to make mistakes each season which create problems for Newcastle.

please log in to view this image

In the last two campaigns he has failed to score once, whereas in the first two seasons looked at in this article, he scored seven times. This is an area in his game in which he has taken a huge step backwards. In recent seasons the Newcastle fans have questioned Taylor’s footballing intelligence and the recent incident against Manchester City just shows he is still lacking in it. He is still making the same mistakes that he made when he first burst onto the scene. He should no longer be a starting player as Fabricio Coloccini and Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa have both looked a lot better than the Newcastle academy graduate. Hopefully the competition will cause Taylor to improve his own game which he hasn’t done for a number of years. His naivety continues to shine through, and he has never lived up to the potential that he showed early in his career.

 

If we can only find a statistic for "Number of handballs in the box which the ref never saw"...

Sometimes when I watch him play I think that he's more suited for the Falcons than United.

 

Would be interesting to compare with all our other defenders, as I suspect they'd be worse. Genuinely think Taylor had been badly hurt by injuries, because for a while he was comfortably our best defender. Him and Colo became an unreal partnership (let's not forget the appearances he made two years ago set up that 5th finish... Several clean sheets and not one loss for like 10 games), so I think it's unfair to jump down his throat at this stage. Not one of the genii on the football field are immune from rash moments

 

I can see Colo and Mapou being first choice this year but then when Colo leaves, Saylor stepping alongside Mapou.
We need Saylor, for his passion, ability and understanding of all things Geordie.
Unfortunately Mapou is turning into some player indeed which will hamper Saylors chances. If we have a left back injury though, that's when Saylor will get a chance.
For the first time in a long while I'm confident in our defensive ability... and our record (barring Citeh) this season is starting to back up that confidence.

 

It says he taken a massive step backwards in terms of goals. He is a central defender. 7 goals in consecutive seasons is quite frankly phenomenal for that position. To use that to put a CB down is nothing short of stupid, if you look hard rnough you can't find fault anywhere.

CDGH= he's better suited to the Theatre Royal than Kingston PArk.

 

Saylor's fine in my book, plays with heart and passion and always gives 100%.

 

He's still a cheating, diving , w**ker , it doesn't matter which way you look at it.

 

My B&W specs tend to steam up when anything like that happens so I never see it.

 

So much unnecessary anger directed at a respected footballer, one that is the embodiment of a football club with his professionalism and generosity.

No matter when he learns how to do the 'Right Arm Salute' and able to do the 'Goose Step' in time, he may be more to your liking.
Until then, he still ours and no amount of flattery from the likes of you will prize him away.

 

Really

 

He's never really matured as a footballer, Not bad though, hes a really good 3rd choice considering he'd be a good 1st choice for 12-14 clubs in the league. But I think it'l be hard to dislodge Yanga who I think is incredible

 

So, statistically speaking, in each game Taylor's played in over the last few years he's gone in for about two 50-50 loose passes, three 50-50 headers and less than one actual tackle. This reads as the sum of Taylor's Saturday afternoons is a maximum of seven attempts to get the ball in a match?
I get the impression whoever put these figures together said shortly after completion "oh, THAT'S what that means. You are going to laugh so much when I tell you what I did. No really, I know. DUH! What do you mean fired?"

 

Strange stats on the tackling front - 201 mins per tackle? Surely he tackled more than that? Even the least figure of 88 surprises me on this stat.

 

Big fan of his but injuries have certainly seen his level spiral. Has it all to prove again. Has to hope he does a Keown, and enjoys a golden end to his career after years of almost, injuries and kamikaze moments.

 

Roughly one tackle every two and a quarter games.

What a load of tosh!

 

But how many minutes in between handling the ball, before diving to the floor clutching his stomach like he's been shot?

I do love his passion and desire, but he does get carried away at times. Too often, in fact. And he's wayyyy too injury prone. Yanga & Colo should start ahead of him.