The Barclays Premier League Thread 2013/14

[METALMAN]

It wouldn't be cool. It would be very boring indeed, :/

[Nerf]

Suarez is not as good as Ronaldo, Messi, Henry, and arguably the other two, stats or otherwise at this precise moment. Just deal with it.

I'm bringing actual statistics into the discussion we had yesterday rather than us all just going "NO! I LIKE ALAN SHEARER SO HE IS NOT THE BEST."

[METALMAN]

But you chose a single statistic that confirms your argument rather than doing it properly and fairly. That makes statistics just as pointless.

In less than half a season, Suarez has a better conversion rate than four arbitrarily chosen players managed in a full season. So what?

Incidentally, each of the players you chose as comparisons sustained their brilliance over several years and won a lot. Suarez hasn't. So what?

[Liam]

Suarez is not as good as Ronaldo, Messi, Henry, and arguably the other two, stats or otherwise at this precise moment. Just deal with it.

I'm bringing actual statistics into the discussion we had yesterday rather than us all just going "NO! I LIKE ALAN SHEARER SO HE IS NOT THE BEST."

But you chose a single statistic that confirms your argument rather than doing it properly and fairly. That makes statistics just as pointless.

In less than half a season, Suarez has a better conversion rate than four arbitrarily chosen players managed in a full season. So what?

Incidentally, each of the players you chose as comparisons sustained their brilliance over several years and won a lot. Suarez hasn't. So what?

Andy wins. Your stats are pointless, and just come across as SUAREZ IS AWESOME, HE IS BESTEST.

I'm throwing out the idea that those stats wouldn't have been posted if they weren't favourable to Suarez.

[Nerf]

But you chose a single statistic that confirms your argument rather than doing it properly and fairly. That makes statistics just as pointless.

In less than half a season, Suarez has a better conversion rate than four arbitrarily chosen players managed in a full season. So what?

Incidentally, each of the players you chose as comparisons sustained their brilliance over several years and won a lot. Suarez hasn't. So what?

You're totally ignoring the part where I asked somebody to find clear cut chance creation stats to compare.

[METALMAN]

That's because:

1) I can't be bothered

2) I don't know where to find them

3)' it wouldn't change anything

4) it wouldn't prove anything

[Liam]

Last season, Victor Anichebe needed less passes per clear cut chance made than Luis Suarez.

[METALMAN]

The problem with doing a statistical analysis in football is that so much of the game is down to chance. You can only compare players through observation, and that's never going to give an absolute answer, but it's the best you're going to get.

If you fed a bunch of numbers into a computer and got it to pick the Ballon d'Or winner, it might pick Victor Anichebe. If you ask a panel of people t pick it based upon observation, not statistics, they will pick Leo Messi or Cristisno Ronaldo.

You can't easily apply quantitative methods in a qualitative discipline.

[MDK]

BOOOOOOOOOOOORING

[TCO]

Yeah Suarez is great, but he's not in the same category as Ronaldo or Messi. He's also not better than Henry in his pomp at Arsenal, he was just so good, the complete striker in every possible way.

[Crybaby Bunting]

say what you like about statistics, but if every shot that Heskey made had gone in then he'd be the most prolific goalscorer to have ever existed.

[Jimmy]

It's so pointless. Suarez is having a fantastic six months. He's in better form than anyone in the Premier League. He also had a very, very good season last year, but nothing groundbreaking in the context you wanna talk about him.

If you wanna talk purely stats, surely you see the flaws in comparing Suarez's half a season to every other player's full season?

edit: In fairness, Suarez now has to score 13 goals in 17 games in order to have scored the most goals in a Premier League season. That'd surely up the argument a bit. But even then, the current holders are Andy Cole & Alan Shearer, and no one ever talks of Andy Cole in terms of Premier League best.

[TCO]

Are we counting Suarez's shots that hit the post as goals?

[METALMAN]

edit: In fairness, Suarez now has to score 13 goals in 17 games in order to have scored the most goals in a Premier League season. That'd surely up the argument a bit. But even then, the current holders are Andy Cole & Alan Shearer, and no one ever talks of Andy Cole in terms of Premier League best.

That's just because you're a youngster! Andy Cole was a very good player for a number of years. As much as I would like to shy away from stats, I think Andy Cole was the fastest player to reach 100 Premier League goals. That's quite impressive.

[Colly]

"NO! I LIKE ALAN SHEARER SO HE IS NOT THE BEST."

Also, that season with Beardsley off Cole.

[Adam]

Last season, Victor Anichebe needed less passes per clear cut chance made than Luis Suarez.

Come on, that's not fair at all. Victor Anichebe is an absolute beast.

[Lineker]

Hahaha Nerf, you daft moose.

[Lineker]

Southampton chairman Nicola Cortese's future is in doubt, with leading figures at the club fearing he could leave at the end of the season. Manager Mauricio Pochettino has previously said he would leave if Cortese departed.

[Dynamite]

Sky Sports sources are saying the owner wants to sell, Cortese has handed in his resignation some time ago and Pochettino would follow the Chairman out the door. Could be just the sort of thing that sees a few of their players leaving this month.

[Crybaby Bunting]

I've been hearing conflicting reports saying that Katharina Liebherr (the owner) wants to reduce Cortese's power, Cortese handed in his resignation a while ago but it was blocked by Liebherr. If Cortese leaves then Pochettino leaves too, so Cortese holds all the cards in something like this.

Cortese's 'impending resignation' sounds an awful lot as though Cortese has personally leaked the information so that Liebherr has no choice but to back him or sack him, with the BBC and Sky getting a hold of the story it can't just be dealt with privately anymore.