Everton.
Save money and heartache by simply telling Silva to play Iwobi instead of Sigurdsson and either DCL or Kean up front rather than Tosun.
It's not fvcking hard.
Merry Christmas!
Richarlison trending
Never won without him til this week
Knocked into concussion last week and back in as soon as
Always pulled his tripe out
Hopefully he does get sold to a proper club and we buy some more overpriced ageing garbage to replace him
Blerts
You should probably read the best analytics piece of the year. It's with a top level coach who went to the World Cup and has signed a deal with his national team for the next 4 years
VAR is like the EU
Great idea in principle that only the English are daft enough to stick to the clipboard warrior rules with to the nth degree
While the English blame the thing rather than their own anal retentive implementation of it
Forget the oppo and the daft pen. Huge credit to Southgate for creating an environment where the team wants to play for the first time in two decades. Didn’t think he had it in him.
I'm a huge promoter of xG and use it constantly. But using the VVD v Sissoko chance as an example highlights the basic problem with quoting an actual number in single situations. My model says 11% too but it's blind. Its a WAY bigger chance than that. Use your eyes. And brains.
While an effective high press often reduces the number of shots a team concede, a frequent by product is allowing easier chances when the press is broken. Liverpool and Chelsea avoid this, but City and Everton don't...
My dominance table requires a whole expected goal to count as an actual goal. So 0.99 v 1.99 would be 0-1.
What happens when you do it for shots on target only explains Liverpool's dominance this year
Here we go:
1. Sidibe brings more than Coleman going forward. But he'll be injured in 5 minutes if we keep playing at that pace
2. If we're playing at decent tempo, Schneiderlin can't be playing
3. Judging your team against West Ham at home is probably a bad idea
To help people put things into context we put together 10 years worth of data to look at the biggest shooters in the Premier League. Kane has a big enough sample to say he's a better all round finisher than Aguero. Discuss.
Topping the passing model for Premier League midfielders who didn't play it safe all game long this season?
1. Jordan Henderson (by a lot)
2. Youri Tielemens
3. James Ward-Prowse
4. John McGinn
5. James Madison
6. Oli Norwood
Back in October, when I wrote my new manager shortlist blog using the data, Ancelotti came up on both pressing and xG metrics with his Napoli side.
I ruled him out with us having 'no chance' of getting him.
Here we are.
It's a funny old game.
Expected Assists Leaderboard. Which players are creating the chances most likely to be taken? Who relies on set pieces rather than open play?
#creativity
Immediate takes after watching 6 minutes of highlights:
1. Only Premier League could execute a brilliant tool like VAR this badly
2. Mo Salah is at Bergkamp levels of constant brilliance
Model says that in 2009/10 Mikel Arteta was the best passer of the ball in open play in the PL
Cesc Fabregas the best direct creator of chances in open play
And pound for pound Antonio Valencia was an absolute all round colossus
Arteta makes sense under a DoF model
More of a coach than manager
Been learning from one of the best
Likely to want to play decent togger
Knowledge of league as both player and coach
Had style AND grit as a player
Extremely popular fan galvaniser
Young and hungry
Leicester now have the biggest overperforming striker in terms of xG
And
The biggest overperforming keeper in terms of xG on target
As both these things cool off those pts already on the board will be crucial