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I agree with the Chelsea blogger, who basically said that method of calculating "possession" is a useful metric in and of itself but it's misleading to label it as possession %.
I have to think the technology is more than mature enough to have a computer go through the video feed of a match and automatically allocate possession time based on the ball going from one [color] shirt to another [same color] shirt. Where it's muddled, that time gets allocated to the "Neither" bucket. (I've always been uncomfortable with possession % adding up to 100 every time - there are lots of short periods in every match where possession is contested.) It should also be possible to differentiate between possession in/out of play and possession attributable to dead ball situations like corners, free kicks, etc.
My take is that possession is principally a defensive statistic. When I started thinking of it that way, it was similar to the epiphany of years and years ago when I started reading that what was important in baseball was not how many hits you got but rather how many outs you didn't make. Pundits like to bang on about how possession is only as important as what you do with it. I think that's at best half-true. Possession is important because of what your opponent can't do without it.
Mattbert, I think you vastly overrate the state of computer vision if you think it could reliably pick out the ball, let alone assign possession of it. Unless you think we are soon to be blessed with FoxTrax 2.0.I'm an idiot, because I think sportvision might actually have this technology.Wall Street sources said that the United share offer has been oversubscribed by investors, although it is not yet clear what price they agreed to pay. "The book is looking pretty solid," one source confirmed. "It's covered."
I think I caught that it's 68 yards wide, but it's still real, real narrow. As for scoreline, it's 1-1 in the same way that it was "up for grabs" early morning on September 1, 1939 between Germany and Poland. Milan is an utter shell of itself, and I'm trying to figure where they'd end up in Serie A this year with this lineup. Or where they'd be in EPL or even La Liga. I know it's pre-season and all, but Milan is roughly somewhere between Getafe and Everton at this point.
I don't think you can't infer that they measure 50/50 situations, there is so much time when the ref has stopped play in the 90 minutes.
He's angry goddammit! Excuse me while I wipe away my tears.
West Ham signed Alou Diarra.
Ally McCoist has confirmed Bedoya and Edu will be leaving Rangers but he's hoping Bocanegra will stay. I don't know, Boca is coming to the end of his career and I hope he doesn't waste it clawing up the nether regions of the Scottish pyramid. Come home, Carlos, come home!
Careful, the porn brothers wanted to give him an 8 year, 90K a week contract!
Based on the Opta blog that Chef linked yesterday, that is in fact what Opta used to do and what at least some of their competitors probably still do:
Unless there's a lengthier quote I haven't seen, it strikes me as strange that people took so much from this quote:
Sir, are you going to sit here and accuse the English media of twisting the meaning of quotes out of context and overreacting? I will not stand for it. I will not!
I'm not shedding any tears but it's got to be frustrating to mostly be doing things the "right way" (not some new crazy rich owner) and to come up (almost) empty repeatedly in trying to get players to join the squad. I'm still not exactly sure what Ferguson would do with Van Persie, but I would imagine that his frustration is much less to do with that than it is losing Lucas after losing out on Hazard.
It seems a bit crazy that a club of United's stature is going to be counting on some combination of Kagawa, Carrick, Giggs, Scholes, Anderson, Clevery, and maybe Fletcher if they are lucky to control the center of the pitch. I might be too dismissive of both Kagawa and Carrick but I think each has question marks next to their names even if they aren't as large as the rest. United still look pretty amazing on the wings and the Rooney-Bebe combo on top is terrific. But I'm a bit amazed that Ferguson hasn't been able to do more to improve the center mids, although it is pretty obvious it isn't from a lack of trying.
?
Cleverley is the one you are being too dismissive of. They do need another central midfielder, but they aren't going to pay £35M for one.
If they got Van Persie, I wouldn't be surprised to see Rooney playing a deeper role as almost an AM.
Bebe?
I might not be giving Cleverley enough credit, but from what little I've seen of him, isn't he more of an attacking midfielder? I'm just not sure how he fits into a squad that is probably likely going to have Giggs and/or Scholes that plays in an attacking role and also as Rooney who, as you note, likes to go deep to get the ball.
[edit] Anyway, my general point is that I'm just really surprised to see a United lineup that looks from my vantage point to be much less than the sum of the individual parts. And I'm not surprised Ferguson is crying about it. Any chance they don't make top 4?
Oh sure, it's us!
I don't think Man U have too many problems. If they got a Modric or someone it would just be unfair to the league.
Tomorrow's Headline: Shooty disrespects Star-Spangled Banner
Kagawa is awesome. You sir, are a fool.
Although I fully expect his career to take the Rosicky path now.
Rooney and Vidic both suffer season ending injuries in the first month or two and yeah, it's possible.
Temporarily forgot about Welbeck. I just wanted to make a Bebe joke, but the overall point was that United should be ok up top.
But I think the defensive part of the midfield is a complete mess and on top of that I'm not sure how much better than that the centerbacks and fullbacks will be. De Gea is going to need to earn his salary.
I think City and Chelsea are clearly 1-2 in some order. I really like what Arsenal has done and would place them 3rd.
I'm not sure what to make of Newcastle but they looked rather amazing last season and they are bringing the squad back. I think they are a couple of injuries away from not being in the conversation for Europe but if they stay healthy, I could see a top 4 finish. And if Spurs can get Leandro I'm not sure why they wouldn't be in the mix for top 4 as well.
United is getting quite old and they don't have replacements lined up at several spots. I think it's good (for the Glazers) that the stock is being sold now instead of this time next year.
You're crazy. If Vidic is healthy the CB's will be fine with him and some combination of Ferdinand and Jones. They could definitely use some help at FB, but aren't really hurting, especially if Smalling can come back from injury soon. This is the team that had the second fewest goals allowed playing Jonny Evans at CB in way, way too many games last year after Vidic went down.
I think that is probably about right and like you I'm worried about Arsenal. There are a lot of ifs, but f they can still pry Sahin from RM, Wilshire doesn't become Grady Sizemore and they keep RVP that squad attacking players might be unmatched in the Prem this year. As much as I love Chelsea's additions especially for the long-term, Sahin, Carzola and Giroud are ready to produce now and likely will.
Chelsea is positively ancient by comparison, though.
I think health is the key there. I think Vidic is likely to be ok but that's still a bit unknown. I expect Ferdinand to miss an awful lot of games (and even when he doesn't he's a year older). And in my mind Jones already has established that he's an injury waiting to happen. Smalling seems to have injury problems as well.
You do bring up a good point about doing well even with Evans playing as much as he did. Maybe he just had a bad Euros but Evra looked like he doesn't have a lot left to give and if he is getting beat on a regular basis, I think that defense is going to be tested a lot. If they are healthy, they should be ok. I just wouldn't bet they stay healthy.
I maybe shouldn't have said Chelsea is clearly in the top 2. That's based on assumption that some of the old guard is going to be shown to the substitute's bench this season. And also that Ashley Cole doesn't lose a step. I'm assuming that Mata and Hazard will be in the starting line up for all the big matches. But if that comes at the expense of Lampard, is Di Matteo willing to do that? I'm assuming he is, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised if he's not willing to yank Frank and the like from the starting 11.
[edit] Intentionally didn't mention Oscar because I'm not sure he will immediately be able to step in, but if he hits the ground running I really don't see how there is room for the old guard.
They aren't allowed to do ####-all about the forward position until Spurs sign Damiao!
Rooney is still a good player who as long as they use as the highest striker on the pitch, he is fine. If Rooney plays with Welbeck or Chicharito he is too undisciplined (positionally) to help out in the midfield any more.
Man U is still relying too much on Giggs and Scholes. I think M'Villa or Javi Martinez would be perfect to pair with Carrick. We've been waiting on Anderson for a couple years now. Without any new signings a 4-2-3-1 with Kagawa in the hole and Anderson/Carrick in the middle is their best lineup.
United fights with Arsenal for third, although if Spurs sign a real striker they could sneak in for fourth.
The old guard is basically down to Terry, Lampard and Cole. Despite his flaws, Terry is still pretty good. Lampard was sat a fair amount last year and Cole is still one of the better LB. After, AVB I think the team trusts DiMatteo enough and they can't argue with a Champions League title. The title will come down to Torres' ability to score but this team rivals City for talent.
Dundee United were destroyed by Dinamo Moscow. With all the money in the Russian league, how close do you think they are pushing Ligue 1 to be the 5th best league in Europe?
She's not listed at ESPN.
EDIT: Yes she is. I'm a dope. So I guess she's playing!
They really want those business class tickets.
Lloyd's having a really good game.
Good effort by the US.
also my feed keeps dying, NBC :(
EDIT: although have Cheney and Heath switched sides? it's almost like they're all playing in the middle.
DOUBLE EDIT: yeah, it seems they have, for some strange reason.
As much experience as Rampone has, she makes a lot of mistakes.
Why don't we just leave it at that. The fact that she didn't mention Hope Solo, who was bombarded today and put in an absolute class performance, in her remarks was unprofessional. It's not Hope's job to not make it personal, but it is Chastain's. Bush league move by her.
It might be full of cliches but when it gave me the option to answer "I'm not a fan of Brian Ching" I literally laughed out loud at it's realism.
I missed this?!
I didn't see the game, but (as suggested by JuanGone in #380) if Solo was standing on her head making save after save that might have been to Chastain what an opponent's walk-off HR is to Hawk Harrelson?
Interesting to see who they will parachute in if this stands. I guess they'll get a veteran coach content to step aside in a year if they want to keep Conte. I'm not saying they will or should get Redknapp, but wouldn't it be hilarious?
Basel Switzerland 1 Romania CFR Cluj 21–22 August 28–29 August
Helsingborg Sweden 2 Scotland Celtic 21–22 August 28–29 August
BATE Borisov Belarus 3 Israel Ironi Kiryat Shmona 21–22 August 28–29 August
AEL Limassol Cyprus 4 Belgium Anderlecht 21–22 August 28–29 August
Dinamo Zagreb Croatia 5 Slovenia Maribor 21–22 August 28–29 August
League Route
Braga Portugal 6 Italy Udinese 21–22 August 28–29 August
Spartak Moscow Russia 7 Turkey Fenerbahçe 21–22 August 28–29 August
Málaga Spain 8 Greece Panathinaikos 21–22 August 28–29 August
Borussia Mönchengladbach9 Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv 21–22 August 28–29 August
Lille France 10 Denmark Copenhagen 21–22 August 28–29 August
This would be perfect entertainment and, as a Torino fan, I think they should totally do this. Sadly, there always seem to be a couple of Italian savants sipping espressos with nothing else to do but wait for a call.
edit: You know, the only character more fun than Redknapp leading Juventus into the CL this year would be Maradonna. Come on Juventus! Redeem your bastardness a little by giving us the Argentine Quote Machine.
Liverpool against Hearts. Nice easy road trip for the Reds. Hearts get another crack at an English team after losing to Spurs last year.
AZ Alkmaar and Jozy Altidore get the short straw and will be heading to Dagestan.
Dinamo Moscow and Stuttgart could be a good matchup.
Levante will make their European debut against Motherwell.
Newcastle travel to Greece against Atromitos.
Braga v Udinese should be pretty decent as well.
Is there a source for this?
Also Hope Solo is the Alex Rodriguez of women's soccer.
United always seems to make things work, and it's not like this upcoming year is the first year they've had midfield questions.
As for Chelsea, they have a lot of talent, but I don't think that first half was just a product of AVB. They've got serious questions as well, primarily the fact that they struggle to score and just lost their best striker. There's a huge goal differential gap between what Chelsea did and what United did last year.
I've also reached the point where I will never expect Arsenal to finish above United. I want to see it happen first.
I have no idea what this means, but the comparison seems very off. For starters, fans love her and she's way more outspoken.
There's also the fact that they actually did worse in the league (on a points per game basis) after Villas-Boas got canned. You could argue that this was at least partly a result of the team being focused on the Champions League to the exclusion of just about all else (and I wouldn't object), but them's the facts.
They've got serious questions as well, primarily the fact that they struggle to score and just lost their best striker. There's a huge goal differential gap between what Chelsea did and what United did last year.
Chelsea's squad is loaded, but it's way heavy on attacking midfielders and light on center forwards who can hold the ball up bring those mids into the play. Di Matteo has his work cut out for him in figuring out how to get all those creative players to play together, I'd say.
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