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They were talking about that on the Guardian's podcast earlier in the week. I'm glad to finally see it because it really is as disturbing as they were describing.
That was spectacular, but the Van Basten volley is still to me the gold standard.
L'Equipe is streaming matches from le National (3d tier).
Metz - Paris FC about to start.
It's maybe like 1980 or something. No splits, not even like the rudimentary ones from the Abstracts.
Maybe the stats exist somewhere, but I find it hard even to find how many goals come from free kicks or corner kicks.
May I ask where did you purchase your stats from, and is there much assembly required?
Very interesting post. Thanks for posting it.
I am currently getting my data from Fantasy Scout. They are basically selling a subset of Opta's stats for a yearly subscription of $20. Considering Opta wants $6,000 (I asked) that's a pretty good deal. Unfortunately, you don't get as many data points as you'd like.
There is an absolute ton of assembly required. Luckily I have a development background. No idea how someone could manage hard core analysis by hand.
What a fun game.
I feel for Rafa but its a bit like Bobby Valentine, there is no benefit to keeping him around.
I've heard people say that Chelsea's first 11 are getting tired, and they need to rotate more. Which is fair, especially with a must-win Champions League game Tues, but still doesn't explain the subs today.
Ugh. That 2nd half was just woeful. As you said, the Hazard substitution made absolutely no sense unless you just wanted to do something different than RDM. These season is turning into a dumpster fire. My one fault with RDM was his lack of rotation when the season was going good, but now you have to stop the bleeding. Not trying our best lineup was just dumb.
Have to say that West Ham is near the top of my list for the next time I get to London. I'd probably have to buy a West Ham jersey and wear it just to get out of there alive, but the crowd was fantastic during that match.
Edit: nevermind.
Damn, Roman Weidenfeller stood on his ####### head to preserve that tie for Dortmund. 3 absolutely amazing saves in the last 15 minutes of the game.
Why didn't this Dortmund team show up against Dusseldorf at home on Tuesday?
West Ham 3-1 Chelsea
West Ham 1-2 Chelsea
It just seemed so crazy that West Ham had won 3-1, I thought he must have picked them to win 3-1, which was even more insane. It was only after I looked and realized that only the actual scores were bolded--while the predictions were not--that I realized what happened.
Positves: Extremely solid defensively (and a clean sheet). Really good game from Dempsey, possibly his best over the full 90 so far. Encouraging performance from Sigurdsson (how nice to have someone who gets his head up in that position in the box). Naughton quietly effective in relief of Walker (not as much attacking threat, but very tidy defensively).
Negatives: Game had 0-0 written all over it until Schwarzer somehow let Sandro's shot get past him. That forced Fulham to come out a bit, which played right into Spurs' hands of course. I remain concerned about Tottenham's ability (or lack thereof) to play through an organized team defending with eight or nine behind the ball. Not enough touches for Lennon. Little width from fullbacks (understandable with Walker and Benny not playing, though).
If it had been Man United playing instead of Spurs, this would be getting praised up and down as a typical "professional performance" from a championship-caliber team. Rarely trouble defensively, controlled the tempo, created just enough chances to win and finished them ruthlessly when they came. Plus a smidge of luck.
Man, do I wish we'd signed Berba. Dude is a ####### wizard.
I had the same thought at the time. Looking back I think it makes some sense. Donovan is an important figure to US soccer and MLS in his own right. Also, it might be considered "showing up" Houston to effectively say "the goal doesn't matter, we are already celebrating" in a one goal game and I think that matters more in soccer than it would in other sports.
Does he normally take PKs these days?
I love Keane, and have ever since the 2002 WC, but my biggest fear is that he'll be leading the Ireland charge for the Euro 2016 campaign...
Also agreed on Dempsey. It seemed to me that he really came to life after Bale's injury - suddenly he was everywhere, demanding the ball, leading the team. I really hope Bale is only out for a week or two, because he's easily the best player on the club, but a game or two without him might help Dempsey and Sigurdsson get their seasons going.
edit: Really, best name in world football? Yes it is.
I do love the FA Cup.
Thanks Jose!
(sorry)
I swear, if Sandro was inspired by this Jeff Tweedy performance then he wins all the awesome.
Oof. He's got terrible taste in music!
Catching up on the tables...Chris Hughton's Norwich is higher than Newcastle. That's kind of fun. Spurs are joint third though it would appear the path to that lofty position was tougher than it would appear. Rafa Benitez, eh? It must have been very depressing for Abramovich to realize that was the best guy available. It's like going to a bar and finding out the most interesting beer they have on tap is Bass. Good to see 'Arry back, but I don't know what he's going to do with that team. I do enjoy the coincidence of Harry and Taraabt together again and am enjoying the rumors of a possible reuniting with Darren Bent. Surely QPR can buy David Bentley and the player that hit Harry in the head with a ball during that famous interview, too? PSG are fourth in France. Awesome. West Brom and Swansea are challenging for a Champions League spot, Arsenal and Chelsea are in crisis, Torino is safe, Freiburg is challenging for a Europa spot and Partick Thistle continue to top the table in Scotland Division one. Everything is well set up for a fun month of soccer-ball now that I have time to enjoy it again. I poke fun at Arsenal and Chelsea but I get really weary of all the moaning that happens when these clubs have a rough spell of games. The other clubs want to win, too, and they also employ trained professionals. And finally, to finish my Larry King rambling post, I'm looking forward to finishing the biography of Clough by Jonathan Wilson I picked up in London. That is one giant doorstop of a book. I put it down with Clough just having taken the job at Brighton and am dying to find out how that works out! What would be the equivalent today of Clough getting the sack at Derby and getting hired by Brighton? Roberto Mancini signing on to manage Crawley Town?
Spurs get Coventry City again. West Ham v Man U appears to be the best game along with Swansea and Arsenal, a game Arsene probably doesn't fancy...
Surely you don't need to look further than Sven-Göran's career arc for an example.
Chelsea's crisis has been more high-profile, but at least they're still in 3rd. Arsenal are in 10th at the moment (although only 5 points off a Champions League place).
I don't actually think either club is in crisis. Most likely they'll both be top 4 at the end of the season. I think it's silly how if things aren't easy for these clubs the media and their fans panic. It's not supposed to be easy!
That was our issue with the RDM firing. Not a person came into this season thinking that Chelsea was poised to run away with the league. We had great early success, but our squad has structural issues (no reliable CF, depth in MF) that were going to expose us at some point. Roman's panic move has made us look desperate, when we were simply reverting back to the mean a bit. We will likely still salvage a CL spot when we actually have some CF (Lukaku, Falcoa, etc) and MF (McEacheran) depth in the January window, but our team isn't ready for veteran ManU & City clubs yet. It was never going to be as easy when Mata, Hazard and Ocar were devouring Prem team early on.
I was just about to say the same thing. Kilgallon with a Miss of the Season contender too. Should be level.
I liked how after the shot came off the post and then Kilgallon inexplicably missed the sitter, Bassong thought it appropriate to give the prone keeper a high five. Good job Keep!
Okay, but that's obviously just on account of the Portuguese connection.
* Last one in this painful highlight reel. Watch him cruise past Seb Bassong like he's not even there.
Southampton v Chelsea is potentially interesting too, insofar as there's the prospect Rafa will get canned if they don't win (assuming he makes it that far).
What was the saying? He won't be drinking the eggnog?
"Sepp Blatter, trembling as ever with magisterial condescension, a man who with each passing year increasingly resembles the World Cup itself: gleaming, burnished, perfectly rounded, palms raised in a cartoon of glazed and perma-tanned personal wonderfulness..."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2012/nov/30/ballon-dor-ronaldo-messi
There were seven London clubs in the old First Division in 88-89, the last time Millwall were up (Arsenal, Spurs, QPR, Millwall, Wimbledon, Charlton and West Ham). In the next season, there were eight, as West Ham went down, but Chelsea and Crystal Palace both came up. Millwall and Palace both went down in 89-90, and I don't think the high water mark was ever reached again.
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