Why would his team be transitioning better? transition = counter attacks right? why would a DM be the one pulling off a counter attack. Once again you're trying to create a situation that doesn't exist really. Like I said previously. Romulo was that DM # 1 got him sold for more money than Dede, it is CRUCIAL to that position to be able to pass without losing the ball and to show patience. Or what was the last time you saw Romulo take a chance? Now if you mean transition as bringing the ball up the pitch and going into an offensive positioning. Would you rather have your DM try and get that pass in there, or have him hold the ball for somebody with a pedigree of... well I don't know Ganso, Seedorf, Juninho Pernambucano, Felipe, Pirlo, Iniesta, Paulo Baier, Alex, Ronaldinho Gaucho or many other players with a WHOLE lot more accuracy in their passes. remember how Brazil stopped Spain? they harassed the hell out of iniesta, since they know most of the Spaniard players hold the ball of Xaviesta to start the plays. So on that second case.. I would have no problem benching that DM that thinks he's Xavi and putting in somebody that hold the ball for the player with the pedigree to do the passing.
Paulinho got to the Selecao being the biggest feijao com arroz ever! In 2011, Paulinho hardly attempted any crosses, long balls, shots or dribles. You know what he excelled at? 2011 91% passing and 113 disarmes in Serie A 10/39 crosses 19/50 long balls 46 dribbles 16 viradas 2012 Serie A (not playing all games of course) 93% passing and 64 disarmes 5/5 crosses 28 long balls attempted 22/34 dribbles Libertadores 86% passing and 39 disarmes 6/16 crosses 9 long balls attempted 15/22 dribbles here he actually attempted viradas de jogo 10/14 Feijao com arroz for the Modern DM.
Not everyone can be a maestro. Yes for World Class players you always expect them to be able to have a world class passing ability. But when you say modern DM and you are including an elite number of DMs in there, you need to understand that 3% of the DMs in the world do not account for the other 97%... If you list 100 DMs that can do what Paulinho does (which I highly doubt you'll make it to 20 maybe not even 10) you are ignoring that most teams have DMs which are not Paulinho.
2011 8 goals no assists 2012 7 goals - 5 assists 3 goals - 1 assist (lib) Goals and assists tell a story for a different part of the field. That's why I didn't even bother listing them since it's not the main stat for that position. It's like asking how many Touchdowns did a DE in football had this past season, when the question should be how many sacks/pressures he had.
Assists do matter. They are related to passing. Modern DMs (those with better passing skills) can help break down a defense, especially those who bunker.
Soccer isn't baseball, where statistics play much more importance when analyzing a player. You aren't going to have the next coming of Billy Beane in soccer.
So when putting a team together, if your team lacks a certain something, you can't be like Ledio Carmona... well go out and get a better player. A coach or a GM has to be able to see what his team needs and the limitations of his players. You can't just say.. hey a modern DM can do both of these! can defend like a real DM and pass like a CM! I mean.. you'll be looking for that player for a long time or.. you can purchase him for 20mil euros.
Yeah you're once again mentioning 3% of the DMs in the world (or less more like 0.03%) and saying that's the blueprint.. Messi is also the blue print how many of them do you see going around? Ibrahamovic is a blue print, how many tall strikers that can control the ball and trap like that do you see running around? Modern DMs are just a stupid name for the 0.03% of the DMs that play today.
And that modern DM kept up those stats every year after that? Once again, that is like Dede having the most disarms than his DM in 2011 and 3rd on his team with goals (6)
The point is those statistics aren't very meaningful and doesn't tell who the better player is. Denilson, Fabricio and Wellington (all three SPFC) players lead the league in passing completion -- 92%, 90%, 89% respectively. None of those players are good. SPFC went and grabbed Souza ex-Vasco for a reason.
You're trying to discredit statistics for no reason, they'll only help you. You're doing the same exact thing that even in baseball was done. He has more walks so what? well.. you add walks, on plate %, slugging, batt avg.. it tells you a story. One stat in a vacuum, tells nothing.
If the eye test isn't any better than statistics, you wouldn't see scouts go to games, watch games on TV/tapes, etc. They'd go to a stats site and look up players based on position and stats relevant to that position. They'd be a lot more successful, right? Give me a DM who has a 87% passing rate (and of the 13% errors, 10% was due to him making a more difficult pass and 3% led to dangerous plays for the opponent) than a 'safe' DM who has a 91% passing rate (but all 9% of his passing errors led to dangerous opportunities). Like Lucas said, stats need context. You can't analyze the raw numbers and make fair comparisons.
I don't really follow SPFC that much, but wasn't Denilsn in 2012 being considered for the National Team? Because he had an amazing season. So clearly he has is not garbage, or any good as you are calling it. Clearly he has the potential of having those kind of seasons, has he had before. Stats helps with that, you can see past the player's current form and see what was he doing back then which he is not doing now, and then put the plyer back at the position to achieve his highest potential. Because the answer to, what was he doing back then that he's not doing now? cannot be answered by: not sucking.
Barcelona does that actually they have a WHOLE system of scouting based on computer stats. But I agree it takes a combination of both. Why do you think these statistics are also taking over in football? Most teams still don't have the money to pay for it or are still being held back by old beliefs. Right now the Olheiros are all based on a simple STAT. the more eyes you have and the more players you see the more likely you'll find a better player.
You are once again asking for a DM which does exist! but you have to pay 20 million Euros for him. That's not realistic, you understand that right? Ok Hernane sucks.. give me a player that has the fastest pace with the ball, is able to score over 50 goals every season, has perfect shot placement awareness and a heck of a left footed shot, and I'll take him any day over Hernane. Yes I'm talking about Messi.
As the saying goes, "the tape doesn't lie." However, numbers do. Stats can help when used as a supplement of sorts with what you SEE. Stats fail to cover many areas that aren't accounted for. How do I know how many times a player was out of position? How do I know how many aerial balls he lost on? How do I know how many of his bad passes led to goal scoring chances for the opposition? It goes on and on...
Just list 20 players that have Paulinho's skill set. At the Spurs they put him as a CM and he's not being as effective as he is the Brazilian squad or was in Corinthians, that's when stats help you. Out of position he's not even a main starter at the Spurs. why because statistically he's not that good at being a modern DM... he is what he is.. he takes care of the ball let's players with a passing pedigree pass and then distribute when people are careless.
That's an old timer's cliche. you won't see the player being out of position all the time you're looking at the ball when watching a game, only when he actually gets caught or when he's covering for somebody's mistake and gets caught... BUT you can still get a heatmap and see where they player was positioned during the game, to see if he spend his time out of position or not. Aerial Balls can be counted as a stat, it's just new to the sport, they'll count them soon enough I agree they are important. Bad passes leading to goal scoring chances is covered with passing %, there's a reason DMs, CBs and LBs have to have a higher passing %, because their missed passes will lead to scoring chances, while AMs and FWs passes will lead to counters against... DMs CBs and LBs which are behind them, hence they having more freedom on forcing passes. Come on now.. If you take a DM that misses 10% more of the passes because he's trying something extra those 10% are likely to become goal scoring opportunities. DMs missing passes usually leads to exactly that.
definitely not, stats are very complex, the over simplification comes from this. That's over simplifying stats. So many reasons why Denilson, Fabrico and Wellington could be playing badly. Not knowing how to play is not one of them.
Saying most passing errors from DMs lead to goal scoring chances is oversimplifying things. Hopefully Barcelona will use their stat scouting system and sign hidden gems like Diogo Silva and Felipe Bastos.
No that's not over simplifying things, that's once again looking at it statistically, most DM passes occur in the middle center of the pitch, the likelyhood of a dangerous play when the ball is stolen from there is simply much higher. There is a reason Defenders boot the ball up the pitch and don't force plays through the middle, or just put the ball out of bounds instead of looking for a teammate (bola pro mato que o jogo eh de campeonato) statistically those are the best plays. These being so obvious you don't need mathematics for it, another one that you don't need math is the best place to lose the ball, as forward as you can. Once again you're comparing the echelon of the sport with the real necessity of the sport. I'v never said both of these players are gems, I've simply said they are what you pay for, they are exactly what they are expected to be statistically. So... to bitch and complain about a player not being Jefferson or Xavi is all fine and dandy, as long as you're willing to pay that player to be Jefferson or Xavi. If you are not, or cannot pay the money, don't bitch about something that is in your situation. Like I said about Ledio Carmona.. what kind of stupid comment is this. Well the way to resolve this problem is to buy another player... With what? Monopoly money?