Mostly just an update on the Actim ratings: http://www.pa-sport.com/products/actim_championship.php So, as the new year begins, Marcus is the highest rated keeper in the CCC, and Convey is the third highest rated midfielder (he's behind little and harper, also of Reading). Convey is the 6th highest rated player overall, and Marcus the 8th. Overall, Reading has 11 in the top 45 and 12 in the top 90 (sidwell is 89th). In non-Reading but CCC Yank ratings, Eddie Lewis is #15 overall. and Frank Simek is 89th. {this graph is the subject of another thread, sorry. In the Prem, McBride is 49th overall. Freidel is 55th, but the 5th highest keeper.} As always with these rankings, take them for what they're worth: one ranking system, not definitive but a helpful factor in determining a player's success. The ratings obviously favor the most successful teams ( hence Reading's dominance of the CCC. Reading are good, but don't have 8 of the 10 best players in the championship)
Bearing that in mind, here's another way of looking at the rankings: -- Convey (5th on his team) and Hahnemann (6th on his team) are rated as ordinary starters on a powerhouse. -- Lewis (1st on his team) is a standout for a group that probably deserves to be promoted. -- Simek (2nd on his team, 3rd among all players from teams in the bottom six) is a leader on a team that hopes to avoid relegation. All four come off looking good.
And, when we stop to remember that a year ago at this time, Convey wasn't necessarily considered one of the top six midfielders at Reading, it makes this look like very good news, indeed.
Is this the same system that had Reyna #1 (or something like that) in EPL after 5 games? At any rate, your other way of looking at the ratings seems quite sound.
But do powerhouse teams have "ordinary" players? Who on Chelsea, for example, is an ordinary EPL player?
Yes, it is the same system that said Reyna was the best player in the EPL early in the season. But then Reyna did have an outstanding start to the season.
Ratings aside, my expectations of all of our Yanks have dramatically chnaged over the last year, year and a half. I now expect our players to be regular players, earning it of course and become big contributorss to their clubs. I expect fewer time periods of adjustment when going overseas. I'm just happy everyone is doing well and it will only makes our Nats pool deeper.
Yes, you could say it's all relative, but one problem with this view is that it doesn't look at ranking by position. Marcus is the number 1 CCC keeper in the Actim stats, and he is regarded as anything but an "ordinary" starter for the team. Losing him (knock wood) would send a chill into the hearts of Reading fans like no Arctic wind ever could. Reading are currently dominating the table in the Championship, no doubt. But they've done it through consistently finding some way to win (or at least not lose) games. Sometimes it's blowing away the competition 5-1 (3 times, so far, to be exact). Many times it's been pure, ugly determination and the ability of any one player to be able to step up and make the big play. Do you call that kind of team a "powerhouse"? I don't know. I agree that most of their players are more than ordinary; I don't know how many would be called extraordinary (although Sonko IS Superman, that's a given). It's their play as a team that HAS been extraordinary.
True enough, and Man City does seem to struggle when he's out of the lineup. All that said, though, the system appears to overweight team success. Even knowing that it was an early ranking based on limited information, all those Man City players among the top 20 in the EPL in September was evidence of a model that needed tweaking. Even Pearce wouldn't have believed that one. And 8 Reading players in the top 10 is coming on a bit high, too. Would be nice if the model would be enhanced. We could all benefit from an informed & relatively accurate assessment system, for understanding how our favorite YAs are really doing.
I think it depends what you'd want it to tell you. OPTA on Sky is useful for some things like the number of touches, passing accuracy, shots on goals, dribbles, assists, save percentage, etc.