Miscellaneous Premier League Stats

I've been trawling through some old newspapers recently and have found some interesting stats and rating systems I thought I'd share from the Premier League. If anyone has any more then please do share them. Obviously, as with all stats, the value placed on them is subjective but I found them interesting.

Apologies that this site doesn't render tables very well.

1997-8 Statistical Review (News of the World)

KEY - Goalkeepers: CS: clean sheets (5 points). PS: penalties saved (5). S: saves (1). E:errors leading to a goal (-3). GC: goals conceded (-3). Outfield: G: goals (10). AO: attempts on target (2). AF: attempts off target (1). A: assists (5). OP: passes in opposition half (1). KP: key passes (2). T: tackles (1): I: interceptions (1). OG: own goals conceded (-10). PC: penalties conceded (-5).

GOALKEEPERS

Winner: PETER SCHMEICHEL

CS PS S E GC Tot
Schmeichel (Man Utd) 16 0 112 2 20 126
Sullivan (Wimbledon) 13 0 172 2 44 99
Poom (Derby) 13 1 147 0 47 76
James (Liverpool) 11 0 95 0 26 72
Keller (Leicester) 12 0 114 2 34 66
Martyn (Leeds) 11 1 157 7 44 64
De Goey (Chelsea) 12 0 85 0 28 61
Seaman (Arsenal) 12 0 90 1 30 57
Forrest (West Ham) 5 0 63 0 12 52
Hedman (Coventry) 5 0 60 1 12 46

DEFENDERS

Winner: FRANK LEBOEUF

G AO AF A OP KP T I OG PC Tot

Leboeuf (Chelsea) 5 24 21 4 586 2 461 80 0 0 1270
Elliott (Leicester) 7 28 52 2 401 7 606 39 0 1 1243
Wright (A Villa) 0 5 17 3 803 27 222 41 0 0 1162
Winterburn (Arsenal) 1 5 14 3 646 14 344 50 0 0 1117
Kenna (Blackburn) 0 2 12 2 769 26 237 16 1 0 1090
G Neville (Man Utd) 0 3 19 4 669 25 280 26 0 2 1060
Unsworth (W Ham) 2 11 23 2 396 15 497 37 0 0 1039
Dodd (Soton) 1 5 7 5 575 19 325 32 0 0 1022
Nilsson (Coventry) 0 4 11 0 507 28 327 52 0 1 961
Cunningham (Wimbdn) 0 1 1 2 526 33 312 43 0 0 960

MIDFIELDERS

Winner: STEVE McMANAMAN

G AO AF A OP KP T I Tot

McManaman (Livpl) 11 41 45 9 1166 20 189 28 1705
Beckham (Man Utd) 9 33 45 15 983 57 124 20 1535
Batty (Newcastle) 1 6 15 0 1162 13 225 45 1495
Redfearn (Barnsley) 10 52 82 4 829 15 221 30 1416
Ince (Liverpool) 8 30 41 6 758 10 282 39 1326
Lennon (Leicester) 2 11 19 2 871 13 272 52 1292
Ginola (Tottenham) 6 45 87 9 716 69 127 9 1272
Vieira (Arsenal) 2 12 30 4 773 3 316 54 1244
Speed (Newcastle) 7 29 43 2 789 8 214 35 1235
Sherwood (Blkburn) 5 26 35 3 721 12 183 33 1113

FORWARDS

Winner: CHRIS SUTTON

G AO AF A OP KP T I Tot

Sutton (Blackburn) 18 82 69 5 701 8 103 8 1266
Dublin (Coventry) 18 61 70 12 486 12 276 27 1245
Di Canio (Sheff Wed) 12 48 39 6 726 29 100 7 1176
Yorke (A Villa) 12 51 39 4 746 7 73 11 1125
Sheringham (Man U) 9 39 51 11 724 6 77 11 1098
Baiano (Derby) 12 45 37 7 673 11 89 3 1069
Scholes (Man U) 8 30 53 5 674 6 123 21 1048
Bergkamp (Arsenal) 16 71 55 11 518 29 27 2 1047
Owen (Liverpool) 18 71 49 10 456 25 81 6 1014
Ferguson (Everton) 11 49 43 5 565 6 105 12 972

 

1998-99 (The Daily Mirror)

DAVID GINOLA may be the players' and football writers' player of the year but he fails to win a place in our super stats dream team.

Instead Carling's new player of the season, Dwight Yorke, spearheads Opta's Premier line-up.

The Carling Opta Index analysed every Premiership game this season and awarded points for each touch of the ball.

A player's final score was then divided by the total number of minutes played.

Each week through the season, the Sunday Mirror followed the fascinating statistics to show which 11 are truly the top flight's best line-up.

And the result is an awesome team with United ace Yorke partnering Arsenal's Dennis Bergkamp up front.

But the Dutchman finished slightly ahead of Yorke in the ratings after scoring 12 goals, and setting another dozen up for his team-mates.

David Beckham has made the side after a season where he has defied the critics after his World Cup 1998 nightmare and bounced back better than ever.

He is joined in the midfield by the Gunners' Emmanuel Petit whose stunning performances at the heart of the defending champions' team was not enough to keep the title.

Three stunning long range strikes by Newcastle's Dietmar Hamann confirmed the German as one of the top long-range shooters.

And despite being forced out through injury for a few months Chelsea's Gustavo Poyet made the side after grabbing 14 goals from midfield.

Despite only conceding 17 Premiership goals all season Arsenal only managed to get one player in the defence, Nigel Winterburn.

Tottenham and England's towering defender Sol Campbell scored more goals than any other defender, made more defensive clearances and incredibly did not pick up a booking in the league all season, so there can be no arguments about his place in the side.

Chelsea's World Cup-winning defender Frank Leboeuf had another great season despite the fact the Blues ended up trophy-less and thoroughly deserves his place in the side too.

Top of the whistle-blowers was Birmingham's Mike Reed who came in for a lot of stick this season.

His most controversial incidents after sending Liverpool's Jamie Carragher off against Charlton, and awarding Chelsea a penalty in the FA Cup against Oxford earned him a rebuke from Gerard Houllier and a verbal attack from Kevin Francis.

Reed awarded seven spot-kicks and 102 yellow cards and six red.

The referees were judged on the number of red and yellow cards, fouls and penalties they awarded leaving Reed comfortably the best - or worst - in the league depending on which dugout you sat in last season.

TEAM OF THE SEASON

HISLOP

West Ham

BARTON

Newcastle

LEBOEUF

Chelsea

CAMPBELL

Tottenham

WINTERBURN

Arsenal

BECKHAM

Man Utd

PETIT

Arsenal

HAMANN

Newcastle

POYET

Chelsea

BERGKAMP

Arsenal

YORKE

Man Utd

TOP GOALKEEPER (HISLOP)

Saves from outside box........... 94

Saves from inside box............ 100

% of shots saved.................... 80

Distribution/key passes............ 688

Crosses caught .......................117

Total OPTA points ............... 990

TOP TEN GOALKEEPERS

PLAYER TEAM RATING

1 Shaka Hislop West Ham 990

2 Nigel Martyn Leeds 902

3 Neil Sullivan Wimbledon 896

4 Pavel Srnicek Sheff Wed 797

5 Mark Schwarzer Middlesbro 784

6 David Seaman Arsenal 763

7 Kasey Keller Leicester 700

8 Ed de Goey Chelsea 699

9 Thomas Myhre Everton 669

10 Paul Jones Southampton 639



BEST DEFENDER (CAMPBELL)

Goals ...................................... 6

Key passes ............................ 5

Successful tackles ................. 117

% of tackles won ................. 74

Last man saving tackles ........ 2

Interceptions in the air .......... 404

Total OPTA Rating ............. 1103

TOP TEN DEFENDERS

PLAYER TEAM RATING

1 Sol Campbell Tottenham 1103

2 Frank Leboeuf Chelsea 1102

3 Jaap Stam Man Utd 1079

4 Tony Adams Arsenal 1063

5 Lucas Radebe Leeds 1033

6 Nikos Dabizas Newcastle 1031

7 Paul Williams Coventry 1001

8 Nigel Winterburn Arsenal 983

9 Matt Elliott Leicester 969

10 Emerson Thome Sheff Wed 961


TOP MIDFIELDER (HAMANN)

Goals ...................................... 4

Goal assists ............................ 2

Shots on target ....................... 24

Key passes............................... 6

% of tackles won..................... 50

Interceptions/blocks................ 23

Total OPTA Rating ................ 1119

TOP TEN MIDFIELDERS

PLAYER TEAM RATING

1 Dietmar Hamann Newcastle 1119

2 Gustavo Poyet Chelsea 1103

3 Emmanuel Petit Arsenal 1084

4 Patrik Berger Liverpool 1061

5 Roy Keane Man Utd 1035

6 Patrick Vieira Arsenal 1029

7 Mark Kinsella Charlton 1023

8 Paul Ince Liverpool 1018

9 Jamie Redknapp Liverpool 1001

10 David Ginola Tottenham 994

BEST ATTACKER (BERGKAMP)

Goals ..................................... 12

Goal assists............................ 12

Shots on target ...................... 47

% of shots on target............... 58

Corners won .......................... 27

Fouls won in danger zone......... 8

Total OPTA Rating ................ 1079

TOP TEN ATTACKERS

PLAYER TEAM RATING

1 Dennis Bergkamp Arsenal 1079

2 Dwight Yorke Man Utd 1017

3 Gianfranco Zola Chelsea 1013

4 Michael Owen Liverpool 1002

5 Andy Cole Man Utd 978

6 Nicolas Anelka Arsenal 964

7 Duncan Ferguson Newcastle 948

8 Robbie Fowler Liverpool 939

9 Tore Andre Flo Chelsea 910

10 Jimmy Hasselb'nk Leeds 902

WHISTLE BLOWERS

Ref M F P Y R AV

M Reed 23 736 7 102 6 58.30

R Harris 22 709 4 88 8 56.77

U Rennie 23 670 5 105 7 56.09

G Barber 24 740 2 102 5 54.58

G Poll 25 723 6 101 6 52.72

P Jones 22 661 3 79 5 50.95

N Barry 20.9 557 5 79 4 48.66

M Riley 20 534 5 70 6 48.45

G Willard 21.5 558 5 86 2 48.05

S Lodge 22.1 508 4 94 4 46.97

S Dunn 19.5 491 3 78 0 45.95

A Wilkie 18.2 434 3 69 3 45.15

J Winter 22 562 2 73 4 44.41

S Tomlin 0.7 23 0 2 0 44.00

D Gallagher 24 583 4 79 3 42.83

P Durkin 18.3 495 1 54 1 42.62

 

1999-2000 Stats Review (The People)

Player with most shots:

Kevin Phillips (Sunderland)121

Most shots on target:

Kevin Phillips 64

Most shots off target:

Harry Kewell (Leeds)62

Most passes:

Roy Keane (Man Utd)1,919

Most successful passes:

Roy Keane1,634

Most tackles: John Collins (Everton)169

Most dribbles and runs: David Ginola (Tottenham)406

Most crosses: David Beckham (Man Utd)372

The most offsides: Paulo Wanchope (West Ham)66

Most fouls: Paulo Wanchope117

Player fouled the most: Emile Heskey (Liverpool)99

Goalkeeper with most saves: Mark Schwarzer (Boro)178

Team with the most fouls: Leeds 607

Team with most shots:

Arsenal549

Team with the most passes: Manchester United18,340

Team with the most tackles: Tottenham1,074

 

1999-2000 Stats Review (Daily Mirror)

ARSENAL keeper David Seaman had the poorest saves-to-shots ratio in the Premiership this season.

The England No.1 hardly managed three saves from every five shots, while Middlesbrough's Mark Schwarzer heads the charts with a 79% success rate.

And Aston Villa stopper David James, recently recalled to the England squad, dropped the ball ten times in the League to head the "butterfinger" charts alongside Paul Jones of Southampton.

The 1999/2000 season statistics, released by Carling Opta, have also revealed that Arsenal hit the woodwork most, with 17 attempts coming back off the frame of the goal.

Leeds hotshot Harry Kewell led the Premiership with 64 shots off target, but he also scored six from outside the area, the same as Sunderland's Kevin Phillips, who was only the third player to score 30 goals in a Premiership season.

David O'Leary's Leeds committed the most fouls, and Tottenham were on the receiving end most often.

Emile Heskey, Liverpool's pounds 11million striker, was the subject of a century of illegal challenges - more than any other player. Shots off target for Harry Kewell, more than any other player in the Premiership.

Middlesbrough keeper Mark Schwarzer saved a higher per centage of shots than any other in the top flight.

Sunderland striker Kevin Phillips scored the most penalties.

Carl Cort had the most misses from inside the six-yard box.

Goal attempts in the UEFA Cup final, but no goals.

Sendings off for West Ham - the most in the Premiership this season.

Minutes since Liverpool last scored a Premiership goal.

David Seaman's saves-to-shots ratio was the lowest in the Premiership this season.

Benito Carbone strayed offside more times than any other Premiership player.

David James dropped the ball the joint highest number of times in the Premiership, along with Paul Jones.

4 David Wetherall cleared more shots off the line than any other player.

David Wetherall made more headed clearances than any other player.

Gary McAllister was the top scoring midfielder in the Premiership.

John Collins won more tackles than any other player in the Premiership.

6 Harry Kewell scored the joint highest number of goals from outside the area, along with Kevin Phillips.

6The joint highest-scoring defenders from open play in the Premiership were both Leicester players - Gerry Taggert and Matt Elliott.

Emile Heskey was fouled more times than any other Premiership player.

Roy Keane made more successful passes than any Premiership player.

4 Ronny Johnsen has won four trophies in four consecutive appearances for Manchester United (May 16, 1999 v Spurs to win the Premiership, May 22, 1999 v Newcastle to win the FA Cup, May 26, 1999 v Bayern Munich to win the Champions League, and April 22, 2000 v Southampton to win the Premiership).

Massimo Taibi let in 11 goals in four Premiership appearances for Manchester United - a goal every 32 minutes.

Niall Quinn made more unsuccessful passes than any other player in the Premiership.

Kevin Phillips had more shots on target than any other player.

Paulo Wanchope committed more fouls than any other player in the Premiership.

of West Ham goals were scored or set up by Paolo Di Canio.

8 Uriah Rennie sent off more players in 1999-2000 than any other Premiership referee.

Arsenal had more shots than any other team.

Had Arsenal matched Manchester United's goals-to-shots ratio of 19 per cent, they would have scored 106 goals.

Arsenal hit the woodwork more times than any other side.

Arsenal's tackle success rate was the highest in the Premiership.

Just over a third of Chelsea's goals were scored by strikers - the lowest ratio in the Premiership.

5 Chelsea benefited from more own goals than any other team in the Premiership.

Nearly half of Coventry's goals were scored by midfielders - the highest ratio in the Premiership.

Coventry were awarded fewer corners than any other team in the Premiership.

Derby County players received more bookings than those from any other side.

Leeds committed more fouls than any other team in the Premiership.

Spurs players were fouled more times than those from any other team.

Over a quarter of Leicester's goals were scored by defenders, the highest ratio in the Premiership.

4 More Manchester United players recorded a hat-trick than from any other team (Andy Cole, Paul Scholes, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Manchester United scored three or more goals in half their Premiership matches.

Manchester United's run of 11 successive victories from March 11 to May 14 is a new Premiership record.

6 Southampton scored more own goals than any other team in the Premiership.

Southampton's shooting accuracy was the highest in the Premiership.

The vast majority of Sunderland's goals were scored by the strikers - the highest ratio in the Premiership.

Tottenham players attempted more tackles than those from any other side.

Watford's goals-to-shots ratio was the lowest in the Premiership.

5 West Ham fielded more goalkeepers than any other side (Shaka Hislop, Craig Forrest, Ian Feuer, Sasa Ilic and Stephen Bywater).

Wimbledon had fewer shots on target than any other side in the Premiership.

 

2000-1 (Sunday Times)

GOLDEN BOOT .

23 goals J F Hasselbaink (Chelsea) .

19 M Stewart (Ipswich) .

17 T Henry (Arsenal), M Viduka (Leeds) 16 M Owen (Liverpool).

15 T Sheringham (Man Utd) .

TOTAL SHOTS .

123 T Henry (Arsenal) .

113 J F Hasselbaink (Chelsea).

112 K Phillips (Sunderland) .

82 E Heskey (Liverpool) .

81 D Dublin (A Villa), M Stewart (Ipswich) .

MOST ASSISTS .

12 D Beckham (Man Utd).

10 N Solano (Newcastle) .

9 J F Hasselbaink (Chelsea), T Henry (Arsenal), V Smicer (Liverpool), G Stuart (Charlton) .

MOST PASSES .

2184 R Keane (Man Utd) .

2122 J Magilton (Ipswich).

2085 P Merson (A Villa) .

2081 D Beckham (Man Utd).

1815 G Speed (Newcastle).

1814 D Wise (Chelsea) .

MOST RED CARDS .

D Tiatto (Man City), P Vieira (Arsenal), R Keane (Man Utd), N Solano (Newcastle) and D Hutchison (Sunderland) were all sent off twice .

Teams: 6 Middlesbrough, Sunderland 5 Liverpool, Newcastle 4 Everton, Coventry

 

2001-2 (Daily Mirror)

TEAM OF THE YEAR

JAMES

West Ham

CARRAGHER

Liverpool

FERDINAND

Leeds

HYYPIA

Liverpool

RIISE

Liverpool

BECKHAM

Man Utd

KEANE

Man Utd

SOLSKJAER

Man Utd

SCHOLES

Man Utd

HENRY

Arsenal

PIRES

Arsenal


GOALKEEPERS

DAVID JAMES

WEST HAM keeper James may be third choice for England but he finished in a clear first place at the top of the ratings ahead of two London rivals, Seaman and Van der Sar.

TOP 10

Opta rating

1 D James West Ham 991

2 D Seaman Arsenal 821

3 E van der Sar Fulham 818

4 J Dudek Liverpool 811

5 D Kiely Charlton 785

6 N Sullivan Tottenham 764

7 S Given Newcastle 750

8 T Sorensen Sunderland 741

9 N Martyn Leeds 738

10 B Friedel Blackburn 723

DEFENDERS

SAMI HYYPIA

FINNISH star Hyypia played a crucial role as Liverpool conceded fewer goals than any other team in the top flight.

TOP 10

Opta rating

1 S Hyypia Liverpool 1056

2 R Ferdinand Leeds 924

3 J A Riise Liverpool 903

4 I Harte Leeds 897

5 A Cole Arsenal 839

6 M Desailly Chelsea 836

7 J Carragher Liverpool 835

8 N Dabizas Newcastle 820

9 J Terry Chelsea 810

10 A Stubbs Everton 806

MIDFIELDERS

ROBERT PIRES

FRENCH star Pires missed the end of the season through injury but the Player of the Year did enough to top these charts ahead of a posse of stars from Old Trafford.

TOP 10

Opta rating

1 R Pires Arsenal 1229

2 R Keane Man Utd 1211

3 D Beckham Man Utd 1177

4 P Scholes Man Utd 1093

5 J S Veron Man Utd 1060

6 R Giggs Man Utd 1006

7 F Ljungberg Arsenal 983

8 D Duff Blackburn 866

9 D Dunn Blackburn 864

10 L Robert Newcastle 852

STRIKERS

THIERRY HENRY

TWO goals on the final day of the season took the Frenchman's Premiership total to 24, enough to win him the Golden Boot and secure top place in the ratings ahead of Manchester United duo Solskjaer and Van Nistelrooy.

TOP 10

Opta rating

1 T Henry Arsenal 1262

2 O G Solskjaer Man Utd 1118

3 R van N'rooy Man Utd 1028

4 J Hasselbaink Chelsea 1018

5 C Bellamy Newcastle 1009

6 S Wiltord Arsenal 989

7 M Owen Liverpool 988

8 D Bergkamp Arsenal 916

9 A Cole Blackburn 913

10 A Shearer Newcastle 899

DIRTIEST

PATRICK VIEIRA

NO-nonsense Arsenal man tops the hit list

TOP 10

F Y R Pts

1 P Vieira 87 10 1 123

2 R Savage 68 14 0 110

3 G Boateng 93 5 0 108

4 G Flitcroft 81 7 2 102

5 B Hayles 84 6 0 102

6 G McCann 72 9 0 99

7 D Batty 75 8 0 99

8 M Izzet 65 9 1 98

9 A Shearer 85 2 1 97

10 N Dabizas 78 6 0 96

F: Fouls (1 point), Y: Yellow cards (3 points), R: Red cards (6 points)

FAIR PLAY LEAGUE

F Y R Pts

1 Liverpool 471 41 3 612

2 Ipswich Town 520 44 1 658

3 Manchester Utd 490 54 1 658

4 Aston Villa 556 44 2 700

5 Tottenham 514 59 5 721 6 Newcastle 558 51 2 723

7 Fulham 547 55 2 724

8 Southampton 593 36 5 731

9 Middlesbrough 552 53 7 753

10 Charlton 559 63 3 766

MOST SHOTS

KEVIN PHILLIPS

SUNDERLAND star who never stops trying

TOP 10

Shots

1 K Phillips Sunderland 138

2 T Henry Arsenal 134

3 J Hasselbaink Chelsea 123

4 R Fowler Leeds 91

5 T Sheringham Tottenham 90

6 Van Nistelrooy Man Utd 87

7 A Shearer Newcastle 84

8 F Kanoute West Ham 82

9 L Saha Fulham 81

10 M Viduka Leeds 79

F Y R Pts

11 Chelsea 546 69 3 771

12 West Ham Utd 570 66 3 786

13 Derby County 551 73 3 788

14 Bolton 588 58 7 804

15 Blackburn 608 59 4 809 16 Sunderland 616 68 1 826

17 Everton 637 57 3 826

18 Leeds Utd 625 69 5 862

19 Arsenal 615 71 6 864

20 Leicester City 611 76 5 869

REFEREES

MIKE RILEY

MESS with Mike at your peril - along with Andy D'Urso, he showed more red cards than any other official.

REF RATINGS

Referee M Y R F P AP C FPC

Riley 17 74 9 579 8 51.71 5.41 6.29

Dowd 5 20 2 179 0 50.20 4.80 7.46

Foy 5 19 1 177 1 48.60 4.20 8.43

Barber 22 81 5 732 6 46.50 4.14 8.04

Wolstenholme 11 42 3 345 5 45.82 4.36 7.19

Wilkes 12 40 3 400 0 44.83 3.83 8.70

Knight 11 39 2 351 2 44.18 3.91 8.16

Rennie 16 42 1 520 1 40.94 2.75 11.82

Winter 20 51 2 638 3 40.60 2.75 11.60

Wiley 23 68 2 705 3 40.43 3.13 9.79

Styles 18.2 70 1 494 8 40.33 3.96 6.86

Barry 17 43 3 529 3 40.29 2.88 10.80

Halsey 21 64 4 612 5 40.14 3.43 8.50

M-Matches, Y-Yellow Cards, R-Red Cards, F-Fouls, P-Penalties AP-Average Points, C-Cards per game FPC-Fouls per card

Key: Foul-1pt, Yellow-3pts, Penalties-3pts, Red-6pts

 

2002-3

The full Opta Team of the Season is: Friedel, Neill, Hyppia, Woodgate, Silvestre, Scholes, Vieira, Keane, Pires, Henry, Van Nistelrooy

Specifically on Thierry Henry:

Yet those Premiership stats produced by the folk from OPTA do give a feel for his remarkable contributions. Most goals from open play (21), most goal assists (20), most dribbles (367), most shots (153) - in all categories, he was a mile ahead of the next in the list. Not just in the domestic game, either.

 

2002-3 (South Wales Echo)

A final couple of words on the Premiership and some great facts and figures issued by Opta.

Thierry Henry had 153 shots on goal, 53 more than Golden Boot winner Ruud van Nistelrooy, pictured.

Manchester United made 18,207 passes, the most in the division, while West Brom trailed in last with 11,600. Frank Lampard accounted for 2,097 of Chelsea's passes, while Brad Friedel earned the safe hands crown with 157 saves for Blackburn.

United also had the most shots, 491, ahead of - remarkably - Aston Villa with 489, while the champions were also awarded eight penalties, scoring them all. Fulham also had eight spot-kicks but missed two of them.

 

2003-4 (Daily Mirror)

WELL, the Premiership season has ended and here at Mania, with the help of our friends at Opta Index, we have covered every match, every goal, every tackle, every foul, every save, EVERYTHING! Here we present a selection of fascinating statistics which tell their own story...

MOST ASSISTS

Rank Player Team Assists

1 Izzet Leicester City 14

2 Di Canio Charlton Athletic 12

3 Emerton Blackburn Rovers 11

4 Giggs Manchester United 10

5 Malbranque Fulham 9

6 Davies Bolton Wanderers 9

7 Duff Chelsea 9

8 Pires Arsenal 8

9 Barry Aston Villa 8

10 Gerrard Liverpool 7

11 Tugay Blackburn Rovers 7

12 Bergkamp Arsenal 7

MOST ACCURATE FINISHER

Rank Player Team goals Goals to

shots%

1 Henry Arsenal 30 18%

2 Shearer Newcastle 22 26%

3 Nistelrooy Man United 20 24%

4 Saha Man United 20 21%

5 Forssell Birmingham 17 23%

6 Owen Liverpool 16 23%

PASSING ACCURACY

Rank Player Team Total Passing

passes accuracy

1 Lampard Chelsea 2135 78%

2 Gerrard Liverpool 1955 77%

3 Vieira Arsenal 1874 82%

4 Keane Man United 1767 87%

5 Speed Newcastle 1752 77%

6 G Neville Man United 1724 79%


PASSING ACCURACY

Rank Team Accuracy%

1 Arsenal 80.9%

2 Chelsea 79.7%

3 Man United 79.5%

CONVERSION RATE

Rank Team Con Rate%

1 Arsenal 15.5

2 Man United 14.9

3 Charlton 13.8

HIGHEST SCORERS

Rank Team Goals

1 Arsenal 73

2 Chelsea 67

3 Man United 64

SHOOTING ACCURACY

Rank Team Accuracy%

1 Arsenal 49.8

2 Fulham 46.2

3 Man United 45.5

LEAGUE'S TOP GOALSCORERS

Rank Player Team Goals Scored

1 Henry Arsenal 30

2 Shearer Newcastle 22

3 van Nistelrooy Man Utd 20

4 Saha Man Utd 20

GOALS FROM MIDFIELD

Rank Player Team Goals From

Midfield

1 Pires Arsenal 14

2 Lampard Chelsea 10

3 Scholes Man Utd 9

4 Nolan Bolton 9

GOALS CONCEDED

Rank Team Conceded

1 Arsenal 26

2 Chelsea 30

3 ManUnited 35

THE LEAGUE'S BEST SHOT-STOPPER

Rank Player Team Save to Saves

shots% made

1 Niemi Southampton 78.8% 126

2 Van der Sar Fulham 77.9% 155

3 Taylor Birmingham 76.6% 118

4 Lehmann Arsenal 75.9% 82

5 Dudek Liverpool 75.2% 85

6 Given Newcastle 75.1% 121


BAD BOYS LEAGUE.. DISCIPLINARY POINTS

Name Team Fouls Yellow Red Disciplinary

Points

Patrick Vieira Arsenal 97 9 1 130

Kevin Davies Bolton 98 9 0 125

Paul Dickov Leicester 92 8 0 116

Luis Boa Morte Fulham 81 9 1 114

Alan Smith Leeds 96 6 0 114

Alex Rae Wolves 79 10 0 109

Robbie Savage Birm City 64 13 0 103

Paul Ince Wolves 53 13 1 98

George Boateng M'bro 78 6 0 96

Gavin McCann Villa 75 4 1 93

Juan Pablo Angel Villa 84 3 0 93

James Scowcroft Leicester 80 2 1 92

TOUGHEST TACKLING PLAYERS

Rank Player Team Tackles Tackle

Success

1 Volz Fulham 188 80%

2 Boateng M'bro 186 76%

3 Parker Chelsea 176 79%

4 Rae Wolvs 163 72%

5 Legwinski Fulham 163 72%

6 Savage Bir'm 154 72%

7 Distin Man City 150 69%

8 Vieira Arsenal 149 79%

9 Lampard Chelsea 143 77%

10 McCann Villa 141 70%

 

REVIEW OF THE SEASON 2004-5 (The Sun)

DARREN HUCKERBY is limping out of the Premiership after being the most fouled player this season.

The Norwich hitman was hacked 117 times with Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo second on 101.

Opta have Fulham's Papa Bouba Diop and Crystal Palace's Andy Johnson level on 87 fouls with Manchester City's Shaun Wright-Phillips on 85.

Portuguese ace Ronaldo finished on top when it came to most crosses - although a completion rate of 19 per cent is nothing to write home about.

Master

Frank Lampard heads the assist and pass completion tables to reflect his super season with Chelsea.

Lamps racked up 18 assists - four more than Thierry Henry. Then comes Dennis Bergkamp (12), Middlesbrough star Stuart Downing (11) and Jose Reyes (10).

Lamps was also hailed as the pass master, completing a whopping 2,291 passes.

He left Roy Keane (2,210) and Patrick Vieira (2,117) in his wake. Chelsea stars Claude Makelele (2,042) and John Terry (1,815) also make the top five.

Bolton bruiser Kevin Davies is the player everyone should watch out for after racking up 107 fouls.

Arsenal skipper Patrick Vieira (94) and Everton's Tim Cahill (88) follow.

MOST FOULED

Huckerby (Norwich) 117

Ronaldo (Man Utd) 101

Diop (Fulham) 87

Johnson (C Palace) 87

S Wright-Phillips (Man City) 85

Boa Morte (Fulham) 83

Davies (Bolton) 79

Routledge (C Palace) 79

Bent (Everton) 76

Diouf (Bolton) 74

FOULS

Davies (Bolton) 107

Vieira (Arsenal) 94

Cahill (Everton) 88

Heskey (Birmingham) 79

Dickov (Blackburn) 78

Boa Morte (Fulham) 76

Brown (Tottenham) 76

Angel (Aston Villa) 73

Parlour (Middlesbro) 73

Riihilahti (C Palace) 69

CARD SHARKS

Yellows

Parlour (Middlesbro) 10

Redknapp (Spurs/So'ton) 10

Barton (Man City) 9

Cahill, Hibbert (Everton) 9

Hendrie (Aston Villa) 9

Hughes (C Palace) 9

Keane (Man Utd) 9

Vieira (Arsenal) 9

Reds

Bowyer (Newcastle), Sorondo (Palace), Diop (Fulham), Johnson (B'ham) 2

BAD BOYS

Fouls Y R Pts

Davies (Bolton) 107 5 0 122

Cahill (Everton) 88 9 1 121

Vieira (Arsenal) 94 9 0 121

Parlour (Middlesbro) 73 10 1 109

Brown (Tottenham) 76 8 0 100

Dickov (Blackburn) 78 7 0 99

Boa Morte (Fulham) 76 7 0 97

Heskey (Birmingham) 79 6 0 97

Diop (Fulham) 58 7 2 91

Barton (Man City) 63 9 0 90

(1pt for a Foul, 3 for Yellow & 6 for Red)

PASSES

Completed

Lampard (Chelsea) 2291 80%

Keane (Man Utd) 2210 89%

Vieira (Arsenal) 2117 84%

Makelele (Chelsea) 2042 85%

Terry (Chelsea) 1815 88%

Cole (Arsenal) 1765 84%

Lauren (Arsenal) 1752 87%

Scholes (Man Utd) 1735 87%

Carragher (Liverpool) 1663 79%

Murphy (Charlton) 1647 75%

CROSSES

Completed

Ronaldo (Man Utd) 219 19%

Downing (Middlesbro) 218 18%

Greening (West Brom) 178 19%

Giggs (Man Utd) 170 26%

Barry (Aston Villa) 160 24%

Solano (Aston Villa) 159 24%

Emerton (Blackburn) 155 25%

Huckerby (Norwich) 154 26%

De la Cruz (Aston Villa) 150 30%

Duff (Chelsea) 139 24%

CLEAN SHEETS

Cech (Chelsea) 24

Carroll (Man Utd) 15

Friedel (Blackburn) 15

Martyn (Everton) 13

Kiely (Charlton) 12

Robinson (Tottenham) 12

James (Man City) 11

Lehmann (Arsenal) 11

Sorensen (Aston Villa) 11

Kiraly (C Palace) 10

TACKLES

Success

Vieira (Arsenal) 204 69%

Hibbert (Everton) 185 76%

Johnson (Birm'ham) 174 68%

Parlour (Boro) 173 72%

Young (Charlton) 171 78%

Keane (Man Utd) 160 67%

Hughes (C Palace)155 78%

Queudrue (Boro) 151 73%

Speed (Bolton) 151 64%

Barton (Man City) 149 72%

GOALS

Henry (Arsenal) 25

Johnson (C Palace) 21

Pires (Arsenal) 14

Yakubu (Portsmouth) 13

Defoe (Tottenham) 13

Hasselbaink (Middlesbro) 13

Lampard (Chelsea) 13

Cole (Fulham) 12

Crouch (Southampton) 12

Gudjohnsen (Chelsea) 12

ASSISTS

Lampard (Chelsea) 18

Henry (Arsenal) 14

Bergkamp (Arsenal) 12

Downing (Boro) 11

Reyes (Arsenal) 10

Boa Morte (Fulham) 9

Giggs (Man Utd) 9

Greening (West Brom) 9

Robben (Chelsea) 9

Routledge (C Palace) 9

CLEARANCES

Distin (Man City) 535

Southgate (Boro) 461

Lundekvam (So'ton) 452

De Zeeuw (Portsmouth) 451

Weir (Everton) 445

Terry (Chelsea) 436

Stefanovic (Portsmouth) 426

Carragher (Liverpool) 423

Dunne (Man City) 419

Upson (Birmingham) 419

 

2004-5 FinkTank Rankings (The Times)

1. Petr Cech
2. John Terry
3. Roy Carroll
4. Thierry Henry
5. Frank Lampard
6. Paul Scholes

Other notables:

10. Andrew Johnson
16. Didier Drogba
289. Steven Gerrard

 

2005-6 FinkTank Rankings (The Times)

1. Jens Lehmann
2. Thierry Henry
3. Frank Lampard
4. Cristiano Ronaldo
5. John Terry
6. Steven Gerrard

Others: Rooney (31st), Darren Bent (9th), Jermain Defoe (30th)

FinkTank Team of the Season:

Lehmann; Terry, Ferdinand, Kolo Toure; Stelios, Lampard, Gerrard, Ronaldo; Darren Bent, Henry, Van Nistelrooy

Subs: Reina, Hyypia, Dawson, Duff, Robbie Keane

 

2007-8

IT'S official - this is the Premiership team of the season.

Our pals at Opta Index have watched every ball kicked in the top flight this season to produce the most definitive guide to the stars of the campaign.

Their system is based on more than 300 categories monitored at EVERY match.

A player earns points for every positive action such as shots, successful passes or clearances.

But he also loses points for negative actions such as giving the ball away, conceding goals or committing fouls.

The Index score is an average game score and to qualify for the Team of the Season a player must have played for at least 2,000 minutes - roughly 60 per cent or more of their team's games this season.

That rules out the likes of Chelsea keeper Petr Cech and striker Emmanual Adebayor of Arsenal despite them having high scores.

However, the club's top six have a lower threshold on minutes allowing more players to be included.

BRAD FRIEDEL

BLACKBURN'S keeper turned in some stunning displays and is one of the best penalty savers in the business.

PASCAL CHIMBONDA

MADE the right-back slot his own at Spurs. Quick and strong, he also pops up with the odd goal.

JOHN TERRY

PROVED his worth again with another no-nonsense season at the heart of the Chelsea back-four.

RICARDO CARVALHO

HELD Chelsea together when Cech and Terry were out. His absence was crucial in Euro exit.

GAEL CLICHY

ARSENAL fans worried about life after Ashley Cole, but the French left-back banished fears.

CESC FABREGAS

DOMINATES games at such a young age and there is more to come from the Arsenal ace, 20.

FRANK LAMPARD

TOPPED 20 goals again from midfield and barely missed a game in another marathon season.

PAUL SCHOLES

MANCHESTER UNITED'S creative hub, along with Ryan Giggs, led youthful midfield to the title.

CRISTIANO RONALDO

DOUBLE Player of the Year tormented defences and scored 23 goals for Manchester United.

WAYNE ROONEY

ENGLAND striker's 24 goals played a vital part in United's title triumph. Also avoided red cards.

DIMITAR BERBATOV

ONE of the buys of the season. His 22 goals for Tottenham has attracted interest from the big four.

ARSENAL

1 Francesc Fabregas 1325

2 Gilberto Silva (right) 1209

3 Emmanuel Adebayor 1190

4 Tomas Rosicky 1117

5 Alexander Hleb 1105

6 Gael Clichy 1100

ASTON VILLA

1 Gareth Barry (left) 1003

2 Stilian Petrov 851

3 Gavin McCann 802

4 Liam Ridgewell 789

5 Thomas Sorensen 742

6 Wilfred Bouma 739

BLACKBURN

1 Brad Friedel 1047

2 Benedict McCarthy (right) 960

3 Morten Pedersen 916

4 David Bentley 771

5 Tugay 711

6 Brett Emerton 662

BOLTON

1 Nicolas Anelka (left) 797

2 El-Hadji Diouf 788

3 Gary Speed 767

4 Jussi Jaaskelainen 757

5 Kevin Davies 719

6 Ivan Campo 658

CHARLTON

1 Darren Bent (right) 854

2 Scott Carson 786

3 Luke Young 763

4 Talal El-Karkouri 730

5 Darren Ambrose 653

6 Matt Holland 643

CHELSEA

1 Frank Lampard 1377

2 Didier Drogba (left) 1123

3 Michael Essien 1093

4 Petr Cech 1049

5 John Terry 1012

6 Ashley Cole 1006

EVERTON

1 Mikel Arteta 1159

2 Tim Howard (right) 954

3 Andrew Johnson 834

4 Leon Osman 749

5 Joleon Lescott 747

6 Alan Stubbs 667

FULHAM

1 Brian McBride (left) 842

2 Franck Queudrue 832

3 Papa Bouba Diop 773

4 Moritz Volz 739

5 Carlos Bocanegra 708

6 Antti Niemi 697

LIVERPOOL

1 Dirk Kuyt (right) 1153

2 Xabi Alonso 1145

3 Steven Gerrard 1127

4 Daniel Agger 964

5 Sami Hyypi 955

6 John Arne Riise 934

MAN CITY

1 Joey Barton (left) 913

2 Sylvain Distin 799

3 Richard Dunne 738

4 Micah Richards 734

5 Darius Vassell 595

6 Nicky Weaver 501

MAN UNITED

1 Cristiano Ronaldo 1738

2 Wayne Rooney 1241

3 Paul Scholes 1210

4 Patrice Evra (right) 1097

5 Michael Carrick 1043

6 Nemanja Vidic 996

MIDDLESBROUGH

1 Mark Viduka (left) 988

2 Yakubu 888

3 Stewart Downing 709

4 Mark Schwarzer 698

5 Emanuel Pogatetz 665

6 George Boateng 651

NEWCASTLE

1 Scott Parker (right) 1062

2 Obafemi Martins 983

3 Emre 932

4 Nolberto Solano 814

5 Shay Given 737

6 James Milner 723

PORTSMOUTH

1 Kanu (left) 977

2 Matthew Taylor 907

3 David James 894

4 Glen Johnson 792

5 Pedro Mendes 778

6 Benjani 774

READING

1 Marcus Hahnemann (right) 1030

2 Kevin Doyle 949

3 Steve Sidwell 819

4 Leroy Lita 751

5 Ki-Hyeon Seol 733

6 Stephen Hunt 653

SHEFF UNITED

1 Rob Hulse (left) 780

2 Phil Jagielka 719

3 Chris Armstrong 704

4 Chris Morgan 680

5 Paddy Kenny 620

6 Michael Tonge 611

TOTTENHAM

1 Dimitar Berbatov 1161

2 Jermain Defoe (right) 1077

3 Jermaine Jenas 964

4 Pascal Chimbonda 902

5 Young-Pyo Lee 848

6 Didier Zokora 841

WATFORD

1 Ben Foster (left) 743

2 Hameur Bouazza 675

3 Danny Shittu 666

4 Darius Henderson 594

5 Tommy Smith 501

6 Damien Francis 490

WEST HAM

1 Carlos Tevez (right) 1059

2 Bobby Zamora 898

3 Robert Green 787

4 Lucas Neill 770

5 Hayden Mullins 712

6 Luis Boa Morte 707

WIGAN

1 Henri Camara (left) 882

2 Lee McCulloch 784

3 Emile Heskey 779

4 Chris Kirkland 628

5 Paul Scharner 615

6 Kevin Kilbane 586

 

2006-7 FinkTank Index (The Times)

1. Ronaldo
2. Lampard
3. Gilberto
4. Cech
5. Lehmann
6. Scholes
7. Howard
8. Vidic
9. McCarthy
10. Hleb
11. Ferdinand
12. Rooney
13. Fabregas

Others: Carvalho (15), Essien (16), Drogba (19), Terry (23), Gerrard (80)

 

2007-8

Total shots attempted

Ronaldo 131
Adebayor 104
Torres 96
Gerrard 89
Rooney 85
Bentley 83
Berbatov 82
Tevez 82
Carew 80
Santa Cruz 77

Number of times hit woodwork

Bentley 4
Berbatov 4
Gerrard 4
Rooney 4
Ashton 3
Downing 3
Fabregas 3
Giggs 3
Hunt 3
Keane 3
Ronaldo 3

Assists

Fabregas 17
Young 14
Barry 10
Kalou 10
Rooney 10
Bentley 9
Berbatov 9
Elano 9
Nani 9
Shorey 9

Total passes and passing accuracy

Fabregas 2318 81.06%
Clichy 1975 83.19%
Flamini 1710 86.55%
Gerrard 1652 77.66%
Butt 1630 75.03%
Scholes 1592 89.70%
Carrick 1585 83.22%
Hleb 1552 82.73%
Ferdinand 1546 84.80%
Neville 1533 72.47%

Crosses and corners attempted and crosses and corners accuracy

Bentley 416 25.72%
Downing 383 25.07%
Young 340 26.76%
Arteta 299 26.42%
Shorey 293 26.62%
Diouf 289 22.15%
Petrov 279 24.37%
Giggs 222 23.42%
Gerrard 219 27.40%
Davies 217 24.88%

Tackles attempted and tackle success rate

Reo-Coker 178 79.78%
Mascherano 165 75.76%
Malbranque 158 75.95%
Muamba 156 76.28%
Butt 151 71.52%
Clichy 150 80.67%
Warnock 130 76.92%
McCann 117 65.81%
Brown 116 81.03%
Brown 112 68.75%

Number of saves made and saves to shots ratio

Hahnemann 152 69.72%
James 138 79.31%
Taylor 134 71.28%
Friedel 123 71.93%
Green 116 69.88%
Hart 107 75.89%
Kirkland 101 67.33%
Howard 89 74.79%
Schwarzer 88 65.19%
Niemi 85 68.55%

Shots without a goal

Papa Bouba Diop 46
John Arne Riise 36
Gary O'Neil 31
Luis Boa Morte 26
Manuel Fernandes 24

Fouls without a card

Dean Ashton 55
Mikael Forssell 33
Lucas 32
Mark Viduka 27
Peter Crouch 23

Percentage of goals involved in

Cristiano Ronaldo 47%
Roque Santa Cruz 47%
Fernando Torres 42%
Elano 39%
Emmanuel Adebayor 37%

Minutes without a foul lost

Michael Johnson 191
Lewin Nyatanga 180
Daniel Braaten 143
Danny Simpson 128
David Cotterill 100

Minutes without a foul won

Ian Harte 306
Ledley King 294
Rade Prica 206
Emiliano Insua 205
Kelvin Etuhu 203

Minutes without a shot

Stephen Kelly 3420
Jonathan Woodgate 1376
Sun Jihai 803
Daniel Gabbidon 766
Elliot Omozusi 689

Minutes per goal scored

Cristiano Ronaldo 88.6
Fernando Torres 105.9
Emmanuel Adebayor 122.2
Yakubu 144.4
Benjamin Mwaruwari 153.3

Minutes per goal conceded

Roy Carroll 33.2
Stephen Bywater 39.5
Shay Given 44.0
Paul Robinson 47.9
Antti Niemi 50.8

Minutes per save

Roy Carroll 20.0
Joe Hart 21.9
Marcus Hahnemann 22.5
David James 22.8
Maik Taylor 22.8

Minutes per discplinary point

Carlton Cole 16.9
Alan Smith 21.2
Kevin Davies 21.2
John Carew 22.3
André Stéphane Bikey 22.4

Minutes per chance created

Francesc Fabregas 25.5
Steven Gerrard 27.3
Ryan Giggs 30.6
Nani 30.7
Florent Malouda 31.8

Minutes per shot

Cristiano Ronaldo 21.0
Wayne Rooney 25.7
Fernando Torres 26.5
Dean Ashton 27.7
Emmanuel Adebayor 28.2

Minutes per foul lost

Carlton Cole 22.3
John Carew 25.7
Kevin Davies 27.9
Tim Cahill 27.9
Luis Boa Morte 28.6

Minutes per foul won

Mikel Arteta 28.8
Alan Hutton 28.9
Cristiano Ronaldo 31.2
Kevin Davies 31.9
Luis Boa Morte 33.1

Minutes per offside

Marcus Bent 43.2
Emmanuel Adebayor 44.4
Dean Ashton 50.4
Nicolas Anelka 57.5
Emile Heskey 59.6

Minutes per tackle

Javier Mascherano 13.1
Gavin McCann 17.2
Nigel Reo-Coker 17.5
Wilson Palacios 17.6
Steed Malbranque 18.0

Minutes per pass

Paul Scholes 1.16
Francesc Fabregas 1.23
Michael Carrick 1.39
Frank Lampard 1.42
John Obi Mikel 1.44

Minutes per cross

David Bentley 8.0
Mikel Arteta 8.2
Nolberto Solano 8.8
Stewart Downing 8.9
El Hadji Diouf 9.2

Shots with none on target

Vedran Corluka 7
Graeme Murty 5
Steve Sidwell 5
Henri Camara 4
Claude Davis 4

Shots with none off target

Jlloyd Samuel 4
Steve Finnan 2
Danny Simpson 2
Glen Johnson 1
Nuno Valente 1

Percentage of team assists

Francesc Fabregas 23%
Simon Davies 22%
Nicky Shorey 21%
Elano 21%
Ashley Young 20%

Goals scored per game

Cristiano Ronaldo 0.91
Fernando Torres 0.73
Emmanuel Adebayor 0.67
Nicolas Anelka 0.56
Benjamin Mwaruwari 0.52

Goals conceded per game

Roy Carroll 2.71
Stephen Bywater 2.28
Shay Given 1.95
Paul Robinson 1.88
Antti Niemi 1.77

Saves per game

Roy Carroll 4.50
Joe Hart 4.12
Marcus Hahnemann 4.00
David James 3.94
Maik Taylor 3.94

Disciplinary points per game

Kevin Davies 3.91
Tim Cahill 3.67
Carlton Cole 3.61
John Carew 3.59
Papa Bouba Diop 3.48

Chances created per game

Francesc Fabregas 3.50
Steven Gerrard 3.06
Mikel Arteta 2.54
David Bentley 2.43
Ryan Giggs 2.35

Shots per game

Cristiano Ronaldo 3.85
Wayne Rooney 3.15
Fernando Torres 2.91
Emmanuel Adebayor 2.89
Steven Gerrard 2.62

Fouls lost per game

John Carew 3.13
Tim Cahill 3.00
Kevin Davies 2.97
Carlton Cole 2.74
Papa Bouba Diop 2.64

Fouls won per game

Mikel Arteta 3.04
Alan Hutton 3.00
Kevin Davies 2.59
Cristiano Ronaldo 2.59
David Bentley 2.43

Offsides per game

Emmanuel Adebayor 1.83
Marcus Bent 1.74
Nicolas Anelka 1.56
Dimitar Berbatov 1.25
Emile Heskey 1.25

Tackles per game

Javier Mascherano 6.60
Nigel Reo-Coker 4.94
Wilson Palacios 4.94
Nicky Butt 4.31
Steed Malbranque 4.27

Passes per game

Francesc Fabregas 72.44
Paul Scholes 66.33
Frank Lampard 57.42
Mathieu Flamini 57.00
Javier Mascherano 53.72

Crosses per game

David Bentley 11.24
Mikel Arteta 10.68
Stewart Downing 10.08
Ashley Young 9.19
El Hadji Diouf 8.50

Most...

Appearances - 12 players - 38
Substitution on - Marlon Harewood, Shane Long - 22
Substitution off - Elano - 23
Passes in own half - Rio Ferdinand - 912
Passes in opposition half - Francesc Fabregas - 1690
Dribbles attempted - Cristiano Ronaldo - 191
Clearances - Martin Laursen - 739
Blocks - Richard Dunne - 37
Interceptions - Gaël Clichy - 136
Fouls conceded - John Carew - 100
Fouls won - David Bentley - 90
Offsides - Emmanuel Adebayor - 66
Yellow cards - Nicky Butt - 13
Red cards - Richard Dunne, Sulley Ali Muntari, Ryan Nelsen - 2

 

2007-8 FinkTank Rankings (The Times)

1. Ronaldo
2. James
3. Adebayor
4. Fabregas
5. Gerrard
6. Van der Sar
7. Cech
8. Lampard
9. Robbie Keane
10. Tevez

 

2008-9 FinkTank Ranking (The Times)

1. Cech
2. Lampard
3. Schwarzer
4. Gerrard
5. Ronaldo
6. Alonso
7. Denilson
8. Vidic
9. Anelka
10. Robinho

 

Selected stats for 2008/9 midfielders from RedCafe:

T/S means Tackles-per-game; I/S means Interceptions-per-game; PC=Pass Completion; GS=Games Started; S=Substitute appearances

Carrick
Attempted Tackles-68 T/S-2.7 Tackling%-58.8% Interceptions-53 I/S-2.1 Passes-1567 PC-85.6% Assists-5 Conversion%-15.4% Goals-4 GS-24 S-4

Anderson
Attempted Tackles-27 T/S-2.1 Tackling%-59.3% Interceptions-26 I/S-2.2 Passes-600 PC-84.2% Assists-0 Conversion%-N/A Goals-0 GS-11 S-6

Fletcher
Attempted Tackles-50 T/S-2.0 Tackling%-62.0% Interceptions-35 I/S-1.4 Passes-1361 PC-86.2% Assists-0 Conversion%-16.7% Goals-3 GS-25 S-1

Essien
Attempted Tackles-24 T/S-2.4 Tackling%-83.3% Interceptions-18 I/S-1.8 Passes-589 PC-88.3% Assists-0 Conversion%-6.3% Goals-1 GS-10 S-1

Denilson
Attempted Tackles-128 T/S-3.6 Tackling%-77.3% Interceptions-155 I/S-4.3 Passes-2533 PC-87.3% Assists-7 Conversion%-10.3% Goals-3 GS-36 S-1

Song
Attempted Tackles-76 T/S-3.0 Tackling%-75.0% Interceptions-69 I/S-2.8 Passes-1176 PC-87.1% Assists-0 Conversion%-6.7% Goals-1 GS-23 S-8

Diaby
Attempted Tackles-53 T/S-2.9 Tackling%-73.6% Interceptions-39 I/S-2.2 Passes-954 PC-83.5% Assists-2 Conversion%-15.8% Goals-3 GS-16 S-8

Nasri
Attempted Tackles-50 T/S-1.8 Tackling%-72.0% Interceptions-49 I/S-1.8 Passes-1348 PC-87.9% Assists-2 Conversion%-24.0% Goals-6 GS-28 S-1

Rosicky
Attempted Tackles-0 T/S-N/A Tackling%-N/A Interceptions-0 I/S-N/A Passes-0 PC-N/A Assists-0 Conversion%-N/A Goals-0 GS-0 S-0

Cesc
Attempted Tackles-54 T/S-2.5 Tackling%-75.9% Interceptions-57 I/S-2.6 Passes-1619 PC-80.5% Assists-8 Conversion%-8.1% Goals-3 GS-22 S-0

Ballack
Attempted Tackles-41 T/S-1.7 Tackling%-73.2% Interceptions-27 I/S-1.1 Passes-1361 PC-85.7% Assists-4 Conversion%-2.5% Goals-1 GS-22 S-7

Lampard
Attempted Tackles-69 T/S-1.9 Tackling%-65.2% Interceptions-33 I/S-0.9 Passes-2307 PC-84.0% Assists-10 Conversion%-10.9% Goals-12 GS-37 S-0

Mikel Obi
Attempted Tackles-97 T/S-2.9 Tackling%-76.3% Interceptions-65 I/S-2.6 Passes-2368 PC-90.0% Assists-2 Conversion%-N/A Goals-0 GS-33 S-1

Mascherano
Attempted Tackles-124 T/S-4.6 Tackling%-75.8% Interceptions-85 I/S-3.1 Passes-1610 PC-83.5% Assists-1 Conversion%-N/A Goals-0 GS-27 S-0

Alonso
Attempted Tackles-89 T/S-3.3 Tackling%-69.7% Interceptions-42 I/S-1.6 Passes-2473 PC-84.8% Assists-4 Conversion%-7.8% Goals-4 GS-27 S-6

Gerrard
Attempted Tackles-53 T/S-1.8 Tackling%-71.7% Interceptions-34 I/S-1.1 Passes-1708 PC-80.3% Assists-9 Conversion%-16.2% Goals-16 GS-30 S-1

De Jong
Attempted Tackles-45 T/S-2.8 Tackling%-57.8% Interceptions-49 I/S-3.1 Passes-879 PC-87.6% Assists-1 Conversion%-N/A Goals-0 GS-16 S-0

Kompany
Attempted Tackles-112 T/S-3.3 Tackling%-78.6% Interceptions-75 I/S-2.2 Passes-1677 PC-79.1% Assists-1 Conversion%-4.5% Goals-1 GS-34 S-0

Barry
Attempted Tackles-125 T/S-3.3 Tackling%-81.6% Interceptions-85 I/S-2.2 Passes-1619 PC-77.1% Assists-6 Conversion%-10.4% Goals-5 GS-38 S-0

Palacios
Attempted Tackles-132 T/S-4.1 Tackling%-67.4% Interceptions-83 I/S-2.6 Passes-1254 PC-82.8% Assists-0 Conversion%-N/A Goals-0 GS-32 S-0

Scott Parker
Attempted Tackles-124 T/S-4.4 Tackling%-77.4% Interceptions-72 I/S-2.6 Passes-1619 PC-85.0% Assists-3 Conversion%-5.3% Goals-1 GS-28 S-0

 

Selected 2008-9 Stats continued:

Attempted Tackles:
Palacios 132, Denilson 128, Barry 125, Mascherano 124, Parker 124, Kompany 112, Mikel 97, Alonso 89, Song 76, Lampard 69, Carrick 68, Cesc 54, Gerrard 53, Diaby 53, Nasri 50, De Jong 45, Ballack 41, Anderson 27, Essien 24, Rosicky 0.

Tackle Rate:
Mascherano 4.6, Parker 4.4, Palacios 4.1, Denilson 3.6, Alonso 3.3, Kompany 3.3, Barry 3.3, Song 3.0, Mikel Obi 2.9, Diaby 2.9, De Jong 2.8, Carrick 2.7, Cesc 2.5, Essien 2.4, Anderson 2.1, Fletcher 2.0, Lampard 1.9, Gerrard 1.8, Nasri 1.8, Ballack 1.7, Rosicky N/A

Tackling%:
Essien 83.3%, Barry 81.6%, Kompany 78.6%, Scott Parker 77.4%, Denilson 77.3%, Mikel 76.3%, Cesc 75.9%, Mascherano 75.8%, Song 75.0%, Diaby 73.6%, Ballack 73.2%, Nasri 72.0%, Gerrard 71.7%, Alonso 69.7%, Palacios 67.4%, Lampard 65.2%, Fletcher 62.0%, Anderson 59.3%, Carrick 58.8%, De Jong 57.8%, Rosicky N/A

Interceptions
Denilson 155, Mascherano 85, Barry 85, Palacios 83, Kompany 75, Parker 72, Song 69, Mikel 65, Cesc 57, Carrick 53, De Jong 49, Nasri 49, Alonso 42, Diaby 39, Fletcher 35, Gerrard 34, Lampard 33, Ballack 27, Anderson 26, Essien 18

Interception Rate:
Denilson 4.3, Mascherano 3.1, De Jong 3.1, Song 2.8, Parker 2.6, Mikel 2.6, Palacios 2.6, Cesc 2.6, Barry 2.2, Anderson 2.2, Kompany 2.2, Diaby 2.2, Carrick 2.1, Nasri 1.8, Essien 1.8, Alonso 1.6, Fletcher 1.4, Ballack 1.1 Gerrard 1.1, Lampard 0.9

Passes
Denilson 2533, Alonso 2473, Mikel 2368, Lampard 2307, Gerrard 1708, Kompany 1677, Parker 1619, Barry 1619, Cesc 1619, Mascherano 1610, Carrick 1567, Ballack 1361, Fletcher 1361, Nasri 1348, Palacios 1254, Song 1176, Diaby 954, De Jong 879, Anderson 600, Essien 589,

Passing Completion
Mikel 90.0%, Essien 88.3%, Nasri 87.9%, De Jong 87.6%, Denilson 87.3%, Song 87.1%, Fletcher 86.2%, Ballack 85.7%, Carrick 85.6%, Parker 85.0%, Alonso 84.8%, Anderson 84.2%, Lampard 84.0%, Diaby 83.5%, Mascherano 83.5%, Palacios 82.8%, Cesc 80.5%, Gerrard 80.3%, Kompany 79.1%, Barry 77.1%

Assists
10 - Lampard
9 - Gerrard
8 - Cesc
7 - Denilson
6 - Barry
4 - Alonso, Ballack
3 - Parker
2 - Mikel, Nasri, Diaby
1 - Kompany, De Jong, Mascherano

Goals
16 - Gerrard
12 - Lampard
6 - Nasri
5 - Barry
4 - Carrick, Alonso
3 - Denilson, Diaby, Cesc, Fletcher
1 - Song, Ballack, Kompany
0 - Anderson, Mikel, Mascherano, Palacios, Anderson, Fletcher, Essien, De Jong, Rosicky

 

Yes, Pires was still top on a cumulative basis.

The problem with the stats models (where you don't get the raw data) is that they are very opaque, so it's hard to decide their merit.

What we can do though is see how they align with ratings and awards and with each other (so comparing WhoScored or Opta to the FinkTank rankings). That all helps to build a picture.

In some cases I think the points allocated are a nonsense. For instance the very first one allocates one point for a shot off target. How can that be a positive?