22 Aug 2011

Liverpool FC and the new 25-man squad rule: Will the club be ready? (GUEST ARTICLE)

Guest writer David Bolt takes a look at how the new 25-man squad rule will affect Liverpool, and considers whether the club has actually prepared well-enough for its implementation.

After the transfer window closes, Liverpool will have to name their 25-man squad for the Premier League. As it stands, the club has got itself into a bit of a mess with the 25-man squad rule and is facing the prospect of having to pay some players (and not just Brazil’s answer to Mr. Bump, Fabio Aurelio) large sums of money to sit on the sidelines doing nothing.

At present, Liverpool has 27 players that would have to be named in their 25-man squad, 8 of which must be home-grown players. If a club doesn’t have 8, the missing players are deducted from the overall total, e.g. if a club only has 6 home-grown players, they’re only allowed to name a 23-man squad etc.

A home-grown player is defined by the Premier League as ‘one who irrespective of his nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to the Football Association or the Welsh Football Association for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or 36 months prior to his 21st Birthday (or the end of the season during which he turns 21)’. Under-21 players are those whose birthday was after 1st January of the year the season starts, so for this season it’s 1st January 1990.

Liverpool failed to properly plan for this rule coming into existence. When Roy Hodgson took over the club only had 4 homegrown players, which is why Brad Jones and Paul Konchesky were signed. Liverpool were also severely lacking in strength in depth, and due to mistakes made in the transfer market and the owners running out of money, Hodgson was unable to bring in enough new faces.

Consequently, the club was only able to name a 21-man squad last September, with one of the home-grown spots going to Stephen Darby, who didn’t get near the first team and was sent on loan. This season the opposite has happened: Liverpool has too many players, which means some will inevitably need to be sold or loaned.

With this in mind, you have to question the logic in signing Doni. Barring injury or suspension to Reina, he won’t play in the league, so I don’t see the point in using up one of the foreign player spots on someone who won’t play. Why didn’t Liverpool just use Brad Jones (despite being Australian, he counts as home-grown) or keep Peter Gulacsi around as Reina’s backup? Or, if the club didn’t want those players, why didn’t they try and sign someone like Kieren Westwood (a home-grown player), who would have been available on a free?

There are some obvious candidates for the club to sell, or send on loan, without damaging the team. Liverpool could get rid of Brad Jones, Philipp Degen and Nabil El Zhar without missing a beat, but none of these players are particularly attractive to other clubs, especially the injury and error-prone Degen.

It’s hard to see Insua still having any sort of a future at Liverpool, and Jay Spearing, who did well at the end of last season, though I don’t think he’s good enough long-term, finds himself way down the midfield pecking order. I’d be surprised if at least one of these players doesn’t get moved on.

Christian Poulsen was a much-maligned (unfairly so in my opinion) signing last season. He was never going to be the long-term answer in midfield, just a stopgap suited for the transitional phase Liverpool were in. Well, Liverpool are seemingly out of that transitional phase and now have better options than Poulsen, so he could also be moved on without adversely affecting the squad.

Joe Cole seemed like a good signing at the time but hasn’t worked out. If Cole could get back to his best, he could still be an asset for the team, especially off the bench, but that just hasn’t looked like happening. Luckily, he’s still got enough of a reputation to be wanted by other clubs, so you’d think that selling him wouldn’t be a problem. However, his wages are so high it may be tougher than you’d think to find a club willing to buy/loan him, unless he’s willing to lower his wage demands.

Similarly, the future of Alberto Aquilani is unclear. There are equally valid arguments for keeping or for getting rid of him. In preseason he looked good in some games, but totally disinterested in others. Looking at the starting line-ups of the two games so far, it’s hard to see where Aquilani would fit into the midfield, especially with Gerrard still to come back, and I think he’d only make the bench if there were a number of injuries. But, the club would be looking at a huge loss if they were to sell him, and the interest in him from clubs back in Italy doesn’t seem to be heading anywhere, so he may have to stick around this season.

Not only does Liverpool have to get players off the books in order to satisfy the 25-man squad rule, there are still weak areas in the squad that need to be addressed. For example, the club still needs to beef up its options in defence and attack; with N’Gog not having shown any signs of improvement, and with Bolton rumoured to be interested in him (as a possible makeweight in a deal for Gary Cahill), it could be a good time to sell, but Dalglish will probably want a replacement lined up before allowing him to leave, and there does seem to be a paucity of available strikers at present.

As a consequence of the stranger signings of the late Benitez era, Liverpool have on their books a lot of highly paid players, who don’t have a future at the club, and aren’t that appealing to other clubs (I don’t think Hodgson’s signings have hurt the club too badly in that respect), so can’t easily be sold. Understandably, with money being available, Dalglish chose to spend it on upgrading the squad.

At the moment, Liverpool are like someone who’s upgraded their kitchen appliances, but hasn’t found a way to dispose of the old unwanted ones, so some of Liverpool’s squad may end up being like a fridge or an old sink, stuck in the back garden, waiting for someone to take them away, which will be a drain on resources the club can barely afford.

David Bolt


58 comments:

  1. Yopu are a bunch of shit sniffing morons.

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  2. this totaly uninteresting article i ever read..the writers seem to be too perfectionist, he write as he ever got an experience to manage a football team..nevertheless, he is nothing...

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  3. When did you think this up I reply don't getwhat point you are tryIng to make we have been signing home grown players this window are you suggesting we should have tried to get rid of all the deadwood before we signed anyone also don't players under a certain age not count towards the squad and brad jones wants to leave due to his sons illness please do a bit of research before you spout nonsense mate and we are desperately trying to get rid of the deadwood :-P

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  4. The Doni signing is a non-issue. Liverpool have easily 8 'homegrown' players, so the nationality of the backup keeper is irrelevant.

    Gerrard, Carragher, Spearo, Carrol, Downing, Johnson, Kelly, Shelvely, Flannagan, Robinson 

    & thats not counting Joe Cole, Pacheco or N'Gog who i think qualify.

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  5. <span>1) Why didn’t Liverpool just use Brad Jones. Cos hes useless, didn't you watch the preseason games?</span>
    2) <span>Christian Poulsen was a much-maligned (unfairly so in my opinion). Are you blind or just stupid? plus nobody wants him.</span>
    3) <span>Joe Cole seemed like a good signing at the time but hasn’t worked out. Dito Poulson</span>
    5) Are Man City excused from this rule as they have at least 5 players in their squad.

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  6. 5) Are Man City excused from this rule as they have at least 5 players in their squad.

    I meant 50, sticky keyboard

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  7. Maybe you could try writing a positive article once in a while looking at some reasons for hope rather than the negativity I always see on this site. Whilst I agree we have a lot of players we need to move on I am sure the club are well aware of the 25 man squad rule and are planning accordingly. Gulacsi is on loan, just what he needs, Reina had a double hernia op pre season I believe and if they are prepared to back Kenny with an international goalie like Doni then great. 

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  8. pointless article.waste of the writers time writing and my time reading.we are more better off than any team in the league on the new rule quota.

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  9. Why is it a non-issue? I'd be interested to hear your reasons.

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  10. In trying to build a list of exactlys whats what, i have got this far. 



    'Homegrown': Gerrard, Carragher, Spearo, Carroll, Downing, Johnson, Kelly, Shelvely, Flannagan, Robinson, Henderson (11)

    'Homegrown', will they stay? Insua, Ngog, Pacheco, Cole (4)

    'foreigners' Riena, Doni, Agger, Skrtel, Enrique, Aurelio, Adam, Merieles, Lucas, Kuyt,  Suarez, (11)

    'foreign' but will they stay? Wilson, Paulson, Aqualani (3)

    Total: 29

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  11. The need to write goes on and on and on,its like a disease,and unfortunately for Liverpool Football Club quite a few who have the disease have chosen LFC as their subject.I have a suggestion,if you cannot find something positive to write about LFC (and believe me there are many many positive things) then change your chosen subject.Try coarse fishing,or maybe hot air ballooning,just something that although you still know "not a lot"about the subject,you get away with it more often than writing what most football (Liverpool) fans know to be garbage....

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  12. REDseptember - if you want your posts to remain on the site then drop the personal insults.  If you disagree with the article then give your reasons why in fair manner.

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  13. Erm , sorry, but don't see your point.
    Liverpool's squad=  REINA  DONI  JONES
        <span>CARRA  </span> AGGER  <span>JOHNSON </span> <span>KELLY</span>  ENRIQUE  SKRTEL AURELIO  
         <span>GERRARD</span>  LUCAS  ADAM  MEIRELES  <span>HENDERSON</span>  <span>DOWNING  SPEARING</span> MAXI <span>COLE</span>
              <span>CARROLL </span>  SUAREZ  KUYT  N'GOG
        ( Nine home grown players underlined.Not sure whether you are right that Jones qualifies as home grown?) .Aquilani,El Zhar,BigGreek already gone or going soon.Kenny and Commoli have started to remove the dead wood and I expect to see another, probably English , centre- back in to replace Kyrgiakos.Cole and N'gog may also be replaced if they leave.
    You would have been better served looking at Arsenal and Chelsea's squads- Chelsea only have 3 or 4 senior English players. Oh,and Poulsen is garbage. 
                

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  14. Jaimie youve missed the point again there.

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  15. Your whole comments are flawed... there is plenty of room for 3 more players and after next week only Poulsen and Insua will need to find new clubs or will be released. 

    Under age albeit homegrown that dont have to be counted in 25 man squad = Flannagan, Robinson, Sterling, Shelvey, Suso, Sama Wisdom, Coady. 

    8 Homegrown = Kelly, Johnson, Carra, Gerrard, Downing, Hendo, Cole, Carroll
    17 others = Doni, Jones, Enrique, Aurelio, Agger, Skrtel, Lucas, Adam, Meireles, Kuyt, Maxi, Suarez, Spearing, +new CB (Coates), + new Striker(Bellamy), + new right wing(Benayoun). + 1x SPARE.
      
    Already sold / loaned= El Zhar, Koncheskey, Jovanovic, Soto, Ayala, Pacheco. 
    To be sold /loaned = Aquilani (AC Milan), Ngog (Bolton), Degen (QPR), Poulsen (TBC), Insua (TBC).

    You should have waited until the window shut mate as your clearley not in the know.

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  16. I think this site is struggling?

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  17. I did not write the article. Plus, if you feel the author 'missed the point' then please outline how this is the case.

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  18. <span>Home-Grown Payers 8/8
    </span>
    Carragher
    Carroll
    Gerrard
    Johnson
    Spearing
    Henderson
    Kelly
    Downing

    <span>Player over 21 who need registering 16/17
    </span>
    Enrique
    Meireles
    Agger
    Aurelio
    Suarez
    Maxi
    Aquilani
    Kuyt
    Lucas
    Ngog
    Skrtel
    Adam
    Reina
    Doni
    Poulsen
    Cole

    The rule states that clubs can supplement their squad with an unlimited number of players under the age of 21. So that means Robinson, Flanagan, Coady, Wisdom and Sterling wouldn't need to be registered in the '25' to be able to play. So even with me registering players who might not even be at Liverpool on 1st Semptember we're still fine, hence the 'non-issue' statement.

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  19. 8 Players trained in England: Gerrard, Carra, Henderson, Carroll, Downing, Spearing, Johnson, Kelly
    4 Players trained at LFC: Gerrard, Carra, Kelly, Spearing

    Settled. You fail sir, try again. 

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  20. You took a long time writing something that isn't an issue and has been addressed

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  21. Far to many contradictions and failures in this article for me to even start. Cole is useless and even the chelsea fans only really loved him cos he was a chelsea fan. Aqua no good?? are you blind?? Aqualani is amazing and anyone who snaps him up would be getting a real bargain who offers a completely new dimension to the team. Ngog is no where near good enoughpoulsen should never have been signed ina million years. 5 years ago maybe. Maybe you should read your articles with a little more thoroughness before you post them as this one makes you sound like nothing more than a digruntled fan trying to force his lack lustre opinions on the world. Better luck next time.

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  22. Guest, not sure where youre getting your facts and figures from, but as and from today Liverpool FC dont have anybody within the club that cant play for it. The main rule as you state is that you cannot have more than 17 over 21 year old players in a 25 man squad. We now have 16 of those
    Reina, Agger, Kuyt, Lucas, Suarez, Aurelio, Doni, Skrtel, Maxi, Meireles, Aquilani, Adam, Enrique, Ngog, Poulsen & Degen (I realise the last 4 we would prefer not to be here) We have 7 english over 21's, Johnson, Carra, Gerrard, Downing, Carroll, Cole, Spearing and 2 more under the homegrown rule Jones and Insua. Martin Kelly and Jordan Henderson dont need to be registered since, according to the under 21 year old rule, they are eligible because they turn 21 in the year the season starts (1st Jan 1990). Everyone else in the club is under 21, and dont need to be registered, so the likes of Shelvey, Flanagan, Robinson, Morgan, Coady, Sterling, Wisdom, Suso, Pacheco and Adjoran.

    If, as is reported, we clear out Cole, Aquilani, Ngog, Poulsen, Degen, we have plenty of room, but as of today, we have nobody earning a wage from the club that we have to leave unregistered, sitting on their behinds at home.

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  23. Otto has made some good points above which succinctly answer the questions posed in the article

    I read somewhere that Reina requested that we sign decent cover his position. He had an operation in the summer, he possibly played through injury because we couldn't trust Jones etc

    Is there a Hodgson signing that will ever actually play for us regularly? I can't think of one. His brief reign was during a very tumultuous time at the club

    We could soon have Cahill / Dann and Sturridge in the squad too

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  24. i think from the article above, its clear the guest writer, David Bolt lacks a thorough knowledge of football, sorry David. The problems we see know are the result of RHs disastrous spell in charge.

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  25. Totally agree, this article is rubbish, club is obviously trying to shift aquilani , cole has his house up for sale, ngog is in negotiation, poulsen is off, soto and el zhar have already gone. Chelsea only named 22 players last season, we named 23. I think only 2 clubs named 25 players.

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  26. People should know this by now but *any* comment that contains personal insults or negative comments about any writer on this site will be deleted.  Tear arguments apart by all means but do it in the right way.  Thanks.

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  27. This article is trying to create an issue that really is not there, yes Liverpool squad is bloated but where is the issue with 8 available players for the 25man squad?

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  28. Is likening David Moyes to Gollum with your avatar a personal insult or not?

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  29. The main point of this article came at the end. It was basically an excuse to berate Benitez somehow.............. he is long gone. No point discussing any of his merits or faults anymore

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  30. why don't we just unload poulsen to WBA since hodgson loves him so much?

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  31. I blame Benitez for a lot of things, but it is ridiculous to absolve Hodgson of any blame for the mess that the squad finds itself in. In one transfer window he managed to bring in half a team (Jones, Konchesky, Aurelio, Poulsen, Meireles & Cole) of first team players, all of which failed to improve on the players moving on or already at his disposal (as far as I'm concerned Meireles is definitely not better than Aquilani or Gerrard) and requiring they be replaced a year later.

    It's also funny/hypocritical/ridiculous the manner in which Aquilani is judged in a totally different manner to everybody else btw. If he's motm in a game, the opposition were scrubs and it doesn't count (irrespective of how poorly his teammates perform against those same scrubs), and any time he has a less impressive performance that is immediately hailed as proof that he's not 'Liverpool class'. People then continusoulsy talk about him lacking the physicality for the premiership, ignoring the countless times they see Meireles or Lucas outpaced or knocked to the floor, Henderson be brushed aside when trying to complete a tackle, or Gerrard forced onto the treatment table yet again.

    Most importantly though anyway, when on the pitch, none of the players in his position managed to even come close to outperforming him in pre-season. Only Liverpool would decide to force a player like that out at such a ridiculous loss to accomodate players that haven't proven to be any better than him... Oh well, work rate and 'good character' has served us so well in recent years eh!

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  32. As others have indicated, this seems a non-issue to me. Our January and summer signings seem to have indicated a clear understanding of this rule by the management to me.

    One question I do have though, why is Adam not considered 'homegrown' when Welsh players are? Is this because Swansea and Cardiff play in the English leagues?

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  33. I disagree with your statement around Merieles, from what we saw of him last season he's performed better than Aquilani, though I would have liked to see a bit more of Aquilani. However I think he wants to leave and return home to Italy. If that's the case and the intention is to sell him before the transfer window closes it makes little sense to play him now.

    Merieles was injured in pre-season and it seems Aquilani was being played as a 'shop-window' exercise.

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  34. I don't think we should sell ngog for 4 mill. its not worth it. His only 22 ( same age as carol ) he has pace and a decent finish. he needs developing. No player improved or got developed under rafa. I think we should send him out on loan to a team that really needs a stricker. A whole season of prem football would she him improve to the level we need him ie back up to carol and luis. At worst we could alway get 4 mill for him next season,, at his age his vaue can only go up if his playing. He is cheap now coz he never get much consistent game time. Taking out carol arial ability, how much better is carol better then ngog. Not much

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  35. I'm sure I'm not the first to point this out. But there are easily 8 homegrown players - and, even if Liverpool can't sell all the players they'd like to, they'd still make the 25 player rule. 

    Frankly, who cares - the quality of the squad has been improved, and poor signings from previous owners/managers are always going to be tricky to move on. Esp on large wage packets. 

    But, does that mean we shouldn't sign new players then ??? Surely improving the team is the first priority ???? 

    Perhaps David Bolt is the Anfield accountant! Although I'd suggest the books will balance a lot better than under Hicks and Gillett... 

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  36. Why do so many of you think Henderson needs to be registered as 'homegrown'? He wasnt born until June 1990, so counts as u21 fot this season.

    <span>Home grown:</span>
    <span></span>
    Jones
    Johnson
    Gerrard
    Carroll
    Cole
    Downing
    Spearing
    Carragher
    Insua
    (9)

    <span>'Foreign':</span>
    <span></span>
    Enrique
    Meireles
    Agger
    Aurelio
    Suarez
    Maxi
    Aquilani
    Kuyt
    Lucas
    Ngog
    Reina
    Adam
    Poulsen
    Doni
    Skrtel
    Degen
    (16)

    There is a squad of 25, of which i expect to see a few leave and be replaced.

    The rest (Kelly, Flanagan, Robinson, Wilson, Shelvey, Henderson etc etc) don't need to be registered, because they were all born after 1st January 1990.

    Aquilani is all but an AC Milan player, Ngog is expected to go to Bolton, Poulsen is supposedly going to FC Copenhagen, and I'm told Cole has been told he won't be in the 25 man squad and is expected to be loaned to QPR.

    If that all happens, it takes us to a 21 man squad (including Degen and Insua), with a centre half and a striker (Coates/Cahill and Bellamy supposedly as it stands), taking us to 23 players who have to be registered.

    If it's true that Aurelio is out until Christmas, then there is no point in us registering him until January imo, so I'd keep hold of Insua until at least then. (22-23 registered, leaving room for Jan signings too).

    Degen has been told to find himself a club, as was El Zhar who was paid off and allowed to leave on a free - I half expectthe same to happen to Degen. Takes us down to (22 players).

    I am more than confident that our squad will be under 25 men (with the kids not having to be counted) come 1st September

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  37. Meireles had a brief purple patch where his shots were going in, but I haven't seen much evidence of him being able to assert himself all over a game in the same manner as Aquilani, rather than just popping up for brief moments. Aquilani looks to easily be the best pass and move midfielder in our ranks atm (I think that Henderson looks a very good pass and move player also though, so what do I know eh!), ups the tempo on the ball, presses high up the pitch off the ball (even if he can't tackle) and can see the incisive passes that Suarez would thrive on.

    To use Aquilani in a 'shop window' exercise where he outperforms his teammates yet sees his transfer value fall even further than where it was at the beginning of the summer doesn't make any sense to me. Nor does refusing to play your best players just because his agent loves a bit of attention - Nasri has made it extremely clear that he wants to leave Arsenal in a way that Aquilani hasn't at LFC, but needs necessitate that sometimes you have to put the interests of the club first, and use whatever assets you have at your disposal. As long as Aquilani remains at Liverpool and capable of improving the quality of the team, it doesn't make any sense for us to not use him.

    I thought that pre-season was supposed to be about preparing your team to hit the ground running in the season anyway, rather than to waste time on the dead weights. How wrong I was!

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  38. Yes it's because of the cross-over of Welsh teams in English leagues (Swansea, Wrexham, Cardiff), so Welsh and English qualify as 'homegrown'. Scottish do not, because we don't have Scottish teams in England (although Berwick [English] play up in Scotland). So as Adam is Scottish born, and was playing in Scotland until 2009, he is not home grown.

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  39. Thanks Guest, I thought so!

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  40. I think we're fine without Aquilani in the team, he's not our 'best player'. Although Aquilani is a better passer than Meireles I think Meireles makes more intelligent forward runs and is better at pressing (and tackling!)

    I didn't say I agreed with the approach taken in pre-season that's just the way I saw it. We looked unfit in the second half against Sunderland - maybe the methods used in preseason caused this?!

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  41. @tjmreds - I didn't call Aquilani our 'best player', I referred to him as our best 'pass and move midfielder', this due to his constant movement and quick, incisive decisions on the ball. Meireles gets himself into shooting positions more than Aquilani, but Aquilani appears to me to create chances for his more advanced teammates more frequently than Meireles does, and for me that should be the priority for the midfielders.

    Irt our preseason, it just doesn't make any sense. Managers love to make excuses that players need a handful of games to play their way into form, but given the opportunity to give them those games in pre-season they all turn it down. Either they accept that it's just an lame excuse or they are handicapping their own teams with their approach to preseason...

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  42. Pretty sound article from start to finish. Love the kitchen analogy. The club is still heavy with players on professional contracts who are unlikely to get into Kenny's 25. I do think KD is on the case with th home grown rule and with 8 days still transfer deadline will get someone in.

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  43. Why do you think that?

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  44. Please explain why you think 'I'm blind or just stupid' wrt Poulsen. When he was a regular in the first team, the team had a better record when he played, they conceded fewer goals and kept more clean sheets (I believe Jaimie wrote an article to this effect). Also, at the end of Roy Hodgson's time in charge, he had the highest pass completion percentage of all the LFC midfielders.

    As for Man City, they do have the same problem, but the difference is that they can pay players to do nothing and not be affected too badly, it would be far more of a drain on Liverpool's resources 

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  45. I think the Doni signing is relevant. We've used up one of our squad spaces on a player who, barring disaster, will never play. We still have Brad Jones (a home-grown player) on the books and could have kept Peter Gulacsi (who wouldn't have to be named in a squad due to his age) as Reina's backup, so we could've used the space Doni's occupying on an outfield player.

    I've not trying to say we're struggling to make 8 home-grown players (some of the player's you've named wouldn't have to be named in the squad due to their age). I'm saying we're struggling to keep numbers down, we currently have too many players, so we'll end up paying members of the squad who won't be allowed to play.

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  46. SQUAD........H/G.................OTHERS
    KEEPERS
    ..................B.JONES............A.DONI
    .........................................P.REINA
    DEFENDERS
    ..................G.JOHNSON.......F.AURELLIO
    ..................M.KELLY............J.ENRIQUE
    ..................J.CARRAGHER....D.AGGER
    .........................................M.SKRTEL
    .........(SPACE FOR NEW CENTRAL DEFENDER)
    MIDFIELDERS
    ..................S.GERRARD.......C.ADAM
    ..................J.COLE..............L.LEIVA
    ..................J.SPEARING........M.RODRIGUEZ
    ..................S.DOWNING.......R.MEIRELES
    ..................J.HENDERSON....
    ..........(SPACE FOR RIGHT WINGER)
    FORWARDS
    .................A.CARROLL.........L.SUAREZ
    ..........................................D.KUYT..
    .............(SPACE FOR STRIKER)

    25 MAN SQUAD
    10 HOME GROWN
    (MORE IF SIGNED PLAYERS ARE H/G)

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  47. Hi Kopshirts,

    I agree about the home-grown rule, we'll manage that okay, but the real concern is how we're going to get rid of some of the squad before the deadline, and I'm sure more signings other than Coates (who won't have to be named due to his age). It's not going to be easy to get rid of the deadwood.

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  48. To be fair you used the following sentence: 'Nor does refusing to play your best players just because his agent loves a bit of attention' - I took this to mean you consider Aquilani one of our best players, sorry if I missunderstood.

    I'd be interested to see the chance creation and assist stats for both players as a comparison.

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  49. My only issue with the signing of Doni is based around my theory on Brazilian and English goalkeepers - no matter how skilled they may appear to be, you should never put yourself in the position of depending on one...

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  50. Yea, I'd still say that he's one of our best players (the best attacking central midfielder that is available at present imo), but it would be stretching it pretty far to say that he is our best player full stop.

    For this whole chance creation stat that has suddenly crept into everybody's conciousness, I just want to see a definition of what actually constitute's a 'chance', as from what I've seen so far it just looks like everybody has to blindly accept a random number pulled from the air by an anonymous party

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  51. Opta define as follows, which seems to make sense to me:

    Key Pass
    The final pass or pass-cum-shot leading to the recipient of the ball having an attempt at goal without scoring.

    Chances Created
    Assists plus Key passes.

    Goal Assist
    The final pass or pass-cum-shot leading to the recipient of the ball scoring a goal.

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  52. Cheers - I thought that it might be something like that.

    The problem with these simple stats is that a player knocking a square ball a couple of yards to somebody like Adam or Gyan, who then proceeds to whack the ball goalwards from 30 yards with no real hope of scoring, is recognised as being 'creative', whereas a player that gets to the byline and whips a dangerous ball across goal which evades the striker by inches, or plays a throughball which cuts the defence open but is miscontrolled/wasted by the striker leading to a failure to produce a shot at the end would see the midfielder being recognised as just failing to complete a pass...

    As somebody who grew up on Championship Manager, I am a big fan of stats, but I place far more weight on what I see with my eyes than any stats that may be reeled off to me...

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  53. Agree totally that stats only get you so far, though they provide useful quantative data for comparing players.

    Subjectively we've dissagreed over the worth of Aquilani/Merielles, hence why stats may have proved useful...I guess that's why sports are so popular, everyone is entitled to their opinion and it's not very easy to prove them wrong (most of the time ;) )!

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  54. Hi David,
    I'm just replying here because I can't see where to reply to the article itself.
    I want you to take a look at the rule again as I think most newspapers have it wrong.
    The PL rule says up to a maximum of 17 non home-grown in the 25. It does not say you have to name 8 home-grown . The UEFA rule does. I think a lot of people think they are the same - but they don't read the same from the PL site.

    There is also a difference in what constitutes h 3 years to be homegrown , but 1 thing at a time eh!

    Btw,
    There is no shortage of room as u21's debt have o be named including Carroll and Henderson.

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  55. Carroll does - sorry looked at wrong page while checking :-[

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