Stingray

And there you have it! :blue scalf: :blue scalf: :blue scalf: Thans for the preview :-)

Eden Arena sounds good

Nice work Barbara! A few points added to the mix, if I may :-) Our midfield has worried me the entire season actually and I believe it has cost us dearly at times. That is why I think your initial statement is a bit off the mark. As you say yourself there are issues concerning midfield tempo controlling. For example: the many times Hazard was almost screaming for the ball open and free are numerous, where Oscar, Rami or Mikel simply went for the lateral ball or tried to go forward themsleves. Both Mata and Hazard like the ball to be played much more directly expecially because they are masters of playing in between lines. It makes them dangerous to get the ball in a fast paced direct kinda build-up. We did neglect to do that. This - and the inherent slowness of Mikel in build up makes these issues worse - they accentuate our weakness and it results in a less proficient '2' as you put it. By no means do I want to criticize Rami or Mikel but I feel they are square pegs in round holes in the pivot. Also, They take away a lot of the strengths our amigo's have. Too many times Mata and Hazard have had the ball played after their initial movement when already back to a stop. This takes energy and we lose pace. Add Torres that plays hide and seek to the mix .... you can imagine the dilemma. I think it is due to the sheer quality of Mata and Hazard that we managed to still be dangerous. This is reflected highly when one of those two are absent. We are quite 'amputated' then. I do think we need 'a someone'. A real metronome. Someone that speeds up the game. Who has that attribute naturally. And I think we have it in KDB actually (his speed of execution, technique, crossing are his best attributes). He does it in the Belgian NT with great succes. Every time he has the ball, the play speeds up and Hazard becomes dangerous. I can see him doing the same. This is also why I see his future in the 8 position, alongside a good reliable 6. To Choulo19: I see our predictable attack and slowness to move the ball nowhere near our maestro trio. With RDM we were so good in the attacking movement. It caused us to lose stability in the pivot and defensive wise though, so Benitez (ugh) made our attacking lines much, much more rigid. Hazard DID struggle with that (think december-january dip) but recovered in the end when he gained a lot more freedom again. The fact they are slow on the receiving side is surely a consequence rather than the cause. I see the cause almost invariably in the pivot. It is the zone we need to put some serious work in. It is going to be a challenge for Mou.

This exactly.

No idea man. I found out in his Welcome post

Ow great. Another one .... Just kidding, mate! Welcome and have fun!!

Yes ... that guy is good! I think he will develop into real quality tbh.

Yes. Never say Spain is the greatest!! Serious: that was Santiago making a comeback. Error.

Jim, This is awesome. Love it. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

You truely talk too much, also you change your profile pictures too much, but dont change we love you as you are. That is the best compliment actually. Pure ! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Have you read Moneyball? It advises you to build a whole baseball team using statistics as the primary criteria, ignoring all other analysis! Does it work? Yeees, in baseball, a sport that has statistics written all over it... However, football doesnt work like that. Football is more an art than a science. Just like you cant analyse a painter with numbers, you cant do the same with players. Nevetheless, just by using your vision, studies and experience, you can say whether a painter is good or not (or a player for that matter). For instance, Argentine and Brazilian scouts dont use any other tool than their observation, different than England and France (who relly heavily on statistics and studies). Who has been more successful? Scouts should relly on their guts, experience and knowledge first and statistics second... But nobody is doing moneyball here, mate. I just like the analyses. Thats all, don't stress. Stats are an aid, a means to an end. Not the end in itself. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

That is your personal interpretation of OP's intentions, me friend. IT could be the use of data and statistics to analyse performance and impact. Whole different ballgame, Rmpr. Of course it is foolish to use statistics as the primary reason to make your team. But i think that is a strawman argument, 'cause nobody actually claims that here, I think.

I'd say it'd be pretty balanced weight for midfielders, but can it be if it's attacking midfielders vs. defensive? It's all so complicated, but deliciously interesting and nerdy! Deliciously nerdy !! Lmaoooooo Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

What not though? We are in a crucial time of our transition with Mourinho now appointed, and we must understand that Cech's influence this season's transition phase could be massive in that, but after the WC we should be seeing to get some profit off of him. After the WC, Courtois is more than ready to join us considering he has accomplished so much at a tender age. He's been performing way above standards and has the quality to easily be the BEST keeper in the world. He must be introduced after the world cup or the following season. An absolute Must I agree fully. After the WC he needs to step up and compete. Also, what if he returns after playing a brilliant WC ... Harsh, harsh competition on that no 1 spot. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Its true ! I even mentioned it to Mybodyisready ... He slated me for it. Hazard owned Bale in terms of performance. Big time. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

That you disagree ... That 'it' doesn't work is very premature to conclude. What is 'it'? Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Awesome. Mourinho is right. This boy is pure, pure gold. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Interesting ... the weight factor then should be much higher for defenders than for attackers

We could slowly build this and let it evolve to bypass the complex formula problem.... I think the Conceding part is is generally a furtile concept. Further questions: 1: What would constitute Positive contributions. 2. How do we balance Pos/neg according to the three zones (like Choulo said ...) Then we could maybe take it from there?

Don't we have some math wizz kids on here that could help out?!

Well I guess you have the classics in terms of offensive contribution. But they won't do .... What if you change concept a bit and indeed go for 'positive contribution'. Your indicator doesn't have to be so direct so direct as eg: assists. If we assume that positive contributions add to the final team result and conceded damages the team result, postitives can be very generic. For example: number tackles, Duels won, Headers, pass completion, .... If would put that in a number somehow. After that .. if you have a good positive contribution number besides the conceded one .... you could assign ratios per 4231 position for example. thus balancing the general number. And every player could have his generic performance 'stat'. mmmm.

It would be awesome if you could operationalize this ... somehow... Conceded/start and appearance Offensive contribution/start and appearance This then 'normed' or 'weighed' relative to player role ... Uhm .... brainstorming here, mate.

Intruiging concept .... could you dumb it down though, the meaning of the numbers is fuzzy to me ... eg: Mata-14.3/12.7 Hazard-13/11.9 What do the number refer to actually? Is it player -conceded/offensive contribution

I wonder whereand how Mou will play him and Mata. Hazard is so, sostrong on the break out through the center. Alternating amc's anyone?

This quite laughable. How do you support this hypotheses, besides conjecture and you imagination? Hazard has - also in Chelsea - done brilliant as a 10. The team as well. Sorry; but this is nonsense confidently disguised as fact. Madrid one. Sorry, but i am never letting a good story get in the way of empiricism.