The only place to be

We're just going to have to agree to disagree. I think you need a ton of perspective with which to assess stats and the stats guys would tell you that themselves. It's just one more tool in a manager's arsenal. The Modric point is fair. As for football being unpredictable, obviously I was making the same point that you eventually arrived at. Football is only predictable on the game to game basis, except for when it isn't. Look at Porto's win in 2004 or Greece's win the same year. That's why football supporters love the game. Over a 38 game season, sure you'd expect the top teams to win purely due to resources available. But tomorrow we're going to try and win a game to possibly play Bradford in a final. That's the beauty of this game.

Can i just ask people, are they really bothered about winning this cup? It's not like it's the FA Cup, the final four teams are us, Swansea, Villa and Bradford and at the end of it we're going to have a picture of Rafa Benitez lifting a trophy with our players. Yes I'm aware it's a cup, but this cup has only ever meant something when it's part of something bigger (under Mourinho it was something nice on the way to winning a league) but on it's own, is it really something that noteworthy? Put it like this - if Arsenal won it, wouldn't we all be saying they still haven't won anything for 7 years because it's only the Coca-Cola Cup? I know we should try and win everything we go in for but even if we won this trophy (after beating Bradford??), to me it would still be most memorable for us making our best players play almost 120 minutes against United's reserves before going away to Swansea and drawing 1-1 in the league. Maybe I'm just being pessimistic (can you blame me after this season) but is there anything more to this cup than being something Benitez can show as evidence for why he should keep his job?

Can we move this thread to the Transfer Talk forum - we should really be looking at signing this 'Ramires' guy.

And there's a reason those stats guys aren't the manager, but are simply a tool at the manager's disposal. I'm not saying stats don't have their place, but they need to be interpreted properly and not just relied on because they're 'objective'. The point is football is unpredictable and no matter the sample size, you have to actually see what happens on the pitch to understand it. You can't simply rely blindly on stats. Earlier on you suggested that Ramires is weak at passing, and I don't disagree. But you cited his assists as an example of that. Now look at Luka Modric who had just 3 assists in one season (2010-11 I believe) - does that make him a weak passer? No. In fact he was key to most of their attacking endeavours but he would play the ball that unlocked teams so that an assist could be made. Stats are great and I'm a big fan of their use, but they are a tool. De Bruyne may well have bad stats when it comes to tackling but that doesn't mean he's a bad tackler.

Again, I disagree. Each tackle is unique and you would need to look at each one to see what is actually causing the tackle to be unsuccessful. Is it his technique, is it his positioning, is it his position on the field or are the external factors playing a part. Like I said, you can use the statistics as a starting point to alert you to something but you can't just look at them on their own and decide he's a 'very weak' tackler. That's simply not how the game of football works. If it was, why would we bother? As for the goals scored point, I was referring to the type of goals scored and the opposition they were scored against. A player who scored the 4th and 5th goals in routs against weak opposition may not be as good a goalscorer as the guy who scores the only goal against strong opposition. Stats have their place, but it's nowhere near as prominent as some people on here make out.

I find the comments on his range of passing to be boring. I've never really had a problem with his passing because he generally just lays it off to people who can do the exciting stuff better. My problem has always been the stuff that doesn't have a metric on whoscored.com. The intangibles, the amount of shit he gives on the pitch and the effect he has on those around him. I watched Fellaini play in a deeper position than he has done in a while last night and he just seems to be more of what I want in that position than Mikel. He can do the same short passes but he also works harder and asserts himself on the game better. That type of thing is invaluable in lifting those around you. Like I keep saying, I've never known a player so divide fans and I think it's along the lines of people who are impressed by his passing completion stats, and people who actually watch the games week-in and week-out and put more stock in what they see on the pitch.

I don't know if he's that much better than Bertrand right now, but he's about 6 years younger and shows a composure on the ball that Ryan has simply never had. I'd personally bring him in this summer and let him learn from Ashley, and they'd get about 30-odd games a season each. Plus he's a Chelsea fan which is always nice.

Whilst I agree with some of the other points you make, I strongly disagree with this point based on using this website. My view on statistics is that they might occasionally provide you with a starting point when examining an aspect of a player's game, or maybe help you clarify something. But too many people place too much stock in them without fully understanding them and that goes right from tackles made (not all tackles are equal and the tackle itself might result in the opposition winning back the ball etc.) up to goals scored.

So you're essentially agreeing with my earlier point that statistics and videos don't tell the whole story. It's the problem with certain modern-day fans - they rely on statistics without necessarily understanding them. The tackle statistic for example isn't just a number. It's maybe dozens of individual acts that essentially have one of two outcomes (tackle made/not made). But each of those individual acts is a complex series of acts that tell their own story. In De Bruyne's case, he may have a low tackling percentage but he may only need small adjustments to his game to make him a more effective player. But there's no statistic on whoscored.com that tells you that.

Actually that's not strictly the case. You're restricted by the director's choices. When you see a player in person you can watch everything he does, the way he moves around the pitch and even his body language. It's why scouts are invaluable to clubs. So you don't end up with another Bebe.

Well Gibbs plays there pretty much week in and week out and doesn't get raved about on here. Personally I think that's because he's not that good. Whilst I love Bertrand, he's simply not kicked on and if we're being honest he didn't look as good when he was 17 as Shaw does now. The kid just has a composure that you don't often see in players that age, and especially not in the Premier League.

Because statistics don't tell the whole story. They need interpretation, which is why they're helpful to interpret what you see on the pitch but aren't a good substitute for that. It's why some of us still like to watch the matches.

Or for people who don't want to read all that, here's Ruprecht's speech in video form.

I thought he stood out more in the second, when we were pretty woeful.

Did you read the rest of my post? If I had just said the line you quoted then I'd probably agree with you, but taken as a whole I think it's less ridiculous no?

Are you one of Rafa's loved ones? Are you his brother? Are you his wife? Do you own his local Dominos?

The biggest prize this year is a top-four finish and Rafa leaving.

Great post, very informative. My problem with Moyes is not that he's done great things despite having to sell his best player and work with comparative peanuts, but that at Chelsea he'd have to do essentially the complete opposite. He'd be under no pressure to sell his best youngsters, he'd have maybe treble the budget and he'd be on a bigger stage (with all respect to Everton). He's done amazing work but the types of challenges he'd face would be completely different. I like him, but it would be a gamble.

It's statistically unlikely. There's no easy answer to this dilemma.

If this guy is the real deal, then he could conceivably be the answer in goal for us for the next 10-12 years. How many years does Cech have left? How much would we get for him in the market? Personally, I'd rather not sell this guy when he has so much potential.

They have to be in the discussion. You dismissed them and offered up a fictional character instead. Unfortunately whilst we may not be constrained by financial binds, we do have to limit ourselves to characters who exist in the real world. If we're going to invent people, I'd like Frank Lampard aged 42 coming off back-to-back-to-back doubles with Real Madrid please. And he's got a cracking set of knockers too.

The problem I have with Moyes is that I'm not sure what I'd end up watching on the pitch. The guy has always worked with his back against the wall, surviving rather than thriving. Look at Fellaini for example. Bought as a DM, started his Everton career there but moved forward because it's what's best for Everton in the short-term. That's not the type of problem he'd face at Chelsea. There's a massive difference between the job you're required to do when you're living off scraps and feeding the masses to the job you need to do when you're working with the finest ingredients. I'm not saying he couldn't do it, but that I don't know if he could do it. If we're honestly looking at the Premier League for a guy from (let's be honest) the level below then surely Martinez should be in the discussion too. Works wonders at a club who have no business being in the Premier League and still manages to get them play bright, inventive, attacking football. I also think he's responsible for a lot of the good stuff at Swansea that Rodgers and now Laudrup benefitted from.

Somewhere warm. Somewhere they can recharge their batteries for the run-in. The league is all-important - the cups have to be secondary.

I doubt it that's much, but even if it is who cares what Baines earns? We don't own him so we'd have to pay at least £15 million to get him. The truth is that Bertrand simply hasn't kicked on and may never be good enough. Cole is still one of the best in the world at what he does and the cost of retaining him (even at this wage) is still cheaper than replacing him. Personally, I'd love us to get Luke Shaw from Southampton as his understudy.

Need David Luiz for this because you'd expect us to have a lot of the ball. Wouldn't mind it if we sent players like Mata, Hazard, Azpi, Cole and a few others on holiday for a few days though if I'm honest. With this game and the Brentford game there's no important matches for over a week.