Ricardo Rodriguez

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

De Bruyne's at Werder Bremen (7.58....coooo) and he struggled with the rigours of English football.

He struggled with the duties Jose asked him to perform, not the league as a whole.

[Styles 9,790]

Dismissing stats is popular, but to be frank they are very useful at helping us understand players we do not see as often as we would like.

Here are some examples on why RR is a great choice for left back:

Key Passes: At 2,3/game RR would be in the top10 players in all of the best leagues (Serie A, La liga, PL & Bundesliga), and remember that he is a left back up against the like of Ribery, Messi, Silva & Hazard (as a matter of fact he is not far behind Hazard).

Crossing: There are currently six (!) players in the previously mentioned leagues who have more accurate crosses

Dribbles: Only one defender has more succesful dribbles than he does. Those two are far far ahead of the other defenders in this department.

Tackles: When looking at defenders he would be in the top5 in all the main leagues when it comes to tackles (one person that has more is our own Cesar)

Now, there are other great attributes (such as his excellent skills when it comes to set-pieces), but I cant be bothered to go through all of them.

The point is that he is the best left-back statistically in all of the best Leagues, and he is only 21.

Is he unproven? It depends on how you define proving yourself, but he is first choice in Wolfsburg which is a good german club. He has achieved high ratings against clubs like Dortmund and Bayern who we know belong to the absolute elite.

He is in the fifth highest ranked player on WS in total.

Do all of this guarantee success?

Of course not, but the way I see it we are taking a smaller risk than with Shaw for a better price (again, I highly rate Shaw, but if it was a contest between the two of them RR would win easily).

Rekin makes a good argument to be fair.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Key Passes: At 2,3/game RR would be in the top10 players in all of the best leagues (Serie A, La liga, PL & Bundesliga), and remember that he is a left back up against the like of Ribery, Messi, Silva & Hazard (as a matter of fact he is not far behind Hazard).

Do whoscored factor in set-pieces as part of this statistic?

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

Do whoscored factor in set-pieces as part of this statistic?

Of course. Its still an accurate delivery though... Grain of salt on that

[The only place to be 11,313]

Of course. Its still an accurate delivery though... Grain of salt on that

So his taking set-pieces won't have any impact on the number of assists or key passes he makes per game? What's the split in the numbers of key passes attributed to him between those from set-pieces and those from open play?

How many set-pieces did Luke Shaw take last year?

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

So his taking set-pieces won't have any impact on the number of assists or key passes he makes per game? What's the split in the numbers of key passes attributed to him between those from set-pieces and those from open play?

How many set-pieces did Luke Shaw take last year?

Again... grain of salt.

Luke Shaw doesn't take set-pieces because he can't deliver them accurately as someone like Lallana or Rodriguez.

[Waterfall 893]

Whoscored grossly overrates Bundesliga players. I think Carvajal was in the top 20 last season, but he's not even in the top 200 now. No point comparing across leagues if the stats aren't adjusted. Does anyone actually believe 11 of top 20 players in the world play in Bundesliga? Rodriguez, Firmino, Raffael, Kruse, Adrian Ramos, Farfan, and Kiesling? Give me a break

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

Whoscored grossly overrates Bundesliga players. I think Carvajal was in the top 20 last season, but he's not even in the top 200 now.

Is it that Whoscored overrates or is it that he's not in a system that lets him perform the same way? Kind harsh to say they overrate when all they do is tabulate stats.

[Waterfall 893]

Is it that Whoscored overrates or is it that he's not in a system that lets him perform the same way? Kind harsh to say they overrate when all they do is tabulate stats.

Stats need to be adjusted for competition, because right now it has zero value as a prediction tool if you are looking at different leagues.

[Rekin 835]

I am not sure actually. Considering that set-pieces and key passes are two different categories (where the first one is measured by accuracy) I would say it is possible that one is not included in the other.
He is at any rate taking the set-pieces because he is very good at them, his corners and free-kicks are fantastic (goes hand in hand with good crosses I guess).

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

Stats need to be adjusted for competition, because right now it has zero value as a prediction tool if you are looking at different leagues.

What part of GRAIN OF SALT do you guys need clarification on?

[Waterfall 893]

What part of GRAIN OF SALT do you guys need clarification on?

I wasn't even arguing against you. I was just stating my observation which it seems like you agree.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Again... grain of salt.

Luke Shaw doesn't take set-pieces because he can't deliver them accurately as someone like Lallana or Rodriguez.

How many set-pieces did Rodriguez take last season then?

Isn't Luke Shaw a fairly capable dead-ball striker?

What about Rickie Lambert and Steven Davis?

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

How many set-pieces did Rodriguez take last season then?

Isn't Luke Shaw a fairly capable dead-ball striker?

What about Rickie Lambert and Steven Davis?

Dude... you're going off the rails here.

Ricardo Rodriguez and Luke Shaw do NOT have the same sort of skill sets. I value what Rodriguez can bring more than I do that of Shaw... who I actually like a lot.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Dude... you're going off the rails here.

Ricardo Rodriguez and Luke Shaw do NOT have the same sort of skill sets. I value what Rodriguez can bring more than I do that of Shaw... who I actually like a lot.

I'm just asking questions about points you're raising. If you don't know then just say.

Stats never tell the whole story and need to be put in context.

You said that he doesn't take set-pieces because he can't deliver them as well as Lallana and Ramirez...does he deliver them better or worse than Steven Davis?

[Styles 9,790]

Whoscored grossly overrates Bundesliga players. I think Carvajal was in the top 20 last season, but he's not even in the top 200 now. No point comparing across leagues if the stats aren't adjusted. Does anyone actually believe 11 of top 20 players in the world play in Bundesliga? Rodriguez, Firmino, Raffael, Kruse, Adrian Ramos, Farfan, and Kiesling? Give me a break

Good point.

Interesting debate we have here. Glad to see TalkChelsea back on form.

[Shane 2,275]

Is it that Whoscored overrates or is it that he's not in a system that lets him perform the same way? Kind harsh to say they overrate when all they do is tabulate stats.

I'm sorry but I've seen whoscored.com, and if you in any way let that base some of your footballing opinion on who is a better player then your fucking bonkers mate.

[The Skipper 20,593]

WhoScored is pretty useful in certain instances but its ratings system vastly suit some players more than others. It's okay to use in an argument but I wouldn't swear religiously by it for example - it has Skrtel, Debuchy, Evra and Curtis Davies as the highest rated back four in the PL, which we all know is completely wrong.