Statistics do lie Dirk Kuyt Zidane Aimar Mourinho

Football talk has long been the default discu sion through my time at school and while theres not much more I love to give my opinion on, I cant deny how hard it is to accept the opinion of others at times. While this may only serve to portray me as a standard, stubborn student, I cannot accept them because with the huge emphasis put on statistical analysis over the past decade and a half, it is worryingly apparent that stats, whether they be goals, a sists or clean sheets, dominate arguments. Too many times have I heard that a player is better than another simply because of the amount of goals they have scored. Are we not forgetting something? Context.Oh but the stats dont lie- goals win you games.Correct, you need goals to win games, but the striker that scored the goal equally needed his partner to close down the opposition fullback after his own winger was beaten down the touch line, then proceed to pre sure him into retreating which allowed cover to arrive, thereby giving Jimmy Graham Jersey him an opportunity to tackle the fullback knowing he had cover if he failed. Then, after winning the ball he beats a man and pa ses it on, making sure to the get in the box which consequently means that when the ball is eventually played in, he has dragged a defender with him and away from where the ball will land; creating space for the striker who scores. Perhaps the details of this scenario may have seemed boring or irrelevant to some because the man who scored, well scored. That is his 24th goal of the season and he is remembered, his name etched in the clubs history books. His partner in comparison, holds a measly tally of 3 all season to his name, leaving football fans wondering why his manager has him first on the team sheet every game despite scoring so few for a striker.We are so quick to dismi s players for lacking these stats, forgetting how e sential they may be in their teams succe s. Im not saying every player who scores very few goals or makes no a sists has actually played well, of course this is obviously not true- but football fans can be too hasty in their a se sment of a player for the wrong reasons.Dirk Kuyt. Good old Kuyt, an engine, a team player, a workhorse! Despite these generic descriptions, the jury was out on him throughout his time at Anfield, owing precisely to his goal record. In 208 league games he managed 51 goals- roughly a goal every 4 games. A goal every 4 games? Surely a team like Liverpool who were title chasers and Champions league specialists during that spell should have invested in a striker who would score at least 20 goals a season to compliment Torres and Gerrard? How did he start 35 out of 38 league games on average throughout his Liverpool career, as well as playing nearly all Champions league games and countle s domestic cup ties? This is simple. He was fundamental to Liverpools style of play, a central piece in their succe s without having the most fruitful figures to show for at the end of the year. He is the player in the above scenario who comes away with no goals or a sists but in my eyes wins you the game. This is why context is so vital. To a blind fan, Kuyt seems an average player with 3 goals and 4 a sists compared to someone like Torres with 24 goals (2007/08) but Torres depends on Kuyt to play the way he does in order to make his job easier. This is why Kuyt was adored by his teammates both for Liverpool and Netherlands. To go further, Cruyff, who rarely heaps praise on players said Youre ble sed as a team when you have someone like him walking around. With Kuyt, you can, at a tactical level, go in all directions. Kuyt, the man who never hogged the spotlight was the unsung hero countle s times and he represents one of many cases showing how fickle a fan can be by evaluating a player solely on their stats.Now I appreciate that this may all seem very obvious to most, how a players value lies beneath the surface. Their goals and a sists do Sam Waardenburg Jersey not merely define them. But I only wish to addre s this because football fans, particularly young ones like myself, are obse sed with stats when there is much more that should be prioritised in my eyes. On my football tour to North America, the Seattle Sounders FC U23 coach Darren Sawatzky told us something that stuck with me.Zidane once said to me that the best players didnt need a great touch all the time. Why? Because they used their head before their feet. They got into a position where they had more time and space and could me s Deng Gak Jersey up their touch knowing theyd still be untouchable. Or something like that. To be honest, if you start with The great Zizou once told me, then I can be forgiven for naturally thinking come on now, simmer down. Yet although I may not believe that the great Zizou ever said that to him, mostly due to the fact that when you think of Zidane, his genius first touch comes to mind which gave him the extra yard on the opposition player, allowing him to glide around the pitch, it still reminds me of an important truth: People are also quick to forget the mental side of the game- the side that literally cannot be shown on a sheet with numbers.Now, where do I start when I talk about mental attributes? Recent retirements of players I loved- Riquelme and Aimar provide useful examples for what I am trying to say. Take Riquelme, say what you like about him- for me he played the game at his own pace and on his own terms and did things one could only dream of doing on the ball. But his weakne s? Perhaps the fact that he played the game at his own pace and on his own terms. You can respect him for his strong single mindedne s at the same time yet, had he sorted his attitude and temperament perhaps he would have left a clearer mark on European and International football. Of course he is a Boca Juniors legend and rightly so for what he achieved but could he have become a true worldwide great rather than simply a cult hero had he been stronger in the mind to accompany the strength in his feet? Who knows? Whats left behind, however, is that he scored around 135 goals and notched up around 70 a sists in over 500 games. But those stats dont tell the full story about such a complex player.Even more recently is the retirement of Pablo Aimar. The man who was admired by Maradona and Me si (Paul Wilson, The Guardian). Apparently he seemed to peak under Benitez with Valencia winning La Liga twice and the Uefa Cup. Benitez made the switch to Anfield and their relationship ended. Under new bo s Ranieri, he lost his place and any confidence left in him. Later, he moved to Zaragoza and then to Benfica but the fact remains he would never get back to the heights he reached under Rafa. Confidence. It can make an average player seem great and a great Andre Johnson Jersey player seem like the best. The mental skill comes in when you are trying to regain confidence. For Aimar, he couldnt retrieve it and his career declined even at a young age. Fernando Torres, the cla sic example of a player who turned into a shadow of himself, some say he lost it through injuries, I say he couldnt handle the monumental pre sure and regain the confidence he had at Anfield. But lets not delve into the Torres saga which will remain a mystery. Instead, why not let Riquelme shed light on a master of the mental game, Andres Iniesta.He picks the right moment to do everything: when to dribble, when to speed things up and when to slow things down. And I think thats the only thing that cant be taught or bought. You can learn how to shoot and how to control the ball, but being aware of everything thats happening out on the pitch thats something youre either born with or youre not.Mental ability is so often coveted by the best managers for a reason. You can train and train until youre the fastest, the strongest, the best striker of the ball, etc. but that guarantees nothing for the manager. In the 2012/13 season, Juan Mata achieved 16 goals and 20 a sists in 41 games for Chelsea (whoscored.com). In the same season, Oscar scored 10 and set up 6, with Willian scoring 8 the same year for Shakhtar and Anzhi, in Ukraine and Ru sia respectively. At that point, if everyone was asked who of the three they would take, Mata would be the clear winner. But not for Mourinho. Mourinho looked beyond the simple stats and thought about who was tactically adaptable and willing to play his style. Mata failed to make that cut and the other Kameron McGusty Jersey two took their places next to Hazard in the team ahead of Mata. Mata is subsequently sold and everyone is confused. Once again, all except Mourinho. Fast forward a year and a few astute signings and Chelsea win the league with ease. If Mourinho, one of the best ever, looks past the numbers and takes into account the whole makeup of a player- why are some of us still hypnotised by stats?Dont get me wrong, I hope I dont come acro s as a Mourinho lover. I do not love the guy. Respect, definitely, love, not at all but his actions embody all what Im trying to say. For him, football is a game all about feelings and intelligence. Intelligence in the tactics he sets out for his team, I imagine, but also the intelligence of his own players to obey and also make clever decisions on their own. Players that po se s this gift of football intelligence may not reflect it as much as others in their goal stats which is why there needs to be a shift in the way we analyse players-not simply spouting out all the facts about them tweeted by OptaJoe to justify all our opinions. Instead, actually watch them play first and consistently. Be informed.Maybe there was little direction in this article, and more a release of opinions on this matter. Or better still, this was just a way to tell the world of my love for Dirk Kuyt. What a man. I gue s for the sake of clarity though, the point of this was to ask for fairne s for the players you speak about. They are not just stats on a sheet, much of their work is lost by many as they are encapsulated by the numbers and le s on the game. Statisticians may pick up little intricacies of matches like the number of pa s backs and time spent in the final third, but watch a player properly and even concentrate on their mental stats-the invisible numbers that shouldnt be brushed aside when we discu s football.By James Abedian