Why Liverpool's Glass is half full rather than half empty

Patience in football is a rare commodity these days. Everyone demands their team to make new signings and for these signings to pay off instantly. We then expect our teams to suddenly start challenging for honours.

But football doesn’t work like this, I wish it did. But it really doesn’t.

People often forget that when major change occurs, the team needs time to form and develop an understanding in order to become something that all teams crave for. And that is to become a team.

Liverpool have been a victim of this since Fenway Sports Group have taken over. People expect Liverpool to suddenly start challenging for the title and to dominate.

Some view Liverpool’s showings this season as under average, poor and lacklustre. In some games, this has well and truly been the case. But most of time this hasn’t been entirely the case.

If one delves deep into Liverpool’s performances, statistics and progress, one can see a different story being told.

The story being written is, Liverpool are a team still a work in progress.

Indeed, many have heavily criticised Liverpool’s transfer dealings since Fenway Sports Group took over. Often people have branded some of their signings as ‘average,’ ‘mediocre,’ and simply not good enough for a team who want to break back into the Champions League.

A few years ago, Liverpool were constantly criticised for not being able to create enough chances.

But this isn’t entirely the case anymore. Liverpool have created 319 chances, which is the 5^th best in the division. In fact, Liverpool have created more chances than League Champions Man United. That put things into serious perspective doesn’t it?

The likes of Henderson, Downing and Adam have been crucial in creating chances for Liverpool. Adam was signed this summer to create from midfield and that’s exactly what he’s done. Charlie Adam has assisted 6 times for Liverpool this season. Considering Liverpool’s highest assistor last season was Dirk Kuyt with 8 assists, Adam’s assist record is rather impressive.However, fellow new signing Stewart Downing has failed to impress many. After all he hasn’t assisted at all for the reds in his short Liverpool career. Perhaps his failure to impress has stemmed from Liverpool’s lack of finesse this season.

Liverpool have scored just 28 goals this season. Bolton, have scored the same amount of goals as Liverpool. Not only this, Bolton’s fellow relegation candidates, Blackburn, have scored more than Liverpool too (34 goals).

This highlights the problem at Liverpool. They need to be more clinical. In fact the team have the lowest conversion rate in the whole league. 8.5% of their shots have been converted to goals. Indeed, it is utterly woeful and as the saying goes, if you can’t score, you can’t win.Perhaps this is an area where the Liverpool players deserve criticism. After all, the team have failed to capitalize on their dominance because of their poor finishing. There is no doubt, the likes of Andy Carroll, Luis Suarez, Steven Gerrard, Charlie Adam, Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing need to buck their ideas up in front of goal.

The damaging effects of this toothlessness in front of goal is especially visible when one looks at Liverpool’s home form.

This season, Liverpool have won just 4 home games this season. The Red’s have drawn 8 of their 12 home games this season. This speaks volumes about the goal scoring saga at Liverpool. What makes things worse is that in most home games, the players have created good chances, but either fantastic saves or woeful finishing has ended up being costly for Liverpool.

While Liverpool’s home form hasn’t been fantastic, they must be doing something right at home, as Liverpool along with Man City are the only two Premier League sides who remain unbeaten at home. Not only this, in all competitions, Liverpool are the only team in the Premier League who are unbeaten at home.

This is exceptional, Anfield may not be a conventional fortress, but the fact of the matter is, teams often leave Anfield without being able to defeat the home side. It is this notion as to why, Liverpool’s glass is half full rather than half empty. As the team have the foundations in place to be a team worthy of challenging. But this is hugely dependent on Liverpool bucking up their ideas in front of goal.

On the road, Liverpool have shown signs of huge promise too. The Reds have now won 6 times on the road. Last season, the team only won 5 times on the road. This improvement from last season is a clear indicator of the sides progress and rectification of their past failures.

Another of these past failures, which were arguably a big cause to Liverpool’s downfall in Rafa Benitez final term at Liverpool and Roy Hodgson’s tenure, was that the team conceded far too many goals.

But this season, things have been far different . Liverpool have the second best defensive record in the division, with only 21 goals being conceded. Not only this, Pepe Reina has the most clean sheets in the division with 10 clean sheets. This is exceptional. Liverpool have managed to immerse a very attacking philosophy with a system which does not leak many goals. The likes of Daniel Agger, Martin Skrtel and Jose Enrique deserve huge amounts of praise for tightening Liverpool’s backline.

What’s intriguing about Liverpool’s defensive record is the five regular starters are mostly, Pepe Reina, Glen Johnson, Martin Skrtel, Daniel Agger and Jose Enrique. 4 out of the 5 have been at the club for more than three years. Perhaps this could suggest, if the players are settled and have an understanding in the squad, they have a better chance of doing their job more effectively.

If one takes a look at Liverpool’s offensive unit, most of the attackers haven’t been at the club for long. Some a few months, while others such as Suarez and Carroll have been at the club for just over a year. It’s clear as the defensive record shows, time, patience and further hard work is needed in order for Liverpool to achieve their long term aims. Liverpool’s attack need to continue to forge an understanding between themselves.

Liverpool are half way there from being a side capable of challenging for honours. Defensively the team are sound as anything. While at home, Liverpool are unconquerable. And perhaps more crucially, the team are creating the chances and are winning away from home too.

But patience is key to Liverpool’s progress. The club is still building a team. The process of building a team can takes years. Just look at Man City. Even with a bottomless pit of cash, it took Man City 4 years to build a team capable of challenging for the Premier League.

Liverpool are still in the forming stage of their building process. But the foundations are in place to give Liverpool the potential to be a side who can seriously question teams in England and across Europe. Indeed, one has to see their route to the Carling Cup final as a sign of the team's clear progression.

It’s imperative, Liverpool continue to build and carry on the positive work from this season.

After all, the glass is not half empty. The glass is half full if anything.


Statistics from EPL Index. (Stats taken on 7/02/12)

Video: Harry Redknapp is free!

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The Three factors ensuring Manchester United will fight for the title

In his debut article for The Football Front, Jordon Florit considers why Man United’s result at Chelsea proves the Red Devils will fight Man City to the death for the Premier League title.

You wouldn’t have put money on it: or maybe, if you’re my cousin, you would have placed a £2.00 bet, with odds of 50/1, on a 3-3 draw. The final score was hardly ideal for either side: however, Manchester United haven’t cracked Chelsea at Stamford Bridge for the past ten years and when Chelsea went three goals to the good with forty minutes left to play, to take a solitary point seemed unthinkable. Yet it still happened.

It was the first time in Chelsea’s Premier League history that they’d let a three goal lead slip, exactly a year to the day after Arsenal had let a four goal lead slip to this season’s surprise package Newcastle United. Yet, in an unexpected sort of way, the result wasn’t as surprising as one may’ve though. This season, Premier League fixtures between last season’s top four have reaped an average of 5.25 goals per game.

There are three factors which are at play to ensure that Manchester United will push Manchester City all the way in the fight for the title.

1.) Persistence and Determination

Ultimately, what Rio Ferdinand described as a “Man Utd never say die attitude”, is what was needed to compete in a hotly contested duel in which The Red Devils eventually came out as the dominant side in a game which had no winner.

Dominating possession and converting their chances was the gilded difference between a Manchester United side that looked dead as the third goal was headed in by David Luiz, and a Chelsea side that, on paper, looked weak as they were missing Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, John Terry and Ashley Cole for the first time in 4 years.

For Sir Alex Ferguson, it was a game that “epitomises what English football’s about,” and it went psychologically proved that, despite failing to win, Manchester United will fight City all the way for the Premier League title.

At three goals down, with debatably two own goals scored – although the second was accredited to David Luiz. And with Chelsea’s fans providing another unwanted sub-story to the game, with a chorus of boos akin to the treatment Patrice Evra received at Anfield, United’s season was near the potential point of no return.

If, like the form book would’ve led one to believe, and Chelsea had gone on to win the game, it would’ve been Manchester United’s third loss to a top seven side, in all competitions, in 2012 alone. Furthermore, with Manchester City convincingly beating Fulham 3-0 yesterday, the gap between the top two would’ve remained at three points.

Some even were expecting Chelsea to repeat Man City’s 6-1 humiliation of Man United.

2.) David de Gea

“When you make a mistake at United, it is highlighted and can be exaggerated a little bit.” Those are the words of Sir Alex Ferguson on the criticism received by his Spanish goalkeeper David de Gea prior to the game and at three down. The hate brigade was well and truly in full swing. However, in palming shots away and punching balls out of the box, despite the scoreline, the Spanish ‘keeper was proving his critics wrong.

For many, and wrongly so, De Gea is considered to be the chink in United’s armour and, in the extremist’s view, including Piers Morgan, who believe David De Gea is the worst goalkeeper in the Premier League. But the statistics would beg to differ and in the aftermath of the game, the Spaniard’s saves-to-shots ratio was 77%. Which is the fourth best in the league, whereas Petr Cech’s stood at 65%, pitting him as the worst in the league. Whilst I don’t believe either are anywhere near the worst in the league, De Gea outshone Petr Cech with his emphatic save to stop a tremendous effort from fellow countryman Juan Mata.3.) The blend of experience and youth

Although the game was tainted by the continuous drone of boos for Rio Ferdinand, something Andre Villas-Boas seemed to palm off as a “normal situation in the Premier League,” which would confirm Ollie Holt’s views of a “resurgence of racist attitudes in the English game,” it did prove there is still life in one old dog in particular.

Thirty-eight year old Ryan Giggs was at the heart of everything creative for Manchester United, producing six goal-scoring opportunities for the visiting side. In fact, he created more chances than any other player on the pitch with Mata and Malouda coming closest with four each. Paul Scholes, 37, came on with the deficit still at two and with the two most experienced players on the pitch making up half of United’s midfield four; a comeback was mounted.

The value of experience, which was absent in the Chelsea side with the aforementioned four all missing. But for Man United the experience of Ryan Giggs, Michael Carrick and Paul Scholes their experience continued to shine through. Carrick, 30, pulled the strings in midfield, coming in as United’s top passer with 76 passes, 23 more than Chelsea’s highest passer Raul Meireles, and Rio Ferdinand, 33, was the most accurate distributor on the pitch with an 89% pass completion rate.

With experience bossing the midfield, ably assisted by the unfazed Rio Ferdinand, it was left to the youth upfront to convert Manchester United’s chances. With a 69% success rate of shots to shots on target and a 33% goal ratio from shots on target, both better than Chelsea’s return, Danny Welbeck, Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez ensured Manchester United could fight back from a steep deficit to earn a point. The former earned the penalty that saw Rooney score and the lattermost completed the comeback, having seen Rooney score the second. It was typical of Hernandez to score the equaliser. 10 of his 21 Premier League goals have come in the last ten minutes and 11 of them coming from within the six-yard box.


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Chelsea have now drawn their last three games, leaving them sitting in 4th. Had Chelsea won all their last three games, they’d currently be level with Tottenham.

A Premier League title now looks out of the question for Andre Villas-Boas’s Chelsea.
However, one positive from a game which will definitely go down as two points lost, was David Luiz. Today’s performance saw him win 100% of his aerial battles and 87.5% of his ground battles, whilst winning every challenge he made. Although he was debatably at fault for Manchester United’s equaliser, he’s becoming more disciplined as the season progresses and AVB can only hope for a stronger defensive display from next season’s Chelsea than the one he has witnessed this season. Cahill will go some way to ensuring that.

This article was written by Jordan Florit. For more of Jordan’s work, take a look at his website: www.maycauseoffence.com/. Jordan is also on Twitter: @JordanFlorit

The Winners and Losers of the January Transfer Window 2012

The dust has settled, and on his debut article for The Football Front, Tom Moseley depicts the January transfer window.

Even after a rather quiet transfer window, with only £58.3M spent compared to last year’s £225m, some teams have still come out better than others. Only one team in the Premier League didn’t sign anyone in this window, that was Stoke.

Winners

QPR

Everyone knew QPR were going to be active in January . QPR started off by looking at players like Alex from Chelsea and I’m sure I also heard rumours (only rumours) about Tevez joining them, especially after playing under Hughes and sharing the same advisor. However, they did eventually target and sign far more ‘modest’ players. They tightened their defence up with the signing of Nedum Onuoha from Manchester City for £2.5m and they also loaned AC Milan left-back Taye Taiwo until the end of the season. These are both good signings as Onuoha is a good versatile defender with a bit of pace. While Taye Taiwo will also add a bit of experience to the back after having 52 European appearances with Marseille and AC Milan. QPR not only improved their defence during this window they also bolstered their front line with the signings of Bobby Zamora, Djibril Cisse and Federico Macheda. Zamora joined for a fee of £4m and he now reunites with Mark Hughes, who arguably got the best out of Zamora in his season at Fulham. However, apart from his Brighton days, he’s never been a prolific striker. This is also Cisses problem, yes he has pace and power, but in the premier league he only has a 3% chance conversion. However maybe together they’ll work well. As Zamora’s strength along with Cisse’s pace could cause a few concerns to opposition defenders. QPR also added to their numbers with the loan signings of Federico Macheda and Samba Diakite. With a new manager and all these new players QPR should really be on the up, but you never know with football.

Everton

Everton have always been known to be ‘tight.’ But this transfer window, they may not have entirely splashed the cash, but they make some effective signings. They signed the talented Landon Donovan (on loan)who will chip in with a few goals and assists. They also signed Darron Gibson from Manchester United for a mere £1m.Now, I’m not Gibson’s biggest fan but for that kind of fee and maybe at a team like Everton, it’s not a bad buy and with more first-team football, he could turn into a good and effective player. Their last signing was Rangers striker Nikica Jelavic for a fee of £5.5m. Indeed, the ex –rangers man had a good goal scoring record for Rangers with 36 goals in 55 games; however (with no disrespect to the SPL) it will be a lot harder for him in the premiership. He said he moved to the premier league as it’s ‘the best league in the world’ – so let’s see how he fares in it. Overall Everton have made solid buys in my opinion, with these new buys Everton could sneak up to the table a bit and secure a finish of 8^th or 9^th.

Biggest Losers

Arsenal

In the summer Arsenal lost three key players and gained around £60m. They arguably panic bought in the last few days of the window bringing in Mikel Arteta, Per Merterstacker and Park Chu-Young. These are good players and Arsenal did need a centre-back, but it did leave about £40m in the bank as well. Indeed, they also signed Oxlade-Chamberlain and Gervinho, but these were before the outgoings of Fabregas and Nasri. I thought because Arsenal were linked with a lot of people, but didn’t sign certain players/positions they wanted, I would see some activity from them this window. However I was wrong. They signed legend Thierry Henry on a 2-month loan from New York and young midfielder Thomas Eisfeld from Dortmund. These aren’t the kind of players they need. They need players with world class ability and potential.

Wigan

Wigan sit at the foot of the table and were linked with quite a few people during the window, however they only bought winger Jean Beausejour from Birmingham for £4m. Don’t get me wrong he’s a decent player, but they don’t really need a winger as they’re a decent side going forward, but they have the worst defensive record in the league, so that’s where they needed improvement. They also kept hold of star-striker Hugo Rodallega, which could end up being a bad thing as his contract is up in the summer, so with that in mind and the fact they’re 5 points adrift, the future doesn’t look bright for Wigan Athletic.

Conclusion

Most teams didn’t have that good of a time in this window. But these Wigan and Arsenal stood out to me in particular as I think they need strengthening more than anybody else.

Without a doubt, it was a disappointing transfer window and we were all hoping for a headline move to make it a bit better, but sadly that never happened.

Oh well, let’s just hope for an exciting end to the season!

This article was written by Tom Moseley, you can find his work on his blog: http://itisonlyagame.blogspot.com/ You can also follow him on Twitter: @ItsOnlyAGame

Mourinho out! But Replaced with who?

In his debut article for The Football Front, Damian Peters explores the possibilities of who could replace Jose Mourinho at Madrid.

The cries for the head of Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho are so loud after his team suffered another home defeat at the hands of the mighty Barcelona, that even if you had on ear plugs with an ear muff, you would still hear it. This wasn’t helped by the strong reports which revealed last Sunday Jose Mourinho was seriously considering quitting Madrid in the summer.

Many Spanish tabloids echoed what was supposedly are the cries of the fed up Real Madrid fans asking for a change from the negative tactics often deployed by Mourinho against Barcelona, which still most of the time still resulted in his team losing to the Catalan giants.

The aftermath of the game against Barcelona was a PR disaster, with Marca publishing an article which contained an argument between Mourinho, Sergio Ramos and captain Iker Casillas. Indeed, Madrid, Mourinho and the players denied what was printed in the paper, only saying when questioned about it, that they wasn't here to talk about that incident.

Madrid’s home game against Athletic Bilbao was amusing as Jose Mourinho was whistled by some sections of the Bernabeau faithful, though the other sections chanted his name, an accomplishment that no other manager of the club can boast.

For the first time in his reign as coach Los Blancos there was clear discontent among the fans with his tactics and an antics, with many fans asking for him to be replaced as coach. Replaced? Fine, but with who? Which available coach is capable of replacing a man who is a proven winner, with a track record of winning trophies in four different countries and leagues. Not only this he is a leader strong enough to take charge of a dressing room filled with multi-millionaires, each with an ego as huge as the Eiffel Tower.

One such candidate to replace him would be Guus Hiddink, he himself a former coach of Madrid, and currently out of work after leaving his post as coach of the Turkish national team. But his time there was marred by bad results and off-field comments criticising the board and the club, which ultimately led to him being sacked.

Another Candidate would be Arsenal's boss Arsene Wenger. The Arsenal manager is continuously linked with the Madrid jobs. Certain media sources will tell you he turned down The Galacticos to stay at Arsenal. But with Arsenal failing to win a trophy in over six years, is Arsene Wenger the kind of manager the hierarchy at the club wants to bring in? I doubt it. Wenger also might not be interested in ever taking the Madrid job.

Then there is Rafa Benitez, the man who lead Liverpool to Champions League glory in 2005. Benitez has being out of work for over a year and a half now and is presently doing guest punditry on TV. Benitez, without a doubt is a good coach, but his coaching style has being questioned at time, with former players saying that he was distant and cold towards them and that they hardly had a relationship with him. His tactics has also come under fire in the past, his insistence on using a zonal marking system when defending corners even though Liverpool was shipping goal after goal using the system. His activities in the transfer market also ceases to flatter, he was notorious for bringing in very average players and placing them on massive salaries, that is something that the Madrid faithful will not want to see, not with Barcelona threatening to win every title until thy kingdom comes.Yes, some Madrid fans might want Mourinho replaced, but can the available candidates do a better job than he's doing now? Considering how prominent Barcelona are? And do the other candidates even want the job at the moment?

Real Madrid have lacked continuity for a long time, maybe Mourinho is the man to manage the club over a extended period and it would only make sense considering his track record and the amount of money that they invested in the current squad that he wanted assembled.

This article was written by Damian Peters you can find more of his work at http://futbaldisciple.wordpress.com/ . Make sure you follow him on Twitter too: @futbal_disciple

Just How Good is Chelsea's Gary Cahill?

In April last year, I wrote an article questioning how good Gary Cahill is. The research into the article revealed some rather interesting facts surrounding the highly rated centre back.

The findings showed Gary Cahill was a decent centre back. His statistics didn’t shine, nor did they condemn him.

However, Gary Cahill has finally made the move to a bigger club. After years of speculation Gary Cahill has moved on from Bolton, to Chelsea for a fee of around £7million. The fee is far more down to earth in comparison to the numbers being touted in the gossip columns in the summer. There were a number of reports suggesting clubs seriously considered paying fees of around £20million for the 26 year old.

But now Cahill has got his move, it seems wise to compare him to other centre back’s in the division. Unlike last time, I intend to be more incisive by looking at the Gary Cahill’s defensive statistics so far this season. Cahill will be compared to; Joleon Lescott, John Terry, Vincent Kompany, Laurent Koscielny and David Luiz.

Before we start, there are things that need to be put into perspective. Firstly, Gary Cahill statistics are those from his Bolton Premier League games this season and importantly the statistics were taken on 28/01/12. This means he was a figure in the team who have conceded the most goals in the Premier league this season. This will un-doubtly have a negative effect on his defensive statistics in comparison to the other defenders.

So onto the stats.

	Gary Cahill	John Terry	Joleon Lescott	Vincent Kompany	Laurent Koscielny	David Luiz
Appearances	19	22	19	19	20	10
Minutes Played	1638	1980	1630	1694	1726	900
Clean Sheets	2	6	6	8	7	4
Goals Conceded	38	25	17	13	28	9
Goals Conceded Per Game	2	1.14	0.94	0.68	1.4	0.9
Total Tackles	14	43	29	43	53	18
Tackle Success %	71.43%	69.77%	93.10%	88.37%	64.15%	77.78%
Total Ground Duals	163	149	113	110	173	85
Ground Duals Success %	56%	68%	63%	67%	69%	56%
Total Aerial Duals	103	54	35	23	62	14
Aerial Duals Success %	61%	78%	77%	74%	68%	50%
Interceptions	43	47	26	46	67	35
Pass Completion %	74.45%	91%	87.63%	88.36%	84.27%	86.35%

Looking at the amount of tackles made, Gary Cahill has made the fewest with 14. While Koscielny made the most with 53 tackles. There is a clear reason as to why Cahill has made such few tackles. As stated before, Gary Cahill is a covering centre back. Meaning his style of play is not to rush into challenges, but more to get into the correct positions to sweep up loose balls.

On the flip side, Cahill has made a mere 14 tackles in 19 games. Thus meaning he makes a tackle an alarmingly every 117 minutes. One could argue a weakness of Cahill is that he is rather hesitant in going into challenges. After all, David Luiz, (a player who has played only 900 minutes) has managed to make more tackles than Cahill. Indeed, Chelsea will demand Cahill to be less hesitant in going into challenges. This hesitancy could lead to the opposition having more space, time and opportunity to attack Cahill’s team.

In terms of tackling success, Gary Cahill has the 5^th best out of the players analysed. Cahill’s tackle success ratio of 71.43% is a decent record. Indeed, it is better than John Terry’s and Laurent Koscielny’s tackle success ratio. This demonstrates Cahill’s solidarity as a centre back. It’s transparent Cahill is a player who more often than not leaves a tackling dual with the ball. Cahill’s highly thought of technique and reading of the game is a key reason as to why the England international’s tackle success ratio is so high. After all, Cahill can effectively determine if he can win the ball, and has the technique to successfully execute the challenge.

John Terry’s tackle success ratio rings alarm bells. After all, most would expect him to be at the top of the list, considering how highly he is rated not only by Chelsea fans but by England fans and the UK press too. However, Man City’s Vincent Kompany made the exact same amount of tackles as John Terry. But in 43 tackles, Kompany won a fantastic 88.37% of them, which is the second best out of the players analysed. This highlights one of the reasons why Kompany is viewed as the best centre back in the league. As Kompany makes a number of attempts to tackle and wins an extremely huge amount of them.

However, Joleon Lescott’s tackle success ratio illuminates Kompany’s and the others tackle success ratio. Lescott has won 93.1% of his 29 tackles. This is outstanding. It displays that Joleon Lescott’s qualities are not entirely overrated. Looking at his statistics collectively, you could say it perhaps justifies the huge fee paid by Man City for his services. It’s evident along with the statistics that Lescott is a valuable asset for Man City. He is a player who can be trusted to win the ball and protect his side.

Arguably, ground duals are crucial in determining just how good Gary Cahill is. After all, Cahill style of defending demands good positioning and impeccable alertness to nick the ball from the opponents feet.

Gary Cahill has attempted 163 ground duals, the second highest amount. While Koscielny has attempted the most with 173. Both Koscielny and Cahill have attempted far more ground duals than the others. However, the difference between Koscielny and Cahill in regards to ground duals is huge. Koscielny has had a ground dual success of 68% which is the best out of the selection of centre backs. While Gary Cahill has a ground dual success of 56%, which is joint worst alongside David Luiz. This is a cause for concern for Chelsea. Luiz and Cahill are viewed as the defensive partnership which will lead Chelsea in the future. But both have struggled to dominate ground duals. This could lead to Chelsea continuing to be porous at the back.
However, Cahill’s reading and execution of the game will improve now he’s at Chelsea. After all, he is now at a team who have a better selection of defensive abilities and more organisation at the back. Not only this, Cahill’s application defensively will improve with the better players he now will immerse himself with around in training with.

What’s intriguing is that the other defender who is viewed as a covering centre back, Laurent Koscielny, has a very high ground dual success figure of 69%. Koscielny’s statistics demonstrate just how effective he has been. The Frenchman has settled and developed sensationally in his second season at Arsenal.But for Gary Cahill, the stats suggest he is not leading the Premier League at all in terms of competing for ground duals. If Gary Cahill is to be viewed as a genuine top quality covering centre back, he needs to win more ground duals amongst other aspects of his defensive game.

Many have stated, Gary Cahill’s true strengths lies in his reading of the game. In some respects this is correct. Looking at Cahill’s interception statistics, it’s not terrible, but neither is it fantastic.

Cahill has the 4^th best interception statistic out the players analysed. What’s interesting is Cahill’s new defensive team mate, David Luiz in just 10 games has managed nearly the same amount of interceptions as Cahill. However, the former Bolton man’s interception figure will most likely increase rapidly now he is at Chelsea. This is because Chelsea play a high defensive line, meaning a key feature of their system will be to press more quickly onto the opposition attacker in order to limit the space and time the attacker has on the ball.

The best interceptor, by far, was Laurent Koscielny with 67 interceptions. This is further proof of the Arsenal man’s fantastic development and true quality. Koscielny is often subjected to many criticisms, but the reality is he is one the leading covering centre backs in the Premier League. The second highest interceptor was Chelsea’s John Terry. The Chelsea captain has also been subject to broad criticisms with some arguing he is no longer a top defender. But his interception statistics indicate otherwise. As much as Terry isn’t the defender he once was, but there aspects of his game where he is still sharp and effective.

One area which Gary Cahill dominates in comparison to the players analysed was his aerial abilities. Cahill attempted 103 aerial duals which is by far the highest out of the players analysed. But Gary Cahill had the 5^th most successes in aerial duals. Cahill won 61% of his aerial duals. 61% isn’t bad at all, considering the number of attempts he’s had. In fact, it’s solid. But on the other hand it suggests there is clear room for improvement in the aerial aspect of Cahill’s game.

However, Cahill’s new captain John Terry’s aerial success percentage is the best out of the players analysed. Terry’s impressive 78% aerial success ratio is further evidence that the England centre back is still one of the divisions best defenders. Perhaps a real positive for the Chelsea fans is that, Cahill’s aerial and interception success statistics are better than David Luiz’. Meaning Chelsea have brought a player who should improve the depth of the squad. But one must not forget, Luiz has played far less games than any of the players analysed.

Furthermore, considering all the statistics and comparing them to the other players, Gary Cahill has not covered himself in much glory at all. The stats make him look like a decent defender rather than someone touted as one of the best centre backs in the Premier League. Chelsea’s payment of £7million for Cahill’s services seems like a justified price. No one can deny, the centre back is talented, but even for £7million he still has a lot to prove.

The statistics may alarm Chelsea and England fans, after all, Cahill fails to dominate any of the positive areas of the analysis. But one must take Cahill’s statistics with a pinch of salt. Gary Cahill was playing for Bolton, a team struggling to survive in the Premier League. While the other defenders were playing for sides who are winning most weeks and have better defensive players at their disposal.

Conversely, the statistics also tell a simple story. They tell, Gary Cahill must improve if he is to survive at a bigger club like Chelsea. Cahill must hit the ground running at Chelsea and will have to develop with every game.

Furthermore, at Chelsea, there will be more scrutiny thrown towards Gary Cahill. As people will expect him to stablise Chelsea’s brittle backline. Not only this, Chelsea are expected to win every game and keep clean sheets. If Cahill costs Chelsea a sloppy goal or even the game, the pressure will well and truly be on Cahill as his mistakes will be recognised on a much wider scale.

One could argue, the reason why Gary Cahill has not been able to get into the Chelsea team is not because he isnt fit enough, as Andre Villas -Boas would tell you. The real reason could be, as the stats show, Cahill is no where near the the top level defenders in the Premier League. Perhaps, Villas -Boas wants to give Cahill time to settle and adapt to Chelsea's style.

But, Gary Cahill will improve naturally at Chelsea, but the 26 year old faces a big challenge. He must learn, develop and conform to the expectations of a top four defender.

Cahill has shown his competency on the England stage. But now he has to prove he can do it week in week out for a team battling for trophies.

It seems certain Cahill will improve at Chelsea with the better players, but the question is how long will it take for him to be at the similar levels to the other defenders analysed.

Statistics from EPL Index. (Stats taken on 28/01/12)

Video: A subtle piece of Madrid propaganda?

This video is pretty uneventful. It's Jose Mourinho been given a birthday cake on his birthday last week by the Madrid lads. But what's interesting about the video is who presents the cake. It's the Spanish duo of Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas.

There has been a lot of speculation from the Spanish and major European papers suggesting a break down in relationship between some of the Spanish players at Madrid, in particular, Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas towards Jose Mourinho. Most of you have probably read or heard the story regarding the dispute between Mourinho and Sergio Ramos following the Barcelona defeat in the Copa Del Rey.

Could this video by the Official Madrid channel be attempting to paint a picture that all his harmonious in the Madrid camp? I think that just could be the case.

The Most Underrated Players in the Premier League - Part Two

If you missed Part One find it here.

So last week we revealed our top 10 to 6 of the most underrated Premier League players this season. We revealed that the likes of Wes Hoolahan, Stiliyan Petrov and others were having fantastic seasons without much recognition.

But today, we shall expose who we think has been the most underrated player of this season’s Premier League campaign.

Let’s get back to the countdown.

5.) Alex Song – Arsenal: Mikel Arteta and Aaron Ramsey have really taken the spot light in Arsenal’s midfield this season. But Alex Song has been just as vital as the other two. Song’s fantastic protection of the back four and the midfield has helped Arsenal stay defensively solid. Indeed, Song has won the most tackles for Arsenal this season with 38 tackles. But what has been more impressive about Song’s game is his contribution going forward. One will recall it was Alex Song who floated the ball over to Van Persie for his exceptional volley versus Everton late last year. But this is just one of many examples. Song has been creating chances for Arsenal all season. Indeed, the Cameroonian International has created 23 chances, 3 less than Gervinho to put things into perspective. Furthermore, clear evidence of his offensive contribution is clear when one looks at how many times he has assisted for Arsenal this season in the Premier League. Song has assisted the joint most alongside Gervinho with 5 assists this season. Song’s defensive displays alongside his creativity have made him one of the best defensive midfielders in the world at the moment.

4.) Joe Allen – Swansea: Swansea have exceeded virtually everybody’s expectations. But Joe Allen has been indispensable to the Swans success this season. Allen’s tidiness on the ball typifies everything about Swansea’s keep ball philosophy. The Swansea midfielder has a passing accuracy of 90% this season and has made more accurate passes than Scott Parker, Alex Song and Charlie Adam. Allen’s creativity has been vital to Swansea this season. Allen has created 27 chances, the second highest for Swansea. Joe Allen’s role in Swansea’s midfield is invaluable, it’s clear he is the one who makes Swansea tick.

3.) Steven Fletcher – Wolves: Fletcher has been on fire this season. Especially on the road. Steven Fletcher has scored 9 goals this season. 6 of the 9 have come away from home this season. But more impressively he’s scored at Man United, Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool. His abilities in scoring away at the bigger sides deserves a lot of praise. When a struggling team go to a top side, many of the struggling team’s players turn off or find themselves utterly ineffective. But it’s been the opposite for Fletcher. He has thrived in the big matches. What impresses me most about Fletcher is how clinical and how effective he is as a goal poacher. This season, Fletcher has had 13 shots on target, 9 of those 13 have been goals. His goal scoring prowess has given Wolves a real chance of surviving this season. However, in the future, one can see him playing for a more competitive Premier League side, as his consistency in getting goals speaks volumes.

2.) Danny Murphy – Fulham: Now, Danny Murphy’s abilities are often highlighted when Fulham play. But his effectiveness and attacking influence on Fulham is often understated. Firstly, Murphy has made 52 key passes which is the third highest amount of key passes in the division so far. Murphy in fact has made more key passes than David Silva, Nani, Modric and Mata. Furthermore, Danny Murphy has also created 56 chances for Fulham this season, assisting 5 times. His assist record is the highest at Fulham this season. At 34 years of age, Danny Murphy is a vital component to Fulham. His attacking influence at 34, demonstrates with age, his effectiveness has not declined severely. Murphy’s renowned for his tidiness and his passing has been fantastic too. Murphy has made the 10^th most accurate passes in the Premier League this season, with 1078 accurate passes.

1.) Alejandro Faurlin - QPR: The 25 year old Argentine has been incredibly impressive this season without many of us recognising. Faurlin has been instrumental to QPR this season. The Argentine has made the most passes for QPR this season with 1147 passes and has a decent passing accuracy of 81%. Offensively Faurlin has shown great competency too. The 25 year old has created 28 chances, which is the second highest for QPR this term. But Faurlin’s defensive work has been genuine top quality this season. Faurlin has won 68 tackles. Making him the most successful tackler in the Premier League. Faurlin is quickly becoming a very complete box to box midfielder. It’s a shame Faurlin is out for the season, as he was progressing so rapidly in the Premier League. But more crucially, his injury is and will continue to hurt QPR too, as Faurlin offers great solidity in the middle of the park. If Faurlin can recover from his injury and prove he can recapture his great form, it’s only a matter of time till he will be interesting many big clubs across Europe.

And there we have it, indeed, some of you will agree with a few, some will disagree. But that’s the beauty of football. We all read the beautiful game differently. But here’s a list of players who just missed out on this list;

The One's That Got Away..

Raul Meireles (Chelsea), Jack Rodwell (Everton), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Ryan Taylor (Newcastle) and Steve Morrison (Norwich City).

Part One

Statistics from EPL Index. (Stats taken on 26/01/12)