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Season Wrap-up and Look Ahead: Arsenal

What can we say about these guys that hasn't already been said? Find out here (Photo by Jasper Juinen/Getty Images)

With a topical reason to do so, we started our season wrap-up journey with a look at Liverpool and how their season played out. Where they were strong (almost everywhere) and where they were tragically weak (converting shots on target to goals). I got some good feedback on how the format might be improved with the best two being:

  1. adding comparisons to the Top 4 to comparisons to the League Average to give a sense of what it takes to be elite as well as to be "just OK"
  2. in the specific case of Liverpool trying to take a deeper dive into the quality of their Shots on Target to determine if they were bad at taking good shots or good at taking bad ones.
The first one is fairly easy and I will try to work that into the equation, especially for teams like Everton, Newcastle, Liverpool, and Chelsea which finished in shouting distance of the top but didn't make it. For teams further down the list I may alter that to reflect how they performed vs. league average and vs. the relegated to give you an idea of how safe they might be.

The second suggestion/request might take a little more doing as I'm not sure where I could get that data but I agree that the answer to the question makes some impact on how you feel about Liverpool's creative wheelhouse (if the shots on target were good then the shot-takers were likely poor but if the service was bad it might be that the forwards did very well to even get that many on target). What I can commit to is that as I see points of interest like this I'll try to dig a little further if there is data to be had.

With that, we'll move back up to the top of the alphabet and the Gunners who had a very interesting season indeed and face an even more challenging off-season. Away we go:

Continue reading this post »

15 comments  | 

Season Wrap-up and a Look Ahead: Liverpool

Are things at Liverpool all THAT broken? The media and the 2011-12 table would have you believe they are. A closer look at the facts lead me to believe that things could get much better and fast if Liverpool recognize what their problem is and move decisively to solve it. Oh, and for those of you wondering, it ISN'T the much-criticized group of central midfield players.

Before we get to the analysis, a little background. I am a fan of structured, objective analysis. I am generally NOT a huge fan of the way statistical analysis and the term "Moneyball" have started making their way into the game so far. My quibble is that statistics by themselves (think "David Silva led all players with a pass completion rate of 93%") are quite useless. What they need to do is tell a story. In this case, it is my goal to tell two stories using the 2011-12 statistics for each team:

1) What happened in 2011-12? Where did things go well? Poorly?

2) What does that tell us about what the priorities for the summer SHOULD BE?

In some cases, the numbers will tell us what we expect them to (e.g., Arsenal need to make fewer mistakes at the back, Stoke are an incredibly poor attacking team) and other times it will bust popular myths (we'll get to that one here quickly).

With that introduction, we'll start with a breakdown of how things went right and wrong for King Kenny and the Anfield faithful this past season.

Continue reading this post »

20 comments  | 

Liverpool "Parts Company" with Kenny Daglish

Photo

LFC part company with Dalglish

Fenway Sports Group (FSG) and Liverpool Football Club announced that Kenny Dalglish is to leave his post today as Manager after having his contract terminated.

After a careful and deliberative review of the season, the Club came to the decision that a change was appropriate. It is not a decision that was reached lightly or hastily.

The search for a new Manager will begin immediately.

And thus begins a summer of finger-pointing, managerial speculation, and transfer policy minutia.

It's a great time to be a blogger.

8 comments  | 

England Squad For Euro 2012

England squad for Euro 2012:

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Man City), Rob Green (West Ham), John Ruddy (Norwich)

Defenders: Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Phil Jones (Man United), John Terry (Chelsea), Joleon Lescott (Man City), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Leighton Baines (Everton)

Midfielders: Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Stewart Downing (Liverpool), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Gareth Barry (Man City), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Scott Parker (Tottenham), Ashley Young (Man United), James Milner (Man City)

Forwards: Wayne Rooney (Man United), Danny Welbeck (Man United), Andy Carroll (Liverpool), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham)

Standby: Butland, Jagielka, Henderson, A Johnson, Sturridge

45 comments  | 

The Blog League Final Standings

We know who topped the Premier League - but who topped the Blog Leagues?

Want to see where you ranked out of the 1340+ teams across all 14 Blog Leagues set up at the start of the season?

Of course you do - and you can after the jump ..

Continue reading this post »

27 comments  | 

Final Standings - Zombies Calientes del Getafe

Fantasy_sports_-_premier_league_fantasy_football_game_medium

Thanks to a late-season surge, I finished in the top 200 this season! It's been a while since I had such a lofty perch, so I'm very excited. More analysis to come, when I have a bit more time to reflect. But right now it's time for Mother's Day brunch.

Thanks to everyone for a great season. We're not going anywhere over the summer, so be sure to stay with us for Euro2012, etc.

47 comments  | 

Manchester City Champions

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - MAY 13:  Sergio Aguero of Manchester City scores his team's third and matchwinning goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Manchester City and Queens Park Rangers at the Etihad Stadium on May 13, 2012 in Manchester, England.  (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Manchester City win the craziest Premier League season in a fashion that only they could concoct. I guess it's fitting.

Now, let's get the fantasy points in and we can start the real party.

10 comments  | 

The Barn Door Live - Barn Door-less Edition

The "Next Drogba" gets a start today and could return great value for a price of under 3. (Photo by Christopher Lee/Getty Images)

Here we are, the last two hours of the season. There are no transactions to be made, just points to be gained and private leagues to be won and lost. Oh, and there's the matter of the League Title, Champions League spot(s), and final relegation spot to be sorted out.

For those who are interested, here's my team headed into the games:

Joe Hart

Tim Ream, William Gallas, Vincent Kompany

Gylfi Siggurdson, Jean Beausejour, Florent Malouda, Yaya Toure

Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero, Romelu Lukaku

Yup, I'm betting big on City, how about you?

1313 comments  | 

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Community blog posts and discussion.

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FanShots

Quick hits of video, photos, quotes, chats, links and lists that you find around the web.

Recent FanShots

For Neal: Arsenal kits via 3nil. Click through to see the animation.
"Next time you need a Torres hat trick, bring me back to Stamford Bridge!"

I really enjoyed attending this Chelsea-QPR game.
The crowd is really effusive, and people are really nice and respectful. I like the No smoking rule in the stadium. I like the view that gives the impression of being almost on the pitch and really near to the players.
Of course, I liked these 7 goals, particularly last Malouda (yey frenchy) and Cissé (fan fan fan) ones.
Stamford Bridge is a really beautiful stadium. There are only 41,000 seats but the stadium seems to contain almost the double. People are really friendly -of course their team reached the Champions League final.
What I liked less is the queue to enter the shop after the game. However, it was relatively quickly to get in. I also didn't like the booos at Anton Ferdinand; I thought that it was Terry who had a bad behaviour at him...

Anyway, I really wish all the best to the Blues for their Munich final and hope to see them win!

A Gunners fan
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http://www.sunderlandecho.com/sport/sunderland-afc/safc-news/sunderland-boss-o-neill-to-hand-gordon-his-chance-1-4425418?commentspage=2#commentsSection
Tsunami at Indonesia...
Injury Insight : Week 31
The United States Didn't Qualify For The Olympics And It Doesn't Matter - SBNation.com

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