Welcome Declan Rice

[BobbyPires7]

One word to describe Declan last night, Elite.

Totally managed the back line when we went down to 10 men. And he can only get better.

Was impressed.

[nut flush gooner]

One word to describe Declan last night, Elite.

Totally managed the back line when we went down to 10 men. And he can only get better.

Was impressed.

Haven't bought an Arsenal top with a player on the back since DB10, think I will break that tradition and get the third strip with Rice 41. Proper excited about this gem. Even if the team hasn't clicked yet.

[rodders999]

As I said on the match thread last night, he was spreading that ball around Selhurst Park like butter on hot toast. Bundles of character and leadership, just what this team has lacked since forever, We will look back at that 105 million quid at the end of the season and think absolute bargain, mark my words.

Roddaz loves Deckers

[DB10GOONER]

Slight over reaction methinks lads. Oirish Deckers was good last night, no more, no less. Maybe we've been lacking quality in there so long that he looks amazing to some of you, but if you take your wánk mittens off for a moment and assess his performance like an adult would you'd see he played well but was not some elite genius.

Now, having said that, the thing that matters is he has hit the ground running, doing the right things, playing well, passing well, and he will only improve as the season goes on. I'd say by Xmas he might be at that elite level, but for now he is doing no more than you'd ask of any PL player.

The concern though is good players need to play with other good players and he must look up the pitch at Havertz and think "fuck me, I'm not giving him the ball".

Either way, Oirish Deckers so far has been a good signing.

Cue fanboy hysteria in 3....2.....1....

[OneBardGooner]

Slight over reaction methinks lads. Oirish Deckers was good last night, no more, no less. Maybe we've been lacking quality in there so long that he looks amazing to some of you, but if you take your wánk mittens off for a moment and assess his performance like an adult would you'd see he played well but was not some elite genius.

Now, having said that, the thing that matters is he has hit the ground running, doing the right things, playing well, passing well, and he will only improve as the season goes on. I'd say by Xmas he might be at that elite level, but for now he is doing no more than you'd ask of any PL player.

The concern though is good players need to play with other good players and he must look up the pitch at Havertz and think "fuck me, I'm not giving him the ball".

Either way, Oirish Deckers so far has been a good signing.

Cue fanboy hysteria in 3....2.....1....

And for all those who voted against us signing "Deckers"

[Retro Gunner]

Slight over reaction methinks lads. Oirish Deckers was good last night, no more, no less. Maybe we've been lacking quality in there so long that he looks amazing to some of you, but if you take your wánk mittens off for a moment and assess his performance like an adult would you'd see he played well but was not some elite genius.

Now, having said that, the thing that matters is he has hit the ground running, doing the right things, playing well, passing well, and he will only improve as the season goes on. I'd say by Xmas he might be at that elite level, but for now he is doing no more than you'd ask of any PL player.

The concern though is good players need to play with other good players and he must look up the pitch at Havertz and think "fuck me, I'm not giving him the ball".

Either way, Oirish Deckers so far has been a good signing.

Cue fanboy hysteria in 3....2.....1....

^^^
This. I wasn’t going to get drawn into this, even though the hyperbole about “elite” performance etc is laughable. He was fine, that’s it. Knocking 5 and 10 yard passes, mainly sideways and the odd tackle, but that was it. Nothing creative to get excited about. When he plays like Paddy, then we’re talking elite levels. Nothing remarkable, but not Xhaka, which would have been an excellent development, despite the sum paid, but of course, Captain Black has recruited his new favourite as a Xhaka replacement.

[nut flush gooner]

Slight over reaction methinks lads. Oirish Deckers was good last night, no more, no less. Maybe we've been lacking quality in there so long that he looks amazing to some of you, but if you take your wánk mittens off for a moment and assess his performance like an adult would you'd see he played well but was not some elite genius.

Now, having said that, the thing that matters is he has hit the ground running, doing the right things, playing well, passing well, and he will only improve as the season goes on. I'd say by Xmas he might be at that elite level, but for now he is doing no more than you'd ask of any PL player.

The concern though is good players need to play with other good players and he must look up the pitch at Havertz and think "fuck me, I'm not giving him the ball".

Either way, Oirish Deckers so far has been a good signing.

Cue fanboy hysteria in 3....2.....1....

^^^
This. I wasn’t going to get drawn into this, even though the hyperbole about “elite” performance etc is laughable. He was fine, that’s it. Knocking 5 and 10 yard passes, mainly sideways and the odd tackle, but that was it. Nothing creative to get excited about. When he plays like Paddy, then we’re talking elite levels. Nothing remarkable, but not Xhaka, which would have been an excellent development, despite the sum paid, but of course, Captain Black has recruited his new favourite as a Xhaka replacement.

Totally different era, team formations and Paddy was a freak. If you look at his stats this season Rice has stepped up a level from his Worst Ham days. I looked on Fbref with a gooner pal this morning. His passing accuracy is 91%. That is elite. He also covered more ground than any other player.

There was a pass he threaded through to Eddie that had a bit of DB10 about it. I want Partey to play DM stop all this RB bollocks then allow Rice to play the 8 further up the pitch. Then I have no doubt he will impact games offensively more and have the engine to get back and support Partey when we are under pressure.

[Retro Gunner]

Slight over reaction methinks lads. Oirish Deckers was good last night, no more, no less. Maybe we've been lacking quality in there so long that he looks amazing to some of you, but if you take your wánk mittens off for a moment and assess his performance like an adult would you'd see he played well but was not some elite genius.

Now, having said that, the thing that matters is he has hit the ground running, doing the right things, playing well, passing well, and he will only improve as the season goes on. I'd say by Xmas he might be at that elite level, but for now he is doing no more than you'd ask of any PL player.

The concern though is good players need to play with other good players and he must look up the pitch at Havertz and think "fuck me, I'm not giving him the ball".

Either way, Oirish Deckers so far has been a good signing.

Cue fanboy hysteria in 3....2.....1....

^^^
This. I wasn’t going to get drawn into this, even though the hyperbole about “elite” performance etc is laughable. He was fine, that’s it. Knocking 5 and 10 yard passes, mainly sideways and the odd tackle, but that was it. Nothing creative to get excited about. When he plays like Paddy, then we’re talking elite levels. Nothing remarkable, but not Xhaka, which would have been an excellent development, despite the sum paid, but of course, Captain Black has recruited his new favourite as a Xhaka replacement.

Totally different era, team formations and Paddy was a freak. If you look at his stats this season Rice has stepped up a level from his Worst Ham days. I looked on Fbref with a gooner pal this morning. His passing accuracy is 91%. That is elite. He also covered more ground than any other player.

There was a pass he threaded through to Eddie that had a bit of DB10 about it. I want Partey to play DM stop all this RB bollocks then allow Rice to play the 8 further up the pitch. Then I have no doubt he will impact games offensively more and have the engine to get back and support Partey when we are under pressure.

I've absolutely no idea what Fbref is, but I wouldn't get too carried away about stats such as 91% pass accuracy. Unless you see those passes, it really tells you very little, because if they're mainly simple 5-10 yard sideways and backwards passes, then you'd expect those numbers. I remember Wenger saying very similar things about Denilson and his pass count / accuracy, but he was hardly elite. I did notice the ball he played through to Eddie, very good too, but I'm hoping for quite a bit more than one non standard pass in a game.

As for formations, elite players shine regardless and Paddy would have been just as impressive amongst this group. I'm not expecting Rice to be Paddy, because that ain't ever gonna happen and would be a very unfair expectation, but it takes a lot more than that performance last night to equal elite in my book.

I think you can forget about him playing in a more advanced role for quite some time yet. Barring injury, Legohead isn't moving Partey back into defensive mid and Rice further forward, because that means benching blue eyed boy Havertz and that won't be happening. If Havertz gets injured you might get your wish. Until such time, Granit Havertz is da man.

[nut flush gooner]

Slight over reaction methinks lads. Oirish Deckers was good last night, no more, no less. Maybe we've been lacking quality in there so long that he looks amazing to some of you, but if you take your wánk mittens off for a moment and assess his performance like an adult would you'd see he played well but was not some elite genius.

Now, having said that, the thing that matters is he has hit the ground running, doing the right things, playing well, passing well, and he will only improve as the season goes on. I'd say by Xmas he might be at that elite level, but for now he is doing no more than you'd ask of any PL player.

The concern though is good players need to play with other good players and he must look up the pitch at Havertz and think "fuck me, I'm not giving him the ball".

Either way, Oirish Deckers so far has been a good signing.

Cue fanboy hysteria in 3....2.....1....

^^^
This. I wasn’t going to get drawn into this, even though the hyperbole about “elite” performance etc is laughable. He was fine, that’s it. Knocking 5 and 10 yard passes, mainly sideways and the odd tackle, but that was it. Nothing creative to get excited about. When he plays like Paddy, then we’re talking elite levels. Nothing remarkable, but not Xhaka, which would have been an excellent development, despite the sum paid, but of course, Captain Black has recruited his new favourite as a Xhaka replacement.

Totally different era, team formations and Paddy was a freak. If you look at his stats this season Rice has stepped up a level from his Worst Ham days. I looked on Fbref with a gooner pal this morning. His passing accuracy is 91%. That is elite. He also covered more ground than any other player.

There was a pass he threaded through to Eddie that had a bit of DB10 about it. I want Partey to play DM stop all this RB bollocks then allow Rice to play the 8 further up the pitch. Then I have no doubt he will impact games offensively more and have the engine to get back and support Partey when we are under pressure.

I've absolutely no idea what Fbref is, but I wouldn't get too carried away about stats such as 91% pass accuracy. Unless you see those passes, it really tells you very little, because if they're mainly simple 5-10 yard sideways and backwards passes, then you'd expect those numbers. I remember Wenger saying very similar things about Denilson and his pass count / accuracy, but he was hardly elite. I did notice the ball he played through to Eddie, very good too, but I'm hoping for quite a bit more than one non standard pass in a game.

As for formations, elite players shine regardless and Paddy would have been just as impressive amongst this group. I'm not expecting Rice to be Paddy, because that ain't ever gonna happen and would be a very unfair expectation, but it takes a lot more than that performance last night to equal elite in my book.

I think you can forget about him playing in a more advanced role for quite some time yet. Barring injury, Legohead isn't moving Partey back into defensive mid and Rice further forward, because that means benching blue eyed boy Havertz and that won't be happening. If Havertz gets injured you might get your wish. Until such time, Granit Havertz is da man.

You clearly can't have been watching the game because you missed according to sky sports eight instances where Rice played the ball forwards under pressure, and 18 instances where he played the ball in the final third and found his man.

https://www.skysports.com/football/news ... palace-win

And you ignore what football stat sites like FBref show, well you clearly don't understand data analytics then. It's what Tony Bloom has used and executed to get Brighton from the fourth tier of English football to the top of the PL. Rinsing the likes of Chelski along the way to the tune of £200m+ buying prospects for £5m and selling them for £115m. Bloom runs a company called Starlizard, based right under the nose of the Emirates stadium in Camden, a highly secretive organisation that uses data analytics to scout the best players in the world. And also place bets for high net worth individuals in the Asian Handicap markets in Hong Kong.

[Retro Gunner]

Slight over reaction methinks lads. Oirish Deckers was good last night, no more, no less. Maybe we've been lacking quality in there so long that he looks amazing to some of you, but if you take your wánk mittens off for a moment and assess his performance like an adult would you'd see he played well but was not some elite genius.

Now, having said that, the thing that matters is he has hit the ground running, doing the right things, playing well, passing well, and he will only improve as the season goes on. I'd say by Xmas he might be at that elite level, but for now he is doing no more than you'd ask of any PL player.

The concern though is good players need to play with other good players and he must look up the pitch at Havertz and think "fuck me, I'm not giving him the ball".

Either way, Oirish Deckers so far has been a good signing.

Cue fanboy hysteria in 3....2.....1....

^^^
This. I wasn’t going to get drawn into this, even though the hyperbole about “elite” performance etc is laughable. He was fine, that’s it. Knocking 5 and 10 yard passes, mainly sideways and the odd tackle, but that was it. Nothing creative to get excited about. When he plays like Paddy, then we’re talking elite levels. Nothing remarkable, but not Xhaka, which would have been an excellent development, despite the sum paid, but of course, Captain Black has recruited his new favourite as a Xhaka replacement.

Totally different era, team formations and Paddy was a freak. If you look at his stats this season Rice has stepped up a level from his Worst Ham days. I looked on Fbref with a gooner pal this morning. His passing accuracy is 91%. That is elite. He also covered more ground than any other player.

There was a pass he threaded through to Eddie that had a bit of DB10 about it. I want Partey to play DM stop all this RB bollocks then allow Rice to play the 8 further up the pitch. Then I have no doubt he will impact games offensively more and have the engine to get back and support Partey when we are under pressure.

I've absolutely no idea what Fbref is, but I wouldn't get too carried away about stats such as 91% pass accuracy. Unless you see those passes, it really tells you very little, because if they're mainly simple 5-10 yard sideways and backwards passes, then you'd expect those numbers. I remember Wenger saying very similar things about Denilson and his pass count / accuracy, but he was hardly elite. I did notice the ball he played through to Eddie, very good too, but I'm hoping for quite a bit more than one non standard pass in a game.

As for formations, elite players shine regardless and Paddy would have been just as impressive amongst this group. I'm not expecting Rice to be Paddy, because that ain't ever gonna happen and would be a very unfair expectation, but it takes a lot more than that performance last night to equal elite in my book.

I think you can forget about him playing in a more advanced role for quite some time yet. Barring injury, Legohead isn't moving Partey back into defensive mid and Rice further forward, because that means benching blue eyed boy Havertz and that won't be happening. If Havertz gets injured you might get your wish. Until such time, Granit Havertz is da man.

You clearly can't have been watching the game because you missed according to sky sports eight instances where Rice played the ball forwards under pressure, and 18 instances where he played the ball in the final third and found his man.

https://www.skysports.com/football/news ... palace-win

And you ignore what football stat sites like FBref show, well you clearly don't understand data analytics then. It's what Tony Bloom has used and executed to get Brighton from the fourth tier of English football to the top of the PL. Rinsing the likes of Chelski along the way to the tune of £200m+ buying prospects for £5m and selling them for £115m. Bloom runs a company called Starlizard, based right under the nose of the Emirates stadium in Camden, a highly secretive organisation that uses data analytics to scout the best players in the world. And also place bets for high net worth individuals in the Asian Handicap markets in Hong Kong.

I suppose I can't shake the old saying "Lies, damned lies and statistics". They have their place for sure, but as a sole judge of a player, not so much. I remember Wenger being very much a stat man and buying a load of crap players because of it. Stats are all well and good, but you need to watch the guy play to understand those figures. As for playing 18 passes in the final third and finding his man, so what? That means nothing in isolation. Were 10 of them 3 yard passes, or were they searching incisions that made a difference? Funny how you and I both noticed the incisive pass he made to Eddie, which was from the middle third of the pitch. Can you remember any of the 18 in the final third? Me neither.

The bloke did ok, but to be hyping it up like it was a stellar performance shows how low our bar has fallen. Not being Xhaka doesn't make him Chippy Brady.

As for Tony Bloom, you've really worried me now. With such forensic statistical incite, one would have imagined he'd have beaten a fast path to sign Rice and Havertz. Does he know something we don't??

[DB10GOONER]

^^^
This. I wasn’t going to get drawn into this, even though the hyperbole about “elite” performance etc is laughable. He was fine, that’s it. Knocking 5 and 10 yard passes, mainly sideways and the odd tackle, but that was it. Nothing creative to get excited about. When he plays like Paddy, then we’re talking elite levels. Nothing remarkable, but not Xhaka, which would have been an excellent development, despite the sum paid, but of course, Captain Black has recruited his new favourite as a Xhaka replacement.

Totally different era, team formations and Paddy was a freak. If you look at his stats this season Rice has stepped up a level from his Worst Ham days. I looked on Fbref with a gooner pal this morning. His passing accuracy is 91%. That is elite. He also covered more ground than any other player.

There was a pass he threaded through to Eddie that had a bit of DB10 about it. I want Partey to play DM stop all this RB bollocks then allow Rice to play the 8 further up the pitch. Then I have no doubt he will impact games offensively more and have the engine to get back and support Partey when we are under pressure.

I've absolutely no idea what Fbref is, but I wouldn't get too carried away about stats such as 91% pass accuracy. Unless you see those passes, it really tells you very little, because if they're mainly simple 5-10 yard sideways and backwards passes, then you'd expect those numbers. I remember Wenger saying very similar things about Denilson and his pass count / accuracy, but he was hardly elite. I did notice the ball he played through to Eddie, very good too, but I'm hoping for quite a bit more than one non standard pass in a game.

As for formations, elite players shine regardless and Paddy would have been just as impressive amongst this group. I'm not expecting Rice to be Paddy, because that ain't ever gonna happen and would be a very unfair expectation, but it takes a lot more than that performance last night to equal elite in my book.

I think you can forget about him playing in a more advanced role for quite some time yet. Barring injury, Legohead isn't moving Partey back into defensive mid and Rice further forward, because that means benching blue eyed boy Havertz and that won't be happening. If Havertz gets injured you might get your wish. Until such time, Granit Havertz is da man.

You clearly can't have been watching the game because you missed according to sky sports eight instances where Rice played the ball forwards under pressure, and 18 instances where he played the ball in the final third and found his man.

https://www.skysports.com/football/news ... palace-win

And you ignore what football stat sites like FBref show, well you clearly don't understand data analytics then. It's what Tony Bloom has used and executed to get Brighton from the fourth tier of English football to the top of the PL. Rinsing the likes of Chelski along the way to the tune of £200m+ buying prospects for £5m and selling them for £115m. Bloom runs a company called Starlizard, based right under the nose of the Emirates stadium in Camden, a highly secretive organisation that uses data analytics to scout the best players in the world. And also place bets for high net worth individuals in the Asian Handicap markets in Hong Kong.

I suppose I can't shake the old saying "Lies, damned lies and statistics". They have their place for sure, but as a sole judge of a player, not so much. I remember Wenger being very much a stat man and buying a load of crap players because of it. Stats are all well and good, but you need to watch the guy play to understand those figures. As for playing 18 passes in the final third and finding his man, so what? That means nothing in isolation. Were 10 of them 3 yard passes, or were they searching incisions that made a difference? Funny how you and I both noticed the incisive pass he made to Eddie, which was from the middle third of the pitch. Can you remember any of the 18 in the final third? Me neither.

The bloke did ok, but to be hyping it up like it was a stellar performance shows how low our bar has fallen. Not being Xhaka doesn't make him Chippy Brady.

As for Tony Bloom, you've really worried me now. With such forensic statistical incite, one would have imagined he'd have beaten a fast path to sign Rice and Havertz. Does he know something we don't??

Exactly how I view stats. And in football you cannot use quantitative stats without a qualitative basis.

Wenger used the same bullshit stats to show that the useless donkey Denilson had the highest pass completion rate in the PL at 98% all the while ignoring the fact that 90% of those "completed passes" were either 5 yard nothing balls to Alex Mong or 5 yarders back to the CH or they were sloppy passes that the receiving player had to struggle to get on the end of.... but those shit passes were also classified as "complete".

I'd rather a player play one decent completed pass that ends up with an assist for a goal than he play 30 "completed passes" that mean nothing.

Quality over quantity is what determines "elite".

As a project manager I work with stats every day and you can make quantitive stats say almost anything you want them too. But once you qualify them it's nearly always a different story.

I like Oirish Deckers and I think he will be a success with us but he is nowhere near "elite" yet. But some day he may well be.

[Retro Gunner]

Totally different era, team formations and Paddy was a freak. If you look at his stats this season Rice has stepped up a level from his Worst Ham days. I looked on Fbref with a gooner pal this morning. His passing accuracy is 91%. That is elite. He also covered more ground than any other player.

There was a pass he threaded through to Eddie that had a bit of DB10 about it. I want Partey to play DM stop all this RB bollocks then allow Rice to play the 8 further up the pitch. Then I have no doubt he will impact games offensively more and have the engine to get back and support Partey when we are under pressure.

I've absolutely no idea what Fbref is, but I wouldn't get too carried away about stats such as 91% pass accuracy. Unless you see those passes, it really tells you very little, because if they're mainly simple 5-10 yard sideways and backwards passes, then you'd expect those numbers. I remember Wenger saying very similar things about Denilson and his pass count / accuracy, but he was hardly elite. I did notice the ball he played through to Eddie, very good too, but I'm hoping for quite a bit more than one non standard pass in a game.

As for formations, elite players shine regardless and Paddy would have been just as impressive amongst this group. I'm not expecting Rice to be Paddy, because that ain't ever gonna happen and would be a very unfair expectation, but it takes a lot more than that performance last night to equal elite in my book.

I think you can forget about him playing in a more advanced role for quite some time yet. Barring injury, Legohead isn't moving Partey back into defensive mid and Rice further forward, because that means benching blue eyed boy Havertz and that won't be happening. If Havertz gets injured you might get your wish. Until such time, Granit Havertz is da man.

You clearly can't have been watching the game because you missed according to sky sports eight instances where Rice played the ball forwards under pressure, and 18 instances where he played the ball in the final third and found his man.

https://www.skysports.com/football/news ... palace-win

And you ignore what football stat sites like FBref show, well you clearly don't understand data analytics then. It's what Tony Bloom has used and executed to get Brighton from the fourth tier of English football to the top of the PL. Rinsing the likes of Chelski along the way to the tune of £200m+ buying prospects for £5m and selling them for £115m. Bloom runs a company called Starlizard, based right under the nose of the Emirates stadium in Camden, a highly secretive organisation that uses data analytics to scout the best players in the world. And also place bets for high net worth individuals in the Asian Handicap markets in Hong Kong.

I suppose I can't shake the old saying "Lies, damned lies and statistics". They have their place for sure, but as a sole judge of a player, not so much. I remember Wenger being very much a stat man and buying a load of crap players because of it. Stats are all well and good, but you need to watch the guy play to understand those figures. As for playing 18 passes in the final third and finding his man, so what? That means nothing in isolation. Were 10 of them 3 yard passes, or were they searching incisions that made a difference? Funny how you and I both noticed the incisive pass he made to Eddie, which was from the middle third of the pitch. Can you remember any of the 18 in the final third? Me neither.

The bloke did ok, but to be hyping it up like it was a stellar performance shows how low our bar has fallen. Not being Xhaka doesn't make him Chippy Brady.

As for Tony Bloom, you've really worried me now. With such forensic statistical incite, one would have imagined he'd have beaten a fast path to sign Rice and Havertz. Does he know something we don't??

Exactly how I view stats. And in football you cannot use quantitative stats without a qualitative basis.

Wenger used the same bullshit stats to show that the useless donkey Denilson had the highest pass completion rate in the PL at 98% all the while ignoring the fact that 90% of those "completed passes" were either 5 yard nothing balls to Alex Mong or 5 yarders back to the CH or they were sloppy passes that the receiving player had to struggle to get on the end of.... but those shit passes were also classified as "complete".

I'd rather a player play one decent completed pass that ends up with an assist for a goal than he play 30 "completed passes" that mean nothing.

Quality over quantity is what determines "elite".

As a project manager I work with stats every day and you can make quantitive stats say almost anything you want them too. But once you qualify them it's nearly always a different story.

I like Oirish Deckers and I think he will be a success with us but he is nowhere near "elite" yet. But some day he may well be.

We need a nail on the head emoji on this forum.

[OneBardGooner]

I've absolutely no idea what Fbref is, but I wouldn't get too carried away about stats such as 91% pass accuracy. Unless you see those passes, it really tells you very little, because if they're mainly simple 5-10 yard sideways and backwards passes, then you'd expect those numbers. I remember Wenger saying very similar things about Denilson and his pass count / accuracy, but he was hardly elite. I did notice the ball he played through to Eddie, very good too, but I'm hoping for quite a bit more than one non standard pass in a game.

As for formations, elite players shine regardless and Paddy would have been just as impressive amongst this group. I'm not expecting Rice to be Paddy, because that ain't ever gonna happen and would be a very unfair expectation, but it takes a lot more than that performance last night to equal elite in my book.

I think you can forget about him playing in a more advanced role for quite some time yet. Barring injury, Legohead isn't moving Partey back into defensive mid and Rice further forward, because that means benching blue eyed boy Havertz and that won't be happening. If Havertz gets injured you might get your wish. Until such time, Granit Havertz is da man.

You clearly can't have been watching the game because you missed according to sky sports eight instances where Rice played the ball forwards under pressure, and 18 instances where he played the ball in the final third and found his man.

https://www.skysports.com/football/news ... palace-win

And you ignore what football stat sites like FBref show, well you clearly don't understand data analytics then. It's what Tony Bloom has used and executed to get Brighton from the fourth tier of English football to the top of the PL. Rinsing the likes of Chelski along the way to the tune of £200m+ buying prospects for £5m and selling them for £115m. Bloom runs a company called Starlizard, based right under the nose of the Emirates stadium in Camden, a highly secretive organisation that uses data analytics to scout the best players in the world. And also place bets for high net worth individuals in the Asian Handicap markets in Hong Kong.

I suppose I can't shake the old saying "Lies, damned lies and statistics". They have their place for sure, but as a sole judge of a player, not so much. I remember Wenger being very much a stat man and buying a load of crap players because of it. Stats are all well and good, but you need to watch the guy play to understand those figures. As for playing 18 passes in the final third and finding his man, so what? That means nothing in isolation. Were 10 of them 3 yard passes, or were they searching incisions that made a difference? Funny how you and I both noticed the incisive pass he made to Eddie, which was from the middle third of the pitch. Can you remember any of the 18 in the final third? Me neither.

The bloke did ok, but to be hyping it up like it was a stellar performance shows how low our bar has fallen. Not being Xhaka doesn't make him Chippy Brady.

As for Tony Bloom, you've really worried me now. With such forensic statistical incite, one would have imagined he'd have beaten a fast path to sign Rice and Havertz. Does he know something we don't??

Exactly how I view stats. And in football you cannot use quantitative stats without a qualitative basis.

Wenger used the same bullshit stats to show that the useless donkey Denilson had the highest pass completion rate in the PL at 98% all the while ignoring the fact that 90% of those "completed passes" were either 5 yard nothing balls to Alex Mong or 5 yarders back to the CH or they were sloppy passes that the receiving player had to struggle to get on the end of.... but those shit passes were also classified as "complete".

I'd rather a player play one decent completed pass that ends up with an assist for a goal than he play 30 "completed passes" that mean nothing.

Quality over quantity is what determines "elite".

As a project manager I work with stats every day and you can make quantitive stats say almost anything you want them too. But once you qualify them it's nearly always a different story.

I like Oirish Deckers and I think he will be a success with us but he is nowhere near "elite" yet. But some day he may well be.

We need a nail on the head emoji on this forum.

God I Do Love a Quote Tower!

[DB10GOONER]

I've absolutely no idea what Fbref is, but I wouldn't get too carried away about stats such as 91% pass accuracy. Unless you see those passes, it really tells you very little, because if they're mainly simple 5-10 yard sideways and backwards passes, then you'd expect those numbers. I remember Wenger saying very similar things about Denilson and his pass count / accuracy, but he was hardly elite. I did notice the ball he played through to Eddie, very good too, but I'm hoping for quite a bit more than one non standard pass in a game.

As for formations, elite players shine regardless and Paddy would have been just as impressive amongst this group. I'm not expecting Rice to be Paddy, because that ain't ever gonna happen and would be a very unfair expectation, but it takes a lot more than that performance last night to equal elite in my book.

I think you can forget about him playing in a more advanced role for quite some time yet. Barring injury, Legohead isn't moving Partey back into defensive mid and Rice further forward, because that means benching blue eyed boy Havertz and that won't be happening. If Havertz gets injured you might get your wish. Until such time, Granit Havertz is da man.

You clearly can't have been watching the game because you missed according to sky sports eight instances where Rice played the ball forwards under pressure, and 18 instances where he played the ball in the final third and found his man.

https://www.skysports.com/football/news ... palace-win

And you ignore what football stat sites like FBref show, well you clearly don't understand data analytics then. It's what Tony Bloom has used and executed to get Brighton from the fourth tier of English football to the top of the PL. Rinsing the likes of Chelski along the way to the tune of £200m+ buying prospects for £5m and selling them for £115m. Bloom runs a company called Starlizard, based right under the nose of the Emirates stadium in Camden, a highly secretive organisation that uses data analytics to scout the best players in the world. And also place bets for high net worth individuals in the Asian Handicap markets in Hong Kong.

I suppose I can't shake the old saying "Lies, damned lies and statistics". They have their place for sure, but as a sole judge of a player, not so much. I remember Wenger being very much a stat man and buying a load of crap players because of it. Stats are all well and good, but you need to watch the guy play to understand those figures. As for playing 18 passes in the final third and finding his man, so what? That means nothing in isolation. Were 10 of them 3 yard passes, or were they searching incisions that made a difference? Funny how you and I both noticed the incisive pass he made to Eddie, which was from the middle third of the pitch. Can you remember any of the 18 in the final third? Me neither.

The bloke did ok, but to be hyping it up like it was a stellar performance shows how low our bar has fallen. Not being Xhaka doesn't make him Chippy Brady.

As for Tony Bloom, you've really worried me now. With such forensic statistical incite, one would have imagined he'd have beaten a fast path to sign Rice and Havertz. Does he know something we don't??

Exactly how I view stats. And in football you cannot use quantitative stats without a qualitative basis.

Wenger used the same bullshit stats to show that the useless donkey Denilson had the highest pass completion rate in the PL at 98% all the while ignoring the fact that 90% of those "completed passes" were either 5 yard nothing balls to Alex Mong or 5 yarders back to the CH or they were sloppy passes that the receiving player had to struggle to get on the end of.... but those shit passes were also classified as "complete".

I'd rather a player play one decent completed pass that ends up with an assist for a goal than he play 30 "completed passes" that mean nothing.

Quality over quantity is what determines "elite".

As a project manager I work with stats every day and you can make quantitive stats say almost anything you want them too. But once you qualify them it's nearly always a different story.

I like Oirish Deckers and I think he will be a success with us but he is nowhere near "elite" yet. But some day he may well be.

We need a nail on the head emoji on this forum.

is the closest we have, but it's more of a driving nail through head walking dead style emoji!

[cameron326]

The best teams nowadays just make their players become efficiently programmed cogs in a finely tuned machine. Rice won’t rise to Vieria like levels of impact but then nobody else probably ever will either as that’s not how the big games are won anymore.