Plus/minus, Tottenham Hotspur, September 12th 2013

Player



G



Min



GS



GA



+/-



Scored/90



Conc/90





Lloris



3



270



2



1



1



0.667



0.333





Walker



3



270



2



1



1



0.667



0.333





Rose



3



266



2



1



1



0.677



0.338





Vertonghen



3

Read More

Plus/minus, Southampton FC, September 12th 2013

Player



G



Min



GS



GA



+/-



Scored/90



Conc/90





Boruc



3



270



2



2



0



0.667



0.667





Lovren



3



270



2



2



0



0.667



0.667





Fonte



3



270



2



2



0



0.667



0.667





Chambers



3

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Plus/minus, Manchester United, 12th September 2013

Player



G



Mi



GS



GA



+/-



Scored/90



Conc/90





De Gea



3



270



4



2



2



1.333



0.667





Evra



3



270



4



2



2



1.333



0.667





Jones



3



217



4



2



2



1.659



0.829





Ferdinand



3

Read More

Plus/minus, Cardiff City, 12th September 2013

Player



G



Min



GS



GA



+/-



Scored/90



Conc/90





Marshall



3



270



3



4



-1



1.000



1.333





Connolly



3



270



3



4



-1



1.000



1.333





Caulker



3



270



3



4



-1



1.000



1.333





Turner

Read More

Plus/minus, Aston Villa, 12th September 2013

Player



G



Min



GS



GA



+/-



Scored/90



Conc/90





Guzan



3



270



3



4



-1



1.000



1.333





Baker



1



13



0



1



-1



0.000



6.923





Vlaar



3



270



3



4



-1



1.000



1.333





Luna

Read More

An introduction to Plus/minus calculations, season 2013-14

Plus/minus is a regular thing in hockey and its utility can be traced back many years.



However, it's used to display how effective a team is while a certain player is on the ice; the fluid substitution system employed by that sport demands a similarly versatile but telling measure of player and lineup efficacy.  The system has its drawbacks - especially in sports such as basketball - but it

Read More

Olympics no place for International Football

The United States attained a decisive
qualifying victory and the Dutch became the
first Europeans to begin planning in earnest for next year’s samba
fiesta.  Meanwhile in Asia, Jordan enters
a World Cup Playoff against
the fifth-placed South American team as they hope to make their first
entrance on the world’s gaudiest platform. 
World Cup qualifying week has come and gone.



Mexico’s El Tri,

Read More

Graphic: Transfer window MADNESS!!

The summer transfer window really is quite long.  Like, over 90 days long.  



But clubs still tend to make purchases late.  For some, like Arsenal, this was an absolute gift because Mesut Özil is better than others the club may have bought earlier.  However for other slackers - stand up, Ed Woodward and David Moyes - the laissez-faire posture displayed over the warmer months left them £4

Read More

United's laughable window ends with Fellaini serendipity

So one or both of Ed Woodward and
David Moyes screwed
up.  This much is certain.  



Entreaties to Cesc Fabregas, Luka
Modric, Ander Herrera, Mesut Özil and Juan Mata went thoroughly and brutally unfulfilled.
 The club is – rightfully – embarrassed by
three months of low-ball bids and beat-poet serenades below player balconies that hit all the wrong notes. 



And now, as it emerges that the

Read More

2013 Ashes draft: The Results

Two weeks after the conclusion of
the Ashes, it’s time to evaluate the Ashes draft that took place before the
series began.  In that draft, Dave
Siddall and I selected sides with the object of evaluating who the series’ best
players might be. 



The results and their
performances over the course of the five-match Test series are listed below.



Siddall’s Squad




Player


Draft no.

Read More

Short pitch: Sessegnon sale highlights new Sunderland

A fee has been agreed for the
transfer of Sunderland forward Stephane Sessegnon to Qatari club Al Jaish.  The deal completes a hasty exit from the
Stadium of Light for the Benin international, who has been probably the most
influential Mackem of the past two seasons – the player was arrested
for drink-driving only hours before the transaction was announced.





Questions must be raised about

Read More

Gareth Bale transfer to Real Madrid exposes disparity

As the narrative of Gareth
Bale’s transfer to Real Madrid careens towards its end pages, we look back
on its lifespan with the typical, ho-hum shrug of fulfilled prediction that
accompanies such uncomplicated, Cartlandian prose. 



This tricky situation evolved in
exactly the same manner as every other protracted move: larger club unsettles
smaller club’s player, player decides he likes the

Read More

EPL: Re-installing Arsenal

After a disappointing 3-1 defeat
to Aston Villa on the season’s opening day, speculative glare has fallen upon
Arsenal and their unsuccessful efforts to improve their squad.  Despite controlling the ball for long periods
against the Clarets, the Gunners seemed strangely faceless – perhaps a
side effect of Gervinho’s departure two weeks ago.



Over the past number of years,
Arsenal have

Read More

EPL finally overcomes offseason inertia

The most pressing questions facing the English Premier League as the offseason
began were:



Question: Will Luis Suarez stay
at Liverpool?

Answer, May 30th:
Likely, but we don’t know

Answer, August 14th:
Likely, but we don’t know



Q. How will David Moyes fare as
Manchester United manager?

Answer, May 30th:
Your
guess is as good as mine

Answer, August 14th:
Your guess is as good as mine

Read More

Guardiola may not be Bayern Munich's Man of Steel

The new Superman movie, Man of Steel, does some things
well.  It creates a plausible Superman
back story, introduces a new dynamic into the Clark Kent/Lois Lane relationship
and makes Kevin Costner somewhat likeable again after two decades of “meh”.  Despite making nearly $300,000,000 (or nearly
three
Gareth Bales) in its two-month run so far, the film pales in comparison
with Superman and

Read More

Graphic: Name quality vs. talent level, Seattle Mariners

click to embiggen

Read More

Book review: The Vincibles, by Gideon Haigh

On a lazy summer
afternoon with the cricket coverage in the background I completely galloped
through this incredibly entertaining work by Haigh. Within pages the fortunes
of the Australian test team paled into insignificance as I desperately read
onto the next chapter in the life of the ‘Yarras’ 2001-02 season.



As the title
suggests Haigh at no stage sought out to write a serious cricket book

Read More

Crazy Grandpa still runs world football

Recent noises from Geneva have suggested that world
football’s out-of-touch grandpappy, Sepp Blatter, has focused his attention on staging a Winter World Cup in
2022.



In some weird logic puzzle, this makes sense: the
tournament will be held in Qatar, which during the summer boasts
an average temperature of 38°.  But given most major leagues operate
during the northern winter, this change

Read More

Short Pitch: Squeezing responsibility from stones

Brad Haddin's second wind seems less gusty than his first.  During his near-game winning innings on Saturday and Sunday, the Australian vice captain batted with a responsibility often lacking during his first tenure in the Australian side and during his initial stint as the national team's vice-captain.


That was by some distance the best innings I've seen from Brad Haddin. He will be upset, but

Read More

How far we've come (part one of many)

Before the blogosphere, there were spreadsheets.

For me, at least.

The picture below comes from an exploratory dig into the darkened reaches of my computer's hard disk - a saved spreadsheet that documents my leanings at the time towards the All-Time teams for each major Test-playing nation.  And my, how long ago it was!

Now, many of these players would barely trouble the subs' bench while

Read More

2013 Ashes draft, part 5: Reflections

In concluding our Ashes draft with Dave Siddall of World Cricket Watch, we both take a moment to reflect on our teams.



Drafting the 2013 Ashes

Part 1: The Elite

Part 2: The Foot Soldiers

Part 3: Nature's Lower Middle Order

Part 4: The Dregs










Dave's XI
Pick no.

Matt's XI
Pick no.









Watson
5

Cook
1


Cowan
11

Root
6

Read More

2013 Ashes draft, part 4: The dregs

In part four of our Ashes draft, Dave Siddall of World Cricket Watch and I continue to choose players to form a side to play for what's really important: bragging rights.



Introduction

Part 1: The Elite

Part 2: The Foot Soldiers

Part 3: Nature's Lower Middle Order



Selection 11

Matt - Now it’s onto the two reserves, as Haddin is reserved for the ceremonial last pick.  Who to go for?  

Read More

2013 Ashes draft, part 3: Nature's Lower Middle Order

Selection 8

Matt - Again, I’d like to strengthen the bowling and with that - and to my disappointment, considering the nagging suspicion I harbour that he benefits more from others’ leadup work than his own - Steven Finn joins my XI.  It was a toss-up between him and Bresnan, and rumours seem to suggest that Finn is more likely to play than the Yorkshireman.  I’m not in love with the selection,

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2013 Ashes draft, part 2: The foot soldiers

In part two of our inaugural Ashes draft, Dave Siddall of World Cricket Watch and I select those players that we'll win and lose with - the foot soldiers. Click here for the rules, and here for part one (the elite).



Selection 5

Matt - With Clarke gone, the rest of the batting talent available (bar one) doesn’t appeal.  So I’ll take the other closest thing to a certainty in both bowling

Read More

Moyes' new era at Manchester United starts in the back room

And so ends David Moyes' first week at Manchester United. The seven days has seen him prove his ruthlessness far more quickly than anyone had calculated.  Multiple bids have been made for former charge Leighton Baines to the disquiet of his erstwhile employers, and gone are stalwart and respected coaches Eric Steele, Rene Meulensteen and Mike Phelan.

The replacements for this back-room trio are

Read More

2013 Ashes draft, part 1: The elite

In yesterday's post, Dave Siddall (of World Cricket Watch) and introduced our first ever Ashes draft. Today, we break down picks 1 - 4.



Selection 1

Matt - there’s only one person I want with the no. 1 pick in the draft: England captain Alastair Cook.  The young skipper has an excellent record against the Old Enemy, averaging 50.36 in fifteen Tests and 69.00 as captain.  Subtract his forlorn

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Drafting the 2013 Ashes

When American sports franchises begin to lose their on-field mojo, in order to remain relevant in a busy cultural and social environment, the typical executive response is to expand their interest-base.



Bring the family!  There’s gourmet food for Mum, a run-the-bases opportunity for Junior, and competitions the entire family can enjoy - like guessing which coloured craft will cross the finish

Read More

Book review: Let me tell you a story, by Red Auerbach and John Feinstein

John Feinstein has made a career of being a "thinking man's" sportswriter.  He shot to prominence with the oustanding 1986 Season on the Brink, which detailed a season spent with Bob Knight and the Indiana Hoosiers.  Some of his other works have been critically acclaimed as well, but have on occasion - eg. The Punch - tended to be too po-faced and serious for their own good.

Let me tell you a

Read More

Short Pitch: On Mickey Arthur, Darren Lehmann and the Australian way of death

At least it was quick.

Mickey Arthur's eighteen month spell as Australian coach was terminated on Sunday, seventeen days before the first of ten consecutive Ashes Tests.  The South African has been almost instantly replaced by cult favourite Darren "Boof" Lehmann.  Arthur's reign was a fraught one, lowlighted by "homeworkgate" and four Australian players being dropped for failing to submit their

Read More

European Goalkeeper Stats 2010-11

The following is a list of (barely) advanced Goalkeeper stats for the four major European leagues for season 2010-11.






2011
Keeper
Games
Conceded
Saves
GAA
Save %
SPG


Arsenal
Szczesny
15
19
43
1.267
0.694
2.87


Arsenal
Fabianski
14
14
36
1.000
0.720
2.57


Arsenal
Almunia
8
9
14
1.125

Read More

European Goalkeeper stats 2011-12

This post details some (barely) advanced statistics for goalkeepers from the 2011-12 European football season.






2012
Keeper
Games
Conceded
Saves
GAA
Save %
SPG


Arsenal
Szczesny
38
49
84
1.289
0.632
2.21


Aston Villa
Given
32
45
98
1.406
0.685
3.06


Aston Villa
Guzan
6
8
20
1.333
0.714

Read More

European Goalkeeper Stats 2012-13

The following post is essentially a list of numbers, from which you can make what you will. It details each goalkeeper's individual performance over the course of the season - and, by extension, the performance of each club's defence over the season past.



Click past the byline to see the (rather lengthy) statistics.







Team
Player
Games
Conceded
Saves
GAA
Save %

Read More

Socceroos bound for Rio despite managerial misgivings

After cutting it far too fine for comfort, the Socceroos can finally begin to prepare for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. An eighty-third minute headed goal from Joshua Kennedy sealed a 1-0 victory against old rivals Iraq and progression from the final round of Asian Qualifying. While the display against essentially a second-string side was hardly awe-inspiring, it was enough and the antipodeans

Read More

When the going gets tough, Luis Suarez gets out

When the going gets tough, the tough get going.



Those sounds you hear emanating
from Liverpool aren’t Billy
Ocean’s 1985 hit*, but of Luis Suarez’s discontent.  The going’s gotten tough – and now he wants
out.



The Liverpool forward – who came
within a suspension of claiming the 2012-13 Premier League Golden Boot – has this
week repeated
his statements that he wants to leave England due to

Read More

Summer's transfer "saga" candidates

Each year, one player’s future
whereabouts overshadows the impending destinations of all others.  Over the years, that player has been Dimitar
Berbatov, Carlos Tevez, Cesc Fabregas and Robin
van Persie; each of whom left the club at which they made their name for pastures
and challenges new.  It’s time to run our
eye over the candidates for this year’s edition of “Summer’s Biggest Transfer”.

Read More

Graphic: EPL goalscoring efficiency 2012-13

Click to make bigger

Read More

Jose Mourinho obeys laws of physics, leaves Real Madrid

The second law of
thermodynamics states that the entropy of an isolated
system never decreases, because they spontaneously evolve towards thermodynamic
equilibrium — that is, maximum entropy.



Entropy – defined as the tendency
of a system to break into terminal disorder – is such a potent force that it will
(probably) be the cause of the ultimate end of the universe, as heat is unable
to

Read More

Farewell, David Beckham, and thanks

David Beckham has
retired from professional football at the age of 38.  The former England captain and fashion icon leaves
the game a ten-time league champion in twenty seasons – winning six titles with
Manchester United, two with Los Angeles Galaxy and one each with Real Madrid
and Paris Saint-Germain.


He will be remembered for a great
many things – scoring from
midfield to announce his

Read More

Rooney dumps himself into dilemma

We all remember the last time
Wayne Rooney wanted out.  Or
at least, we should.  In October of
2010, his agent Paul Stretford claimed the nascent twenty five year-old was
frustrated with a lack of progress at Old Trafford and that he wanted to
compete for trophies he felt were beyond United’s reach. 



After two days of death-threats
and punditry reliant upon the word “entitlement”, Sir Alex

Read More

Farewell Sir Alex Ferguson

It was unexpected, quick and most
suitable.



Sir Alex Ferguson didn’t need a
cavalcade of fanfare as he announced
his retirement today after twenty-seven years as manager of Manchester
United, but a simple celebration befitting an uncomplicated man.  Rather than engendering endless speculation by
pre-empting his retirement or embarking upon a final series of signature mind
games, Sir Alex has

Read More

MLS and Manchester City a good match

With MLS seeking again to swell
its ranks, the discussion has seemingly moved from where the next franchise
will be located – New York City – and onto whom is best positioned to own and
run such an enterprise. 



It has emerged that Manchester
City’s flush-with owners are
interested in soldering together this prometheus, appropriately based in the
borough of Flushing.  The new team would
serve

Read More

An overblown Eden Hazard love-in

The start of Eden Hazard’s career with Chelsea might best be
described as bimodal.




After a £32-million summer transfer from the 2011 French
Champions Lille, Hazard began the season lauded as perhaps the best Belgian in
a league full of ‘em.  But his form slumped
around the time his club entered the mid-season depression that cost Champions
League winning manager Roberto Di Matteo his

Read More

Agüero’s curious "tackle" lays bare need for rule change

Following Sergio Agüero’s … enthusiastic … challenge upon
David Luiz’s hindquarters during this weekend’s FA Cup Semi-Final, the issue of
crude tackles has once again been thrust into football’s spotlight. 



Agüero, who
scored a decisive goal in City’s 2-0 triumph, appeared to drop-kick the
Chelsea centre-back in the posterior at about the 82-minute mark and escaped
without serious censure

Read More

10-year form chart, English Championship promotion contenders

Perhaps this year they can do it.



Maybe, just maybe, this is the year that Cardiff City can break their five-year playoff hoodoo and finally earn promotion to the Premier League.  Few would argue that they're deserving - the Bluebirds Dragons have finished thereabouts in English football's second tier for half a decade as well appearing at Wembley in FA and League Cup Finals - yet seem always

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QPR's Townsend, the £40 million man

When they loaned Andros Townsend to QPR in late January,
Tottenham Hotspur sat fourth in the Premiership and could be well satisfied
with their past two months.  After taking
nineteen points from a possible thirty, they looked forward to a February
facing strictly mid-table clubs.



With Gareth
Bale and Aaron Lennon offering a pincer attack in outstanding form – and Clint
Dempsey, Lewis Holtby

Read More

Benitez, Chelsea and the successful season

Now he's officially departing Cobham in a few weeks, we can begin to evaluate more fully Rafael Benitez's star-cross'd reign at Chelsea.



At present, the Blues are locked in a tight battle for a Champions League position, while also active on two further fronts: the Europa League and, after Monday's victory against Old Rivals United, the FA Cup.



More correctly, we ask what would constitute

Read More

Cricket Australia contract list: more questions than answers

Yesterday, Moises Henriques – he
of three recent Tests against India – was ignored
by Cricket Australia in their list of twenty centrally-contracted
players.  He was ostensibly passed over
for young Tasmania all-rounder James Faulkner, who earned his first Australia
contract at age 22.



Although this isn't to detract from Faulkner's joy (he probably deserves the position), Henriques can

Read More

Di Canio turns up the contrast at Sunderland

In appointing Paolo Di Canio as Sunderland manager, owner
Ellis Short not only fell victim to the “Contrast Theory” but has actively
embraced it. 



The theory is simple, and has its origins in time
immemorial.  When replacing an
underperforming manager, simply make your next selection his polar opposite: freewheelers
replace tacticians.  Teachers replace
“player’s coaches”; experience

Read More

Graphic: Manchester United's best defence

Click to expand

The chart above details how well each of Manchester United's key defenders perform as part of a three-man unit.  These units - goalkeeper plus two centre-backs - were tracked for minutes played together, goals conceded and goals scored over the season so far.

Should a player be farther right on the X-axis, United scores goals more regularly (per 90 minutes) while he is on the

Read More

Short Pitch: Lessons from World Series Cricket

The following excerpt is taken from page 81 of Gideon Haigh's wonderful book The Cricket War, and describes the Australian tour to England in 1977.

Generational problems in the team had been some time coming... nine players [in the back row of the team photograph] had a combined eighteen Tests between them.  Among the team's nominal seniors ... only the captain and vice-captain Chappell and

Read More

Soccer in the snow: should USMNT's victory count?

On Friday, the US Men's National Soccer team defeated Costa Rica in a crucial W0rld Cup Qualifying encounter.

The match was played at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, in Denver - the famed "Mile High" city - and amid torrents of snow.

The final result was 1-0 to the home team, who were spurred on by an excellent performance from in-form goalkeeper Brad Guzan, and an opportunist's goal from Spurs

Read More

Graphic: EPL best buys of 2012-13

Click to enlarge

The above chart hints at just how much English Premier League clubs are prepared to pay for good attackers.  Any forward (ie. wingers and strikers) who arrived at an English club during the Summer transfer window of 2012 has been included and the cost of his acquisition plotted against the number of goals for which he has been directly responsible.



When transfer fees were

Read More

Villa's Benteke the Premier League's key man

Christian Benteke might be the most important player in the
English Premiership. 



The forward's strengths (especially physically) by
far outweigh any weaknesses: the deadline-day
signing from Genk is fast, accurate, remarkably powerful and has an
incredible happy knack of finding space in the box. 



Any questions as to Aston
Villa manager Paul Lambert starting “his man” over the

Read More

The Arsenal debate: Vermaelen, Koscielny or Mertesacker?

That Arsenal
won in Munich on Wednesday is no real surprise: it has been a recent disturbing
tendency of the Gooners to perform valiantly in causes already cast unto the
wind. 



However, the Highbury/Emirati gallantry has
provided pundits on the Guardian’s Football Weekly podcast with more ammunition
for the argument that the North Londoners’ best central defensive partnership
doesn’t

Read More

Moyes all set to continue at Everton

With Everton’s
demise at the hands of Wigan in their FA Cup Quarter Final, the future of
David Moyes has been cast into doubt. 
During his long and successful tenure at Goodison Park, the Scot has
been lauded as an exemplary manager who consistently compelled teams to
overachieve in spite of a modest budget.



However, this success has been juxtaposed against a stark lack
of results when it

Read More

Redknapp's fearless Queens Park Rangers

Despite a
weekend win at Southampton, QPR have taken up residence Struggle street and
there doesn’t seem to be an exit for miles. 




Though they’ve entered perhaps the easiest portion
of their schedule all season, the Rs remain tied firmly to the bottom of
the English Premier League table.   Escape is – at best – improbable.  Common wisdom suggests that a club needs 40
points to dodge

Read More

Benítez and Chelsea: the inevitable breakup

The Rafael Benítez experiment at Chelsea has quickly and predictably moved into an endgame as inevitable as it will be tedious.  The Spaniard will depart Stamford Bridge at the end of the season –perhaps much, much sooner – after presiding over half a season of rebellious players, fractious fan groups and disappointing English Premier League season.



In a curious press conference after win at

Read More

Alternative XI: New South Wales escapees

30%
of all Australian First-Class contracted players have their origins in New
South Wales.  However, the frequency with which players
have departed Sydney for Sheffield Shield opportunities is quite alarming.



This isn’t a new phenomenon: for decades New South Wales
have produced players who have achieved more for adopted states – either money
or opportunity has lured players the likes of Sir

Read More

And they say (League Cup) romance is dead...

Not only do Cups competitions make for interesting subplots
to seasons that run as long as eight months, but they also pit different league
levels against each other.  This gives
Millwall fans a pleasant (and utterly
nonviolent) away day at Manchester City, or the Glovers of Yeovil
Town a lucrative home fixture against Chelsea. 



Smaller clubs are offered a puncher’s
chance against larger,

Read More

Graphic: Four-year EPL efficiency

This efficiency study tracks how effective each English Premier League team has been since 2009-10.  It does so by mapping a team's offensive efficiency (measured in shots per goal scored) against their defensive resilience (measured in shots faced per goal conceded).  Data is updated to 22nd February 2012 and so includes Liverpool's recent 5-0 win over Swansea City.

The axes cross at "league

Read More

Podcasting: Short Jabs

Just a heads-up to check out this week's edition of Subash Jayaraman's Short Jabs podcast, where he and I discuss the failure of Steve O'Keefe to make the Australia squad for the Border/Gavaskar trophy.  You can find the podcast address here, or just search "Cricket Couch Short Jabs" in iTunes to download the podcast (or even better, subscribe!).

A feature on the Steve O'Keefe selection will be

Read More

Robbie Rogers comes out, then "retires" on his own terms

On his website on Friday, former USMNT forward Robbie Rogers
both came out and “stepped away” from
football.  The 25 year-old, scorer of
the first goal in Jurgen Klinsmann’s reign as US coach, last played on New Year’s
Day for English League One side Stevenage.





He was immediately greeted with a swarm of support emanating
from all corners of the football world. 
Former teammates,
casual

Read More

The Gareth Bale/Cristiano Ronaldo talk stops here

Let’s stop all this
Gareth-Bale-is-on-a-level-with-Cristiano-Ronaldo talk.  



Just … no.  



Don’t do that.



Bale is a wonderful, wonderful footballer who improves with
each season.  When he was signed by Spurs
from Southampton in the Spring of 2007, he was a precocious schoolboy left-back
with a thunderous free kick.  Over the
years, he progressed from defence to the midfield and two years

Read More

Graphic: Selected Australian spin bowling statistics

The following chart maps selected statistics from Australian spinners.

It continues to amaze that Steve Smith is selected for Australia as a quote-unquote spin bowler, while Steve O'Keefe remains in the Test wilderness.  For more discussion, tune in to this week's Short Jabs podcast on the Cricket Couch.

Read More

The Champions League is back!

This blog’s
an unusual place to admit to an unhealthy fascination, but here it goes: I’m a
sucker for competitive cookery.  Iron Chef, Worst Cooks in America, Chopped
… all of ‘em.  I’m not even a bad cook
myself, and have taken a few pointers from my white-hatted idols.  But perhaps the largest lesson I’ve learned
from my obsession with culinary jousting is this: presentation matters. 



Don’

Read More

Graphic: Winter transfer activity by date

There's a reason that Transfer Deadline day in European football is such an event - it completely dwarfs the number of deals done throughout the rest of the window.  In fact, 284 players bowled up at new clubs across England's four-tier league system during the monthlong transfer window; nearly a quarter of those deals went down on January 31.



The following chart tracks transfer activity by

Read More

Beckham's PSG move about more than money

David Beckham has earned a lot of publicity both for his
free-agency and, more recently, for his nascent
move to French gazillionaire-club Paris Saint-Germain.  The fact is that even at age 37, he is easily
the single-most recognizable footballer in the world and still earns his coin
on the pitch with deadeye dead ball delivery and smart, if limited, movement.



Beckham’s
move also earned

Read More

Mario Balotelli joins AC Milan, continues to confuse

Many teams
have improved themselves this transfer window. 
There have been short-term additions like Sporting KC forward Kei
Kamara’s six-month audition with Norwich City, bargains,
as well as deals with a view to a long term future (see Zaha,
Wilfried and Shea,
Brek). 



There has
even been the odd case of addition by subtraction.



The most prominent
deal of this type involves Mario

Read More

Short pitch: Unexpected consequences of rotation

There are many sequelae to Cricket Australia's revolving door selection policy, but one that has gone unnoticed until now is the volume of run-outs seen in all formats of cricket.

It stands to reason: every player has their own style of running.  They might call early or late, be hesitant or direct or pigheaded.  Seeing as batting practice occurs mostly in the nets where partnership running is

Read More

Cricket Australia sits and rotates

Cricket Australia and their coaching staff have come in for
criticism regarding the policy formerly known as rotation, Strategic Player Management
(SPM).   With precocious – but premature
- talents like Steve Smith shunted into the canary yellow as Usman Khawaja is
given his leave, rotation has become another rod with which to beat the
national body.



David Mutton wrote recently that the

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Wesley Sneijder joins Galatasaray from Inter Milan

Holland star Wesley
Sneijder has permanently joined Turkish Super Lig giants Galatasaray.  The deal, reportedly for a fee of around €10
million, should be a snip for a player who at 28 years of age isn’t just still
in his prime, but eminently capable of being one of the top five footballers in
the world.



Sneijder’s time at Inter Milan had run its course.  His lavish wages – and perhaps his

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Rafael Benítez, Hired Goon

Chelsea manager Rafael
Benítez is in a tough spot.  In fact,
he’d probably be the first to admit it, though it would come with a caveat: often
trial is accompanied by opportunity.



Benítez arrived at
Chelsea in November, tasked with renewing a project with its genesis in former
boss Andre Villas-Boas: the refreshment and gentrification of a team with roots
reaching back to the Claudio Ranieri

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Shane Watson sells himself short

The news
that Shane Watson will be self-limiting his bowling should come as no great
surprise.  He has done so before, many
times, with the first occurrence dating back nearly a decade to the year before
the infamous haunted-mansion Ashes Tour of 2005.



Watson, despite
his bulging physique and American Dad!-style
chin, just isn’t made for bowling long spells. 
He sends the ball down well and

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Short Pitch: Blatter's subconscious bigotry

On
Saturday, Kevin-Prince Boateng did a remarkable thing.  We like remarkable things, especially in the
face of bigotry.  During the first half
of a friendly match against Pro Patria, the Ghanaian forward led his AC Milan teammates in a
walk-off after
being subjected to racist abuse from a section of the crowd.



The hope
is that this could be a major blow in the fight against racism in

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Is Luis Suárez a cheat?

In
English football, one of the most debated players is Liverpool and Uruguay forward
Luis Suárez.  Rumours – and even some visuals – of alleged misdeeds arrived
on British soil before he did in early 2011; since then, his list of perceived
sins is ... notable.



Luis Suárez
far more than a Black Hat bad guy or simple cheat.  He is the single best example of the
dichotomy that exists between

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Commentary conundra

featuring the very welcome return of Ben Roberts, cricket connoisseur.



The recent passing
of both Tony Greig and Christopher Martin-Jenkins, along with that of PeterRoebuck a little over 12 months ago has forced a reflection on the poor state
of cricket commentary in Australia. Where the sound of cricket musings used to
form an addictively pleasant and informative background to the summer, I

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New goalkeeper stats available

After literally an two and a half hours of data collection and limited analysis, we've manage to update Balanced Sports' European Goalkeeper Stats page.  It now includes all of 2011-12 and stats from the first half of 2012-13.

Thanks must go to Blogger, whose algorithms for some reason stopped screwing up the spreadsheet inserts.

Debate away!

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