Sergio Busquets

[xaviniesta]

Not sure where you are getting those statistics, but I would suggest they don't tell the whole story. The reason is Barça's possession. Because opposing teams have less time on offense, Barça spends less time on defense, so defensive numbers are lower by default. There are less tackles/interceptions/clearances because there are fewer balls to tackle/intercept/clear.

Let's say Barca has 65% possession to Madrid's 55% (Barça on defense 35%, Madrid on defense 45%). Then the adjusted stats (if Busquets was on D as much as Alonso) would be:

45/35 = 1.29
Busquets (X*1.29)----Alonso
60 tackles--------------61 tackles
37 interceptions-------35 interceptions
24 clearances----------25 clearances

the reason why barca have so much possession is NOT only ebcause they keep the ball so well, BUT because they can get this back usually quicker than 4-5 seconds. amazing defensive work and very well organized if you ask me..


ok now i'm going to search if barca actually reccover less balls during the game than their opponents. whoscored.com is good source right? i just want to break another myth...

 

[GiantKiller]

the reason why barca have so much possession is NOT only ebcause they keep the ball so well, BUT because they can get this back usually quicker than 4-5 seconds. amazing defensive work and very well organized if you ask me..


ok now i'm going to search if barca actually reccover less balls during the game than their opponents. whoscored.com is good source right? i just want to break another myth...

Well, I would think so, if you're looking for total interceptions/game of every player, total interception by a team per game or something like that. :O

 

[xaviniesta]

ok, lets take the last game vs espanyol. barca had 78% possession, espanyol 22. but whoscore.com says that barca made 26 tackles while espanyol 21. so you still think they don't have to defend or what?

edit. ok, the stats could actually be very misleading especially when it comes to defence. i dont quite know the criteria when its a tackle, when it's a interception when just a loss ball etc. but looking this vid i made about busquets collecting his defensive work you can see theres a lot more than 4 tackles and 5 interceptions that whoscored.com claims. but then i could be wrong as well. but you can see from the vid that they still are a very well organized defensivly and get the ball back really quickly. what they do is that they put immense pressure to the man with ball, cut the passing line and basicly make them giving up the ball. quite effective, not as flashy maybe as sliding tackle in your ass to prevent a goal or corner but still very very good and effective

http://www.whoscored.com/Matches/633955/LiveStatistics/Spain-La-Liga-2012-2013-Barcelona-Espanyol

 

[GiantKiller]

edit. ok, the stats could actually be very misleading especially when it comes to defence. i dont quite know the criteria when its a tackle, when it's a interception when just a loss ball etc. but looking this vid i made about busquets collecting his defensive work you can see theres a lot more than 4 tackles and 5 interceptions that whoscored.com claims. but then i could be wrong as well. but you can see from the vid that they still are a very well organized defensivly and get the ball back really quickly. what they do is that they put immense pressure to the man with ball, cut the passing line and basicly make them giving up the ball. quite effective, not as flashy maybe as sliding tackle in your ass to prevent a goal or corner but still very very good and effective

Yes, looking at the successful tackles would result in a more accurate conclusion but I think it's a matter of having a different criteria, as you say. Also, 4 tackles and 5 interceptions by Busquets is also claimed by this site which could be further proof.

Besides, the reason those adjusted stats between Busquets and Alonso were presented may be a way to compare the defensive work of both the mentioned players because, with the high possession stat that Barca has, it would appear that the defensive numbers mean that Busquets doesn't do much without the ball. Hence, the need to adjust stats by taking into account the time spent by a team without the ball. However, I don't think there's any doubts regarding the aggressive defending by Barca being a reason of their high possession.

That's how I see this discussion. May very well be wrong.

 

[xaviniesta]

Yes, looking at the successful tackles would result in a more accurate conclusion but I think it's a matter of having a different criteria, as you say. Also, 4 tackles and 5 interceptions by Busquets is also claimed by this site which could be further proof.

i just read from this site that barca had 67% possession while whoscored claims 78%. well thats a clear proof that stats could be very misleading and very different in different sites.

Besides, the reason those adjusted stats between Busquets and Alonso were presented may be a way to compare the defensive work of both the mentioned players because, with the high possession stat that Barca has, it would appear that the defensive numbers mean that Busquets doesn't do much without the ball. Hence, the need to adjust stats by taking into account the time spent by a team without the ball. However, I don't think there's any doubts regarding the aggressive defending by Barca being a reason of their high possession.

i wouldn't personally like it. i mean it doesn't make any sense. one of the thing about possession which many people still don't know is that this is also a way of defendning.

 

[Garrus]

I use the official website to get these stats
http://www.fcbarcelona.com/football...3/league/round-18/fc-barcelona_espanyol/stats
It say 75%

 

[GiantKiller]

i wouldn't personally like it. i mean it doesn't make any sense. one of the thing about possession which many people still don't know is that this is also a way of defendning.

That's only for the purpose of a comparison, I think. But yeah, way of defending counts too. :O

 

[xaviniesta]

I use the official website to get these stats
http://www.fcbarcelona.com/football...3/league/round-18/fc-barcelona_espanyol/stats
It say 75%

so now we have 3 different sites caliming 3 different numbers

that only proves that stat doesn't equal fact. thats why football isn't mathematics. and thats why BerkeleyBernie post didn't make any sense to me as well..

 

[DavidVillano1]

@ BerkeleyBernie

No idea why you quoted me and made that post, it's practically backing up my post and replying what I believe. Got those statistics from whoscored.com.

Not sure how accurate they are and as already mentioned by others statistics are not a clear indication compared to watching games. However they show that Sergio does a lot of defensive work in a more possession based team and the argument he would struggle to do so in another team, doesn't really make sense to me.

 

[BerkeleyBernie]

so now we have 3 different sites caliming 3 different numbers

that only proves that stat doesn't equal fact. thats why football isn't mathematics. and thats why BerkeleyBernie post didn't make any sense to me as well..

My point was that stats don't tell the whole story, therefore one can't claim that Busquets is a less effective defender than Alonso et al based on stats (IOW, that football isn't mathematics).

 

[BerkeleyBernie]

@ BerkeleyBernie

No idea why you quoted me and made that post, it's practically backing up my post and replying what I believe. Got those statistics from whoscored.com.

Not sure how accurate they are and as already mentioned by others statistics are not a clear indication compared to watching games. However they show that Sergio does a lot of defensive work in a more possession based team and the argument he would struggle to do so in another team, doesn't really make sense to me.

Damn, DV, you are as defensive as Busquets! Yes, I *was* backing up your post. Not every quoted post is confrontational.

 

[DavidVillano1]

Damn, DV, you are as defensive as Busquets! Yes, I *was* backing up your post. Not every quoted post is confrontational.

Never said they were mate. You've yet to see me be defensive

Just thought it was strange that you quoted me whilst removing my points about Busquets that you practically advanced on. It's all good!

 

[ammarfcb]

DEM zidanes

 

[Zebulun]

that roulette from busi

 

[ivan22]

dat playacting