TornAndFrayed
Banned
Actually the reason I found the UEFA coefficient "accurate" is that they roughly reflected the picture i already had in mind before looking at them; qualitative judgment proofread with quantitative measures as you said. I was not very clear about it but i def agree that stats only go so far;
still actual UEFA rankings reflect major trends discussed here, like the PL getting weaker though still the best or close to the best, serie A distanced by Bundesliga, PL and Liga, portuguese and french leagues clearly the best underdogs after those four
--------------------
To get back on Ibra, and the Ligue 1, well for once Papin in the early nineties was the last to reach 30+ goals, since then the two best performances were 26 by Nonda and Cissé, both main guys at their respective clubs, both irreparably damaged by horrible injuries.
Benzema scored "only" 20 goals in the Ligue (top scorer) in his best season, then 17 before leaving for real, and having watched him then and at real for 2+ years I reckon he was much better there than during his first 18 months at real.
Point is the Ligue 1, although weaker than the big 4, is a very defensive league; there are very few goals scored, and not just because there are few good attacking talents, though thats true as well. On the side, a solid 2/3 of the teams can make you catatonic with boredom.
So what Ibra is doing is very impressive and above expectations for everyone (i think) who are familiar with L1 and ibra, he's definitely playing some of his best football; he has been excellent in building plays as well, and when he didn't he scored. also 4-5 of his goals came out of nowhere. That is the only common point with Messi, not numbers, not playing style, just the fact that they both single handedly carry the attack to unprecedented extent. Messi has done it a lot longer and against better competition, and that is why he's the best ever, but Ibra deserves the credit
