We shouldn't care about stats, here's why

+Stephen Couling (CoulingKnows) 

4th January 2016

I know i was not due to do a post today but off work rough today and after sleeping in a hoody all day i woke up from my ill stricken slumber and thought i best think about my life. I then thought that may change my mood for the worse so had a browse on the internet and all i found was stats. Stats for everything. Heat maps for players, distance covered, a number of touches on the ball. It's all stats. I even find myself retweeting stat posts on Twitter. I think we have now got into such a routine where no one will accept defeat and will find any fact they can to try and back up their argument. 

I did do a post on this last season: http://stevecouling.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/everyone-loves-statistic.html

What caught me off guard the other day was realising that Oxlade-Chamberlain had scored 0 goals and made no assists in the Barclays premier league last year. Maybe its his performances in an England shirt that keep him a fan favourite, I'm not to sure. I have always rated him as a player and he does look impressive 9 times out of 10 but that is awful. Not 1 single goal. Stas soo bad, much worse than any midfielder in the Chelsea squad for 2015 but i guarantee you that most of you would prefer the Ox over Oscar. I would personally but as people are all into their stats now it goes against 80% of what people use stats for. Chamberlain may have run a little further in fewer minutes but he didn't score nor did he assist. So many other players look better on paper. Makes me wonder if the Ox can make it at Arsenal.

The other thing i read this week was games won with and without Santi Cazorla. We all know he is class. Left foot, right foot, magic spins and all the rest of it. Without Santi Cazorla Arsenal has won 7 games out of 8 in all competitions. Would you allow him to walk straight back into the team? We know his pass succession is in high percentages and he touches the ball about 5000 times a month but with all those stats backing up his performance Arsenal still win better without him. If your Wenger what do you do?

Sometimes i think we have to remember that football is a team game. Why play 3 world class players that don't play well together when you can 3 mediocre players who play better together and get results? We are lucky we don't have a club like Chelsea or Real Madrid where player power is much stronger than the managers decision. As long as Arsenal stay at the top of the league and continue winning games he can drop who he wants because let's be honest, none of us are football managers.  

We would all love a legendary midfield but if Flamini is keeping his own personal unbeaten form at the Emirates alive then let him play. Even if he partially shite!

Comments, feedback and even abuse to a certain degree are all welcome.

Thanks for reading!

#Coulingknows