What do Lionel Messi and Eric Bailly have in common?
- Thread starter Pogue Mahone
- Start date
Obviously the greatest players in the world don't need to run much when they're masters of reading the game and getting into the perfect positions way ahead of play.
Bailly spends most of his time in the air or on the floor pulling off insanely agressive Vidic like tackles straight out of Mortal Kombat.
Agreed. But what's Messi's excuse?
You'd expect CBs to be towards the bottom anyway. Plus our full backs also sit fairly flat so Bailly is rarely has to chase out wide, or chase in behind.
The article includes a table with individual player's data. Manchester United don't come out of it well at all. Something I find absolutely baffling is how our fullbacks seem to cover less ground than most of their team-mates. What the feck is that all about? Shouldn't fullbacks be covering the most ground?
Something else that has me bemused is the identity of our player who runs the most... Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Juan Mata is the best of the rest; followed (a long way behind) by Hererra, Matic and Fellaini. Generally none of them do much running. Which we already knew from this thread.
Something else that has me bemused is the identity of our player who runs the most... Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Juan Mata is the best of the rest; followed (a long way behind) by Hererra, Matic and Fellaini. Generally none of them do much running. Which we already knew from this thread.
If i’m not mistaken these are Champions League stats only. It would probably look very different when you use the statistics of 3 whole season in all competitions.
Not that Messi would be walking more but the goals/assists per minute would look worse for players like Milner.
That article also shows that Lukaku runs only slightly more than messi at about 90 meters per minute.
Not that Messi would be walking more but the goals/assists per minute would look worse for players like Milner.
That article also shows that Lukaku runs only slightly more than messi at about 90 meters per minute.
Milner is better than Messi — I mean he scored more and runs more 
Makes sense if it's just for CL
Makes sense if it's just for CL
CBs should have the lowest distance covered stats for outfielders.
Our rankings, from lowest to highest, are as follows:
Bailly
Lukaku
Rojo
Valencia
Lindelof
Smalling
Sanchez
Young
Darmian
Shaw
Blind
Fellaini
Matic
Hererra
Mata
Mikhitaryan
Not sure why Pogba, Rashford and Martial don't make the list at all...
It's somewhat understandable considering our much deeper defensive line during games. Don't know how fullbacks don't run more, though. Maicon was flying during Jose time in Inter.
Is this stat for only running, i.e. it excludes walking?
I've found the original UEFA data here. This includes all the United players.
In terms of metres/minute, our breakdown is as follows (in order):
Lingard = 135m
Mkhitaryan = 133m
Mata = 132m
Matic = 129m
Hererra = 129m
McTominay = 128m
Fellaini = 124m
Pogba = 122m
Blind = 117m
Rashford = 116m
Darmian = 111m
Young = 110m
Sanchez = 105m
Smalling = 104m
Lindelof = 103m
Valencia = 103m
Martial = 102m
Lukaku = 100m
Bailly = 88m
In terms of metres/minute, our breakdown is as follows (in order):
Lingard = 135m
Mkhitaryan = 133m
Mata = 132m
Matic = 129m
Hererra = 129m
McTominay = 128m
Fellaini = 124m
Pogba = 122m
Blind = 117m
Rashford = 116m
Darmian = 111m
Young = 110m
Sanchez = 105m
Smalling = 104m
Lindelof = 103m
Valencia = 103m
Martial = 102m
Lukaku = 100m
Bailly = 88m
Tbf, the hardest Bailly runs is to sprint like a mentalist for the celebrations
Boring James Milner running around like a blue arsed fly.
Suppose certain players won’t need to move much until the ball in and around them and others won’t move as much due to tactics. Might not all be down to laziness or lack of application.
This is not a surprise if you watch us play.
Jose believes far more in the ‘shape’ of a team rather than the Guardiola/Klopp intense pressing style.
Naturally, those teams that press constantly will end up running more (where are the statistics for sprints?), but, as ever, there’s not enough context in trying to apply statistics to an objective assessment of football capabilities.
Sometimes I think ‘Moneyball’ was the worst thing that could happen to a certain type of modern sports fan; some do seem to have acquiesced quite a bit of their own common sense and judgement to the all mighty god of ‘Statistics’ (to wit, the tragi-comic ‘debate’ regarding Messi and Ronaldo).
Jose believes far more in the ‘shape’ of a team rather than the Guardiola/Klopp intense pressing style.
Naturally, those teams that press constantly will end up running more (where are the statistics for sprints?), but, as ever, there’s not enough context in trying to apply statistics to an objective assessment of football capabilities.
Sometimes I think ‘Moneyball’ was the worst thing that could happen to a certain type of modern sports fan; some do seem to have acquiesced quite a bit of their own common sense and judgement to the all mighty god of ‘Statistics’ (to wit, the tragi-comic ‘debate’ regarding Messi and Ronaldo).
This is a huge problem for us at present, its evident our fullbacks don't show enough attacking intent and with us playing inverted wingers it stifles our attacking output. Hope we prioritise this along with the midfield in the summer.
De Gea is a fecking slacker n all
I would expect CBs to be in the bottom of the list for any team. Why do you need to keep running around like that from defense?
Valenica being at the bottom largely has to do with the amount of positional discipline he has to show because we have no right winger, he covers that side by himself. Mata and Lingard run a lot because they are always on the move either in pockets of space, running behind or tracking back.
To be honest, things like sprints, dribbles, interceptions, tackles are probably more important than aggregate data of running.
To be honest, things like sprints, dribbles, interceptions, tackles are probably more important than aggregate data of running.
I wouldn't want Bailly to
This, Klopps pressing teams may have strengths, but defensive positioning is not one of them, Guardiola's teams protect their defence by maintaining possession. Mourinho plays with zonal marking, why would the centre-backs press all over the pitch.