For Liverpool fans he was a bright spark of possibility and hope at the beginning of what looked to be a dismal season. Yet as the season has progressed and Liverpool have gotten stronger, Sterling seems to be disappearing somewhat. It is true that he is young and the strengthening in January now puts less [...]

English players have become premium assets in the transfer market. The cause may be the influx of foreign players or the small reserves of real British talent, but overvaluing our compatriots is not a recent phenomenon. A remnant of the ‘golden generation’, the English fans and media tend to hail the arrival of a new [...]

Looking at last season’s data, we can see what seems like a radical change when we compare the graph with that of four years previous. The ‘tail’ of the correlation has disappeared completely and the entire line seems to be moving towards something more linear. This is the effect of teams such as Wigan, and more [...]

In this article, I will be moving on from the 2008/09 season (Part 1) to look for some similarities or trends. In the 2009/10 season there is a similar curve in the line of best fit, and teams that are relegated could be accused of being inefficient. However, there is the beginning of a change in [...]

Four years ago Spain used a possession-based philosophy to win Euro 2008. Since then, Spain and Barcelona have been the dominant forces in world and European football, with much of their success attributed to this style. Two footballing clichés seem to underpin this. Firstly, that possession is ‘Nine Tenths of the Law’. Secondly, that over the [...]