Beginnings at Porto In his first season as manager of FC Porto, Andre Villas Boas had statistics of:  Won the Portuguese Super Cup  Won the Portuguese League  Won the Millennium Cup  Won the Europa League  Went the entire season with only FOUR losses, including 2 in the preseason, 1 in [...]

With our goalkeeper, defence and midfield already chosen for the Premier League team of the year (http://www.eplindex.com/14737/premier-league-team-year-1112-opta-stats-part-2-midfield.html) we now look at which two strikers made the line up and announce our final team. We have done this by comparing players for each position using Opta statistics from the 2011/2012 season. We have then awarded 5 [...]

The defence had already been chosen for the Premier League team of the year (http://www.eplindex.com/14552/premier-league-team-of-the-year-based-on-statistics-part-1-defence-opta-stats.html), but since then we have decided to change our scoring system due to popular demand. We have now awarded 5 points for the player that tops each statistic, 4 points for the player that comes second, 3 points for third, [...]

When Roy Hodgson announced his England squad last week there were a number of surprises. Most surprising for me and I am sure a number of England fans was the inclusion of Stewart Downing. This is a player who famously did not score or assist a goal throughout the season. Equally surprising for me was [...]

Inevitably there are those players who, despite seeing their team drop down to the Championship, will find themselves playing in the Premier League next season. For some, it is a matter of financials as their old club needs the proceeds to offset the loss of revenue. For others it is that their skill simply can [...]

A look back at Arsenal’s 2011/2012 season continues with a look at the midfield trio we’ve deployed throughout the season and the changes in the front 3. Articles on the defence and mid-way point in the season are on the site as well. Midfield There were plenty of changes in the midfield with the departure [...]

Arsenal secured the much desired 3rd place and potentially final Champion’s League spot on Sunday after what was very much a rollercoaster season. A start that hadn’t been seen around the club for some time was followed by a slight upturn in results but not very convincingly. Then January came with the Gunners failing to [...]

When the PFA announced the team of the year many fans questioned why their favourite player wasn’t included, so we have derived a concept to see who would have made it into the team of the year if it was based on statistics alone. We have done this by comparing players for each position using [...]