David Silva

[john68]

I'm sorry rag hater but there you go with your adherence to stats again. I don't know any better sop I can't question the accuracy of the stats but agin, it is NOT the point of the criticism.
The criticism is that no matter how many shots he may have had, there are many occasions when he has the half chance, when the option of passing is only a half chance too. There is nothing to be losy by having the shot and texting the keeper. Maybe forcing the keeper to make a mistake. In a tight, crowded area, as Ted has said, often the ball is lost and the pass unsuccessful.

[aaron bond]

Imo, in general play he's the best in the Prem, better than Fabregas, Scholes or anyone because they all play in teams who are in a routine & know each others moves inside out, making their job much easier. We are a hotchpotch of players who don't particularly fit together that well but he still manages to operate as if he's playing for Barca; quite amazing really.

If he's to be as good as an alround player as those two though, he has to increase his career goal tally. I think he will do, when we sign another player who can play with him. At the moment only Tevez & Yaya are on his wavelength. Balotelli & Dzeko could get there & there's a slight possibility AJ could but it would really help to have one ready made player to interact with him. He needs a partner, like Iniesta has with Xavi. Then they would set him up for a few for tap ins & teams won't be able to get the ball off us unless we pass it to SWP or Kolarov (joke).

I completely agree that Tevez and Silva are on the same wavelength. They seem able to put together some amazing pieces of play. Although Tevez does need to learn to pass it to other players on the team other than Silva.

Regarding Yaya though, I genuinely consider it an insult to mention Yaya and Silva in the same breath. Half the time when Silva is looking to make a pass, Yaya is out of breath trying to get a rest. The other times, Yaya will generally take the easy option and pass backwards (like many other players in our side unfortunately at the mo).

[Rag_hater]

I'm sorry rag hater but there you go with your adherence to stats again. I don't know any better sop I can't question the accuracy of the stats but agin, it is NOT the point of the criticism.
The criticism is that no matter how many shots he may have had, there are many occasions when he has the half chance, when the option of passing is only a half chance too. There is nothing to be losy by having the shot and texting the keeper. Maybe forcing the keeper to make a mistake. In a tight, crowded area, as Ted has said, often the ball is lost and the pass unsuccessful.

At the end of most matches that are shown on TV a number of stats like possession,number of shots,attendance etc... are displayed,so your questioning of my adherence to these figures is a fact I like to base my arguments on.There are stats for the number of shot an individual takes.In a similar way to you enjoying the study of the history of our club I enjoy studying stats.Back to David.The way I read the comments inferred to me that some of the posters thought David should shoot more.My point was that I think he shoots enough and I tried to back this argument up with the facts I could find.For me he has to increase his accuracy I don't think he tries to pass to much and he shoots enough.

Imo, in general play he's the best in the Prem, better than Fabregas, Scholes or anyone because they all play in teams who are in a routine & know each others moves inside out, making their job much easier. We are a hotchpotch of players who don't particularly fit together that well but he still manages to operate as if he's playing for Barca; quite amazing really.

If he's to be as good as an alround player as those two though, he has to increase his career goal tally. I think he will do, when we sign another player who can play with him. At the moment only Tevez & Yaya are on his wavelength. Balotelli & Dzeko could get there & there's a slight possibility AJ could but it would really help to have one ready made player to interact with him. He needs a partner, like Iniesta has with Xavi. Then they would set him up for a few for tap ins & teams won't be able to get the ball off us unless we pass it to SWP or Kolarov (joke).

I completely agree that Tevez and Silva are on the same wavelength. They seem able to put together some amazing pieces of play. Although Tevez does need to learn to pass it to other players on the team other than Silva.

Regarding Yaya though, I genuinely consider it an insult to mention Yaya and Silva in the same breath. Half the time when Silva is looking to make a pass, Yaya is out of breath trying to get a rest. The other times, Yaya will generally take the easy option and pass backwards (like many other players in our side unfortunately at the mo).

I think your wrong on that and Ted is right.
The relationship in passing between Yaya and David is the best we have.
The two of them together function well.Very well.

[john68]

Rag hater....can you tell me from your knowledge of the displayed stats on your TV....How many times was Silva near to goal with a shooting opportunity but chose to pass instead.
I'm certain that they will have displayed that info, in order to convey a complete picture to their viewers.

[Rag_hater]

I don't think that is the purpose of stats but just to play along with your argument.Which game?
Lets take the prem game against Wigan.
At 9 mins,
45 mins ,
55 mins and 81 mins from the stats and what I saw IMO David played a pass when he could have had a shot.
That was taken from Guardian chalkboards and depends how you interept facts to be able to make facts you may need.
I can play that game aswell.

[Ted Hughes]

'depends how you interept facts to be able to make facts you may need'.

That is the problem with statistics in a nutshell though, they only tell part of the story.

When a team has 25 shots off target & ten on target for instance, you could say that's good because they were dominant but what if the ten shots on target were from 30 yards & were like backpasses by the time they reached the keeper or were toe pokes that dribbled along the ground as they were tackled?

Statistics give an idea what may have most likely happened but don't tell the whole story & sometimes tell the wrong story.

[Im_Spartacus]

'depends how you interept facts to be able to make facts you may need'.

That is the problem with statistics in a nutshell though, they only tell part of the story.

When a team has 25 shots off target & ten on target for instance, you could say that's good because they were dominant but what if the ten shots on target were from 30 yards & were like backpasses by the time they reached the keeper or were toe pokes that dribbled along the ground as they were tackled?

Statistics give an idea what may have most likely happened but don't tell the whole story & sometimes tell the wrong story.

Perfect example being Birmingham at home. Without doubt one of the worst games of football I have ever seen, but I get home on login to here to be told we had 25 attempts on goal and that by definition we were obviously an attacking force throughout that game. Nothing could have been further from the truth.

[Rag_hater]

'depends how you interept facts to be able to make facts you may need'.

That is the problem with statistics in a nutshell though, they only tell part of the story.

When a team has 25 shots off target & ten on target for instance, you could say that's good because they were dominant but what if the ten shots on target were from 30 yards & were like backpasses by the time they reached the keeper or were toe pokes that dribbled along the ground as they were tackled?

Statistics give an idea what may have most likely happened but don't tell the whole story & sometimes tell the wrong story.

I don't think I said they were the full story.They are an aid.As you say stats are how you interept them.
Telling the wrong story is a matter of opinion.
What may be wrong to you(e.g)may be right to me(e.g).
To some people like myself they are part of the story,if you think they are not anyway to judge what you have seen then they are irrelevant.
However for me the fact that there are nowadays so many different places that have this information makes me think that more than me takes this info as part of making a judgement.
Even the OS has a few stats so the club seem to think they are worthwhile.

[Ted Hughes]

'depends how you interept facts to be able to make facts you may need'.

That is the problem with statistics in a nutshell though, they only tell part of the story.

When a team has 25 shots off target & ten on target for instance, you could say that's good because they were dominant but what if the ten shots on target were from 30 yards & were like backpasses by the time they reached the keeper or were toe pokes that dribbled along the ground as they were tackled?

Statistics give an idea what may have most likely happened but don't tell the whole story & sometimes tell the wrong story.

I don't think I said they were the full story.They are an aid.As you say stats are how you interept them.
Telling the wrong story is a matter of opinion.
What may be wrong to you(e.g)may be right to me(e.g).
To some people like myself they are part of the story,if you think they are not anyway to judge what you have seen then they are irrelevant.
However for me the fact that there are nowadays so many different places that have this information makes me think that more than me takes this info as part of making a judgement.
Even the OS has a few stats so the club seem to think they are worthwhile.

They are worthwhile but more as a guideline, rather than proof of something. If a side scores 40 goals per season from outside the box for instance, you know they're pretty good at shooting but if you then find out that most of the shots were right footed, it doesn't mean that right footed players are better than left footed players at shooting. Sometimes statistics get used in that way, to try & prove things that don't neccessarily exist.

[Rag_hater]

'depends how you interept facts to be able to make facts you may need'.

That is the problem with statistics in a nutshell though, they only tell part of the story.

When a team has 25 shots off target & ten on target for instance, you could say that's good because they were dominant but what if the ten shots on target were from 30 yards & were like backpasses by the time they reached the keeper or were toe pokes that dribbled along the ground as they were tackled?

Statistics give an idea what may have most likely happened but don't tell the whole story & sometimes tell the wrong story.

I don't think I said they were the full story.They are an aid.As you say stats are how you interept them.
Telling the wrong story is a matter of opinion.
What may be wrong to you(e.g)may be right to me(e.g).
To some people like myself they are part of the story,if you think they are not anyway to judge what you have seen then they are irrelevant.
However for me the fact that there are nowadays so many different places that have this information makes me think that more than me takes this info as part of making a judgement.
Even the OS has a few stats so the club seem to think they are worthwhile.

They are worthwhile but more as a guideline, rather than proof of something. If a side scores 40 goals per season from outside the box for instance, you know they're pretty good at shooting but if you then find out that most of the shots were right footed, it doesn't mean that right footed players are better than left footed players at shooting. Sometimes statistics get used in that way, to try & prove things that don't neccessarily exist.

For me what you are describing is the fine details.
I don't use stats for that.For me they help describe what has happened in general.
Like was suggested at the begining of this thread that David has not taken enough shots.For me being able to say the number of shots he had taken this year(about 1 or 2 a game on average,which I think for a midfielder is right up there)leads me to think(with what I have seen)that he needs to improve his accuracy.By being able to quote the number of shots he has taken simply enables me to try and illustrate the point I am trying to make.