Apparently it was Mark Twain who said “there are three kinds of lies; lies, damned lies and statistics”. Had he been around today he might have many occasions to reconsider his words, for whilst statistics can certainly lie, in this world of algorithms, google analytics and laptop data, not every stat is false.
Whilst researching the Hammers’ team statistics from the Fulham game, I came across several different football analytic sites which sadly provided the initial inspiration for my article ‘pedestrians or lamp-posts‘- my rather cruel descriptions of Mikel Antonio and Tomas Soucek after their static lacklustre performances against Fulham.
Sadly, in this instance, the statistics don’t lie. Antonio, in his forty five minutes before getting hooked and put out of his (our) misery, contributed almost zero to the cause.
Sofascore confirmed our number 9 contributed no shots on target, no shots off target, no dribbles, no interceptions and one shot blocked in 45 minutes- and placed him bottom of the ‘game league table’ for productivity.
Corroboration actually came on twitter / x from those nice people at West Ham Central who summed it up pretty succinctly, publishing the same stats but adding: “He lost possession more than once every four minutes: more than any other player: Also, he has averaged as many shots per game this season so far, as Casemiro and Kyle Walker-Peters.”
Antonio’s stats painting a bleak picture
Have to say, when faced with figures like that, the future looks a bit bleak for Mikhail. The irony that Jarrod Bowen moved into Antonio’s central role and supplied the ‘assist’ after 45 minutes in the second half with more closing down, more energy and more threat cannot be lost on anyone who watched.
Lopetegui and Tim Steidten especially (who, we are told, is a big one for statistics) cannot be blind to the fruitless travails of our striker: Time for Antonio to be on the bench, thirty minutes to go, coming on if needed, with something to prove. It is surely now a case of ‘come in number nine, your time is up’.
Truth is, nobody knows for sure who the originator was, and use of the word “Apparently” does not imply a statement of fact.
Twain himself attributed the phrase “there are three kinds of lies; lies, damned lies and statistics” to Benjamin Disraeli… but nice try at appearing intellectual..
Just a thought, but do we believe that Antonio stands in line for 45 minutes to check baggage before fighting his way through TSA, recovering his belt and shoes and then navigating his way to his seat in cabbage class on a scheduled flight? Or is it more likely that worst case he is treated as a VIP, spends a little time in the airline lounge before being ushered to his First Class seat prior to riff raff boarding, or better yet, he could always drop a few grand on a charter jet, assuming he needed to be somewhere in a hurry, and include his personal chef to ensure his culinary requirements are adequately addressed on the ride home. I think for one weeks’ pay, I would go for option 3.
… and sadly one gets attacked by sentimental WH supporters who carry the opinion that one is being nasty, when all one days (like this article) is point out the facts.
And add the other glare to this … how come Lopeteigui keeps overlooking these stats about Antonio and Soucek who have been showing these weaknesses since last season?
It is one thing to say “the new coach + players need time” to adjust and gel. And it’s completely a different thing when your chosen players are not up to it, and you still pick them, regardless. That is a big worry, Mr coach.
It seems quite often managers seem to make decisions that go contrary to what the obvious public opinion is. Obviously they know more about football than I or most of the rest of us do. But it is almost a signal to say ‘I pick the team and I know best’ sort of like cutting off your nose to spite your face. I suppose at least he did the right thing and changed things at half time. I hope we see a much more dynamic side on Saturday.
OK, Antonio looked leggy and worn out, but then again, who wouldn’t having played twice the week before, in Jamaica & Honduras (1 goal) flying back on Thursday for a Saturday game.
The fact that Loopy does not have sufficient depth at CF is as much down to Steidten and the board?
Don’t burn him for being human.
Yeah my point though is we knew Antonio would be leggy. So why didn’t Loppy use a player with fresh legs? Ings? Bowen up top, Kudus right, and Summerville left?
Instead he went with Ant, who couldn’t help be anything but leggy and jet lagged after his flight back. It’s like he was scared to make a change and use his squad. He had to flog Ant who was already knackered!
We could all see Ant and Soucek were cooked. I called it before kick off, by stating the bleedin obvious. They’d both travelled thousands of miles and played 2 games.
So what on earth possessed Loppy to start them? After such a great transfer window (minus a dynamic new striker of course) it makes me seriously question Loppys judgement to start them both. It’s like he was incapable of making a logical decision, and he needed to be proven wrong before he could make sensible decisions.
Baffling. Truely baffling!!