Mails on Trump, Jose and other villains…

Mails on Trump, Jose and other villains…

Pick yourselves up off the floor and mail us at theeditor@football365.com

We’ve seen everything now…
Trump
Brexit
Leicester City

That is all.
Mark, Scouse Africa

…Donald Trump is President of the United States of America. The leader of the free world. Wow.
Tag (I expect Liverpool you win they Champions League…this season) LFC, Chennai

…I’d like to be the first to welcome our new insect overlords.
Ian, LFC (maybe New England can Brexit?) Hartford, CT USA

…Donald Trump is about to be President Elect of The United States of America

At least I still have Liverpool.
Brian (F*ck) LFC

…It’s time like this I’m thankful for football for distracting me from the horrors of the real world. Can’t wait for football this weekend.

What’s that? It’s international week? Oh for ****’s sake…
Mike, LFC, Dubai

Looking towards football for solace in these times…
As I write this, it seems certain that Donald Trump will be elected president of the country where I was born and raised, and where I’ve always made my home. It’s not hard for me to grasp the fact, because I’ve lived a long time, and I know American politics pretty well. Surprised, but in no way shocked.

But in this particularly fraught moment, I think about football. Why? Because, cliché though it may sound, it really is the world’s game. And although it can breed horrible tribal rivalries, it can also build remarkably strong bridges across barriers of language and culture.

I think of the Leicester City players, very few of which had Spanish as their native language, singing ‘Olé, Olé, Olé’ in unison as they celebrated their title. I think of the years before football was regularly televised in the USA, going to closed-circuit telecasts of World Cup games in mammoth auditoriums in Los Angeles, sharing fandom with Mexicans, Germans, Moroccans, Brazilians, even Englishmen and Scotsmen. I think of supporters of all countries mingling in the fanzones at the major tournaments. I think of the friendly e-mails from five continents that I used to receive when writing for an international football website.

And I say up football. Any institution is only as good as the people involved, it’s true, but that should just make us more determined, in whatever small way, to use our game to help chase out the demons that make us fear each other.

Thank you, F365, for running the Mailbox. Thank you for allowing me to contribute to the site. And thank football for the possibility – even if at times it seems only a possibility – of bringing people together in lasting ways.
Peter G, Pennsylvania, USA

Interpreting the assist
In response to Guy S’s frustration with assists, I think it depends massively on how you are using the information. Indeed, it is quite possible that two players each produce an assist where one is a simple pass before a thunderb*stard from 30 yards or a dribble through several players before laying it on a plate. But over the course of a season these things, like most in football, even out.

For instance a player with 14 assists has undoubtedly been more productive than one with five assists. The difference is simply too big for it to be due to random. In essence if a player has so many more assists it is likely they are getting on the ball in important areas and making passes where the next player can score to a far higher degree than other players. At the end of the day, the nature of the goal/or assist doesnt matter. Theres a reason the best creative players are always at the top of the assist charts. I do think it is important to remember though that they shouldn’t be used as a final decision on how good a player is, you would have to watch them thoroughly for that. The utility of this kind of stat is rather reduced once comparing players with similar numbers. It is completely true that 20 assists is not more useful than 18 assists in terms of the ability of the assisting player, even if they have played the same number of games. This is because a random resampling, i.e. if each player replayed the 20 games, this difference could well be reversed or reproduced.

Essentially what I’m saying is assist stats can be used to differentiate players into groups in terms of their productivity but not to make final judgement between them. For example, if Ronaldo scores 91 and Messi 88 in year, that cannot be definitively used to say Ronaldo is better because a random resample could easily produce a similar result.

It is also worth noting that while conversion rate or similar stats can be useful for evaluating performances and player ability, it does not necessarily directly reflect the player’s contribution to the team. Now, I haven’t checked this but Ronaldo and Zlatan, indeed Paul Pogba this season as well, regularly take far more shots than any other players. Often this reflects a poor conversion rate but it does indicate that these players create a lot of opportunites for themselves and are not afraid to try shots from all over. While this may seem wasteful, there’s a reason it correlates to scoring more goals than anyone else more regularly than not. What I’m trying to say is that in your scenario, player A scores one goal and misses three chances, but over a season if he continues to take many shots and has four chances or so each game he is likely to score more goals than most, and be of value to his team.

Lastly, it is important to remember what position and demand is placed on each player. Assists for anyone other than forward players perhaps aren’t that useful. Similarly tackles for forwards are fairly useless, probably only useful in giving an indication of the playing style of the team and the players use for that team not necessarily to compare to a player in a different system.

I guess I’m both agreeing and disagreeing with Guy, in the sense that one should always take note of other factors when considering a simple statistical value but that does not mean the number should be discarded in value. In the overall sense the nature of the assist is irrelevant, it’s the pattern that’s important. If a pattern or a sizeable difference emerges than it’s silly to discard it based on the variable nature of an assist. We should still keep comparisons relevant, for example Pogba vs Coutinho is not quite relevant since their systems and responsibilties in the system are very different.

This has been quite long, sorry about that, but just to end I would say we should appreciate the vaule of objective measures of performance, rather than dismissing stats that could tell us important patterns in player and team performance, simply becuase football is a fluid game and its aspects can happen in different ways.

Although I would like to see more nuance in the stats, such as the region of the pitch where a defender or midfielder is making their tackles, winning their aerial duels and so on. Becuase a defender who wins headers on the halfway line but loses them in the box is useless to me.
Byron Donaldson

Sorry Guy, we’re not buying it…
In response to Guy S’ mail from Tuesday afternoon’s mailbox: Excellent points Guy! You really showed that strawman of yours who’s going to rule your school’s Debating Club one day!

Meanwhile, back in the real world, it seems that most people with just a little insight into football judge players on a wide range of parameters, although goals and assists obviously remain very important aspects when measuring especially offensive players. I guess that’s why we all frequently seem to agree that David De Gea is one of the best players in the league, despite his abysmal goals and assists record. The same goes for players such as Alderweireld, Kante, etc.

Just look at the home page of this fine website. They have a poll called ‘Best player in the PL’. That poll, although obviously not highly scientific, current lists the player with the ninth most goals and second most assists as a clear number 1. The player with the most assists, but only two goals (40th in the PL) is second and Ozil, with only three goals and two assists this season is in third. It’s almost as if the vast majority of people voting have look at it far more broadly than just goals/assists. If you were to add up goals and assists, Costa should be first – he only got 2% of the vote.

Guy, in other words, trying to point out that there are other things than goals and assists that count for a good footballer won’t fool anyone – Rooney is still regarded as crap by everyone in here except you. My suggestion would be that you take down those Rooney posters you bought last winter and put those One Direction posters back up where they belong – and don’t let your class mates give you any sh!t about it!
Tom K

Excellent point
I read the mail from Rob A (everyone else as expected except maybe Heaton in goal) AFC practically eulogising Pogba. He ended it by saying Pogba is the cog that keeps United quietly ticking.

Point is, Dear Rob, they are not ticking.
Tunji, Lagos

It’s coming…
Given that Phil Jones has played a full 90 minutes, can we have a sweepstakes as to when he will get another injury? My money is on December.
Daniel (multiplier for each of Wilshere, Aguero and Sturridge getting injured concurrently) Cambridge

Smalling is the real softie here
I genuinely think that this Shaw debate is a convenient deflection from Chris Smalling.

As has been mentioned before, Luke has the excuse of having recently suffered from a serious leg injury, and surely is psychologically affected by it. From experience, I tore my ACL a couple of years ago, and found the mental side of gaining confidence (fearlessness) back on the pitch the hardest hurdle to cross. Self-aware of even the smallest strain.

Now I know Shaw has all the best medical amenities available to him, and is a professional athlete, but at the end of the day he is still in the embroynic stage of his career, and thus hasn’t developed a steely determination yet to play through the pain barrier.

Smalling on the other hand is getting off largely scot-free. I mentioned last year (when he was in admittedly in good form), that the fact he was regarded as one of United’s most important players was symbolic of how far the club had fallen. Between his downward spiral since January, to the ill-advised injury he sustained during his holiday after the Euros, and his horror-show against Chelsea, I think Jose may be in the process of assimilating him out of the starting XI (even with Bailly sidelined). He is a far bigger poster-boy to the ‘soft’ United than Shaw.
Brian, Wexford

An excellent mail on analgesics and sport
At the risk of dragging this mailbox debate deep into International Week I just wanted to raise an issue that doesn’t seem to have been considered yet. How many of these tough-as-boots sportspeople Mourinho references are actually grinning and bearing it? Like many others Luke Shaw and Chris Smalling have already played with painkilling injections this season. It’s common practice and the culture of masking pain with medication is decades-old but pain is there for a very good reason; as a natural warning system. In my opinion it’s going to become an issue in the future as some players who were constantly doped up in order to play will be found to have suffered long-term consequences both physical and psychological.

There will be questions raised like whether the nature of their work or pressure from their employers led them into habitual drug use/abuse and if they were given appropriate medical advice throughout. The issue has been raised by former NFL players and studies and surveys have shown that they are more likely to abuse painkilling medication post-career and are at risk of other addictions. I have read accounts from various sportspeople that suggest the protocols for dispensing drugs are often ignored and that long-term player welfare isn’t always the medical team’s priority.

The efficacy of analgesics is an area of intense debate and research, however the risks (side effects and addiction) are becoming common knowledge. As someone who’s suffered from chronic pain and taken long-term medication in the past I always tried to balance the pros and cons and ask if the short-term gain is worth what could happen years down the line. With professional athletes that could include organ damage, arthritis and numerous life-impairing conditions. Having an injection before a big match could increase in frequency due to the stakes involved. Football is highly competitive with a short career and potentially high rewards. Later on it could develop into having an injection to counter any pain they anticipate to feel during the game which is particularly relevant with chronic injuries. If the experienced pro is on a cocktail of drugs the younger ones trying to make a mark will comfortably follow suit.

Obviously if not taking your meds impairs your ability to work there is a conversation that needs to be had but until more research is done it’s difficult to say whether football clubs and players are being irresponsible and short-sighted. I have to say if you’ve had your work ethic and mentality publicly questioned you might feel pressurised into ignoring what your body is telling you and go for that quick fix.
CP, Cambridge

The obvious answer
Leicester should have signed Lucas to replace Kante and they’d be near the top of the league. Go on, disagree, I dare you. Still regretting my 2009 bet that Lucas would win the Ballon d’Or in 2014.
Niall, Denver

A question about Newcastle
As a Liverpool fan and therefore also a Benitez aficionado I paid particular attention to the email from Jon, NUFC, Guangzhou, China.

Liverpool, under Benitez, were often quite boring to watch but you could see from an early stage what he was trying to implement. Without getting into the detail of it I am wondering if any NUFC fans can inform me of their style of play this season?

Solid in defence? No substitutions before 68 minutes despite what may be happening on the pitch? Defensive subs if 1-0 up and trying to shut up shop? I’m genuinely interested to know how he has set Newcastle up if anyone cares to satisfy my curiosity?
Kevin, Eire (Back then I was jealous when Mourinho would make three half-time subs)

More fanmail for Football365
I fully agree with the email from Matt, AFC. This website has never missed a beat when it comes to writing what fans want. And you know why, because the writers are clearly football fans.

I first discovered F365 around about 2009. Adel Taarabt was (and still is) p***-poor but was somehow starting almost every week for QPR. Commentators, pundits and ex-pros on TV were all sugar coating how bad he was. Not only that but he was being ‘linked with’ a move to AC Milan or Real Madrid (can’t remember exactly but is was obviously a ridiculous ploy to get a deal).

And then…I came across this website which to the best of my knowledge had the line ‘Adel Taarabt is being linked with a switch to AC Milan, they obviously must be fans of his do five stepovers and then skew it into the crowd talents’.

Never before had I seen a professional footballing site call out a player for being so over-rated.

So to all the nay-sayers who criticise because this site doesn’t 100% agree with what you think all of the time, fine. Go live in the BBC/Sky/BT world of broadcasting and journalism where everyone is either top top, top, very good, good or solid.

Just try and find somewhere that has the incredible writing of the the Portait of an Icon pieces, the hilarity of Mediawatch, the amazing honesty of Football people on TV, and the balls to say when they have made a mistake or spoken too soon which to its credit F365 has done more than most ‘journalists’.

If you think F365 is biased I have some advice, get your hand out of your trousers, scroll your mouse to the top of the page, hover over the section that says clubs and bingo!! Each and every one of the Premier League clubs news and headlines as well as opinion pieces about said club.

In a world where I can have wonderful, honest and refreshing opinions from Daniel Storey, Johnny Nic, Sarah Winterburn and Matt Stead. Or read the ‘writings’ of Stan Collymore, Paul Merson, Eamonn Dunphy and Micheal Owen. I know which world I’d choose 427 times out of 427.
Joe LFC, Dublin
(Only ever missed two days of F365, my wedding day and the day my son was born. Still haunts me…)