FootballOpinion

Squawka: Four Bits of Squawking

Hello again! After more than a month without updating the blog, I’m back again, to write a quick ‘what I’ve been up to’ blog post.

Over the Christmas period I’ve written four stats-based articles for Squawka, one of them written while obeying the writer’s stereotype of being very tipsy and having a drink in my hand.

Before Liverpool played Manchester City, I compared David Silva and Philippe Coutinho, the flair players dribbling in from the left for both sides.

Click here to read David Silva v Coutinho

Also on Liverpool, I looked at the style of play and impact of Liverpool’s Joe Allen and Jordan Henderson at Liverpool, asking if, between them, they could compensate for the missing Steven Gerrard.

Click here to read Why Liverpool’s Midfield Are Proving They Can Cope Without Most Creative Red

On Boxing Day, I covered the Tottenham v West Brom match for Squawka, taking a statistical look at the events leading to a 1-1 draw in Timothy Sherwood’s first match as Tottenham’s permanent manager.

Click here to read Tottenham 1-1 West Brom

I haven't done any research, but I assume Tim was named after the forest. It can't be a coincedence.
I haven’t done any research, but I assume Tim was named after the forest. It can’t be a coincedence.

And finally, published on the 27th, I took a look at three players who the Express reckon Manchester United are trying to sign – Borussia Dortmund’s Marco Reus, Atletico Madrid’s Koke, and Southampton’s Adam Lallana. (This is the piece I wrote when tipsy, which might be evident by the fact that  one point I asked the reader “who do you think you’re looking at? Eh? Eh?”. Or maybe I got away with it.)

Click here to read Moyes Wishlist? Three Hugely Talented Superstars Who Could Join Man Utd.

 

And that’s my writing elsewhere brought up to date for now – I’ll be writing about other things in the days to come…

FootballOpinion

More Like Lambert For England

This article first appeared on Sportlobster on Tuesday. Sign up for free and you can read content like this sooner.

Rickie Lambert, after scoring 2 in 2 for England, will start for the national team tonight. He’s been such a success, not just in his goalscoring but having narrowly missed chances and doing a decent job as the central point of attack, that maybe we should look to his example more often.

When Lambert was called up, this was widely seen as a symptom of how understaffed the national team is. Just 4 years ago he was playing for Bristol Rovers, now he’s playing for England! It’s disgraceful!
Of course, Lambert seems to have maintained an air of zen while the media threw one of their usual hissyfits, performed in spectacular style, and now that sort of contrast is a positive. He used to work in a beetroot factory, now he’s playing for England! What a great story!

Continue reading “More Like Lambert For England”