England squad...

[Extended-Phenotype]

Except that he is.

[TBM]

Except that he is.

Errr no he isn't - Allen does the ball winning

[Extended-Phenotype]

He plays as part of a back two, supporting our very own Gylfi, in a midfield 5 . He's not in a position to mount up assists and goals.

[winchester_royal]

He plays as part of a back two, supporting our very own Gylfi, in a midfield 5 . He's not in a position to mount up assists and goals.

He doesn't win the ball, Rodgers calls him Swansea's 'Xavi'.

[Extended-Phenotype]

Who he out passed this season, playing as a defensive midfielder.

[winchester_royal]

League games:

Xavi: 31 games, 10 goals, 7 assists
Britton: 36 games, 0 goals, 4 assists

Xavi assist rate: 1 every 4.4 games
Britton assist rate: 1 every 9 games

Sorry, but in what way has Leon Britton 'outpassed' Xavi?

[Hoop Blah]

So essentially, where most 'informed' opinion is that international football requires retention of the ball and bodies in midfield you essentially want to play 4-2-4?

Fair enough, a tad brave and almost exactly what found us out in South Africa.

[TBM]

Who he out passed this season, playing as a defensive midfielder.

And John Terry came 3rd in that "stat" - does that mean he should play alongside Britton in midfield?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... -Xavi.html




Btw the end of season stat ended with Xavi out passing Britton, but if you wanna go by the first half of the season, thats cool.

[cmonurz]

It's funny that many of those making out pass completion is relatively unimportant would also probably bemoan Gerrard's penchant for giving the ball away. You can't score if you don't have the ball, but equally without a Gerrard-like player to make the final pass, you end up simply playing one-twos on the halfway line.

And that's why Xavi is so good, he either keeps the ball or creates a chance, few players aw good enough to do both.

[Extended-Phenotype]

League games:

Xavi: 31 games, 10 goals, 7 assists
Britton: 36 games, 0 goals, 4 assists

Xavi assist rate: 1 every 4.4 games
Britton assist rate: 1 every 9 games

Sorry, but in what way has Leon Britton 'outpassed' Xavi?

With his passes. Sorry if it's confusing.

[Extended-Phenotype]

Who he out passed this season, playing as a defensive midfielder.

And John Terry came 3rd in that "stat" - does that mean he should play alongside Britton in midfield?

No, because I think Terry is a defender.

[TBM]

Surely that doesn't matter - he can tackle and has passed it more times than anyone in Europe (bar 2)...........as you said, thats all thats needed for a holding/ball winning central midfielder

[winchester_royal]

League games:

Xavi: 31 games, 10 goals, 7 assists
Britton: 36 games, 0 goals, 4 assists

Xavi assist rate: 1 every 4.4 games
Britton assist rate: 1 every 9 games

Sorry, but in what way has Leon Britton 'outpassed' Xavi?

With his passes. Sorry if it's confusing.

Oh I see, so passing it back to the defender > assisting a goal?

You're right that is confusing.

[Ian Royal]

Because, of course, no pass that isn't an assist is worthwhile.

[Mr Angry]

Its quite simple really; who would you rather have in your team between the 2 of them?

[winchester_royal]

Because, of course, no pass that isn't an assist is worthwhile.

Not sure I said that Ian....

[Extended-Phenotype]

Using statistics accumulated by a player playing as a central defender are not a good indication of how they would fare as a central midfielder.

Using statistics accumulated by a player playing as a central midfielder are a good indication of how they would fare as a central midfielder.

This is all a lot of fun, but I’d like to point out the passing stat was used to show the player had a good season and would be a decent shout, not that he is better than Xavi.

Yeah, I’d have thought retaining the ball and passing well > assists for a holding midfielder.

I don’t for one second think Britton is as good as Xavi. Having watched him and noting his excellent pass ratio, and realising Xavi can’t play for England but Britton can, I put him forward as an alternative midfield choice.

You see, what I have done is picked a player who has performed well as a holding midfielder, and suggested him for a holding midfield role.

This as an alternative to a player who has barely played, and when he has played, has been poor this season, who wasn’t particularly good last season, was dreadful for England in the last tournament and hasn’t been particularly good for the best part of a decade.

Or as an alternative to an aging, slowing pro who also struggled for games this season, who has rarely managed to bring his club form to the international stage, continually disappoints and appears more detrimental to the team than positive.

Completing a pass to a team mate >>> hoofing the ball into space
Passing sideways to team mate >>> passing ball out for a throw in
Passing ball back to defence >>> passing the ball back to an on-running opponent who goes on to score

Just an opinion.

[winchester_royal]

Britton has been 'successful' because in that Swansea team he has very little responsibility. His job is, whenever he gets the ball, to pass it backwards or sideways. He's been good at that, for sure, but would he be able to replicate that kind of form on the world stage? Would he be able to contribute fully in a team that plays a completely different brand of football? His time in Sheffield shows us that he probably can't.

Holding midfielder's also have to win the ball, and nothing I've seen of Britton so far indicates that he'd be able to compete in a midfield against the likes of Xavi.

[Alan Partridge]

LOL @ 'outpassed'

I HATE 'holding' midfielders, biggest cop out in the world. Got to play a defensive midfielder umm no, how about do a bit of both please. Players like Gareth Barry getting paid £90k a week to pass the ball 5 yards backwards, seriously any mongdiv could do that.

All central midfielders should be able to tackle, get about the pitch and help create a few goals a season as well as score a few themselves. If you don't, fcuk off and stop wasting everyones time.

[Extended-Phenotype]

Well, quite. But we have moved into an era of football where some midfielders have evolved into a more advanced role, and some have drifted backward to compensate.

We can only pick players who exist, unfortunately.