Internazionale Top 15 Individual Goals 2009/2010

Inter scored a number of stunning goals on their way to a historic treble, here are the top 15 individual efforts in my opinion.



Song: Come With Me by Puff Daddy + Jimmy Page

Internazionale Top 10 Team Goals 2009/2010

Inter were accused of playing boring, functional football under Mourinho this season, and while there was an element of truth in that, they still managed to entertain from time to time. Here are the best 10 team-based goals of this campaign, in my opinion of course.




Song: Kalimba by Mr Scruff

Arsenal Funny Moments 2009/2010

A light-hearted review of the season just gone by...

Cesc Fabregas 2009/2010, Part 2

Following on from a great first half to the 09/10 season, Cesc Fabregas continued to maintain a high level of productivity statistically in the form of goals and assists - as this video demonstrates.

However, the injury to Robin van Persie forced Arsene Wenger to adapt his formation, pushing Fabregas into a more attacking role in order to replace van Persie's goalthreat and ability to keep possession in the final 3rd. The result was that Fabregas scored more goals, but saw less of the ball. Against Bolton and Barcelona at the Emirates, he was playing almost as a support striker and generally only got onto the ball when Arsenal were counterattacking.

Hopefully with a fully fit van Persie we can see Fabregas in his more natural midfield playmaker role next season. That's if he stays at Arsenal of course ;)

Maicon Goals + Assists 2009/2010

One of the 2 finest attacking full backs in the world, Maicon is deadly when running at pace. His trademark move is the diagonal run into the box followed by a powerful finish, and this video demonstrates several examples of that. With 7 goals and 12 assists this season from the full back position, he's proven once again why he's such a valuable player for Inter (and Brazil).




Song: Voodoo People (Pendulum Remix) by The Prodigy

Pedro Goals + Assists 2009/2010

At only 22 years of age, Pedro has shown remarkable maturity in his first season as a regular in the Barca team.

Boasting electric pace, a calm head in front of goal (33% conversion ratio!), excellent movement off the ball and genuine two-footed ability (see his left-footed goal from 40 yards), he looks to have the potential to become one of the leading goal-getters of the next decade.

Arsenal's 4-3-3, Part 2

Carrying on from part 1, this video more than anything shows what Arsenal missed while van Persie was out injured for 5 months.

Xavi Hernandez 2009/2010: World's Best Playmaker

As you may have gathered by now, I'm a HUGE fan of Xavi. No other player can match his blend of vision, accuracy and intelligence.

As outlined in my previous blog post, Xavi has played a part in 42 of Barcelona's goals this season. According to OPTA statistics, he is the leading creator of chances in La Liga (109) and in the Champions League (37).

He is the greatest playmaker of the last 20 years!

Assist of the Week - Sunday 16th May 2010

This time there's no multiple assists to choose from, just one fantastic display of playmaking from a player who's had the season of his life.

Barcelona Attacking Statistics 2009/2010

(Click on tabs underneath to see different categories)



Standout attacking performances:

Andres Iniesta
2 assists, 1 key pass
Barcelona 6-1 Real Zaragoza (La Liga)

Bojan
3 assists, 1 key pass
Tenerife 0-5 Barcelona (La Liga)

Dani Alves
1 goal, 1 assist, 1 key pass
Real Valladolid 0-3 Barcelona (La Liga)

Dani Alves
2 assists, 1 key pass
Barcelona 4-1 Tenerife (La Liga)

Lionel Messi
2 goals, 1 assist
Barcelona 5-2 Atletico Madrid (La Liga)

Lionel Messi
2 goals, 1 assist
Racing Santander 1-4 Barcelona (La Liga)

Lionel Messi
3 goals, 1 assist
Tenerife 0-5 Barcelona (La Liga)

Lionel Messi
3 goals
Barcelona 3-0 Valencia (La Liga)

Lionel Messi
3 goals
Real Zaragoza 2-4 Barcelona (La Liga)

Lionel Messi
1 goal, 2 key passes
Barcelona 4-1 Athletic Bilbao (La Liga)

Lionel Messi
2 goals, 1 assist
Barcelona 4-1 Tenerife (La Liga)

Lionel Messi
2 goals, 1 assist
Barcelona 4-0 Real Valladolid (La Liga)

Lionel Messi
2 goals, 1 key pass
Barcelona 4-0 Stuttgart (Champions League)

Lionel Messi
4 goals
Barcelona 4-1 Arsenal (Champions League)

Lionel Messi
1 goal, 2 key passes
Barcelona 5-0 Cultural Leonesa (Copa del Rey)

Pedro
2 goals, 1 key pass
Barcelona 4-2 Real Mallorca (La Liga)

Pedro
1 goal, 2 key passes
Barcelona 4-0 Stuttgart (Champions League)

Pedro
1 goal, 2 assists, 1 key pass
Barcelona 5-0 Cultural Leonesa (Copa del Rey)

Seydou Keita
3 goals, 1 assist
Barcelona 6-1 Real Zaragoza (La Liga)

Xavi
1 goal, 2 assists, 1 key pass
Villarreal 1-4 Barcelona (La Liga)

Yaya Toure
2 assists, 1 key pass
Barcelona 4-0 Real Valladolid (La Liga)

Arsenal's 4-3-3, Part 1

A short video which shows how Arsenal's new 4-3-3 formation at the start of this season enabled the team to play more fluent and ultimately high-scoring attacking football.

Dennis Bergkamp

In my unbiased opinion, the greatest technician the Premier League has ever seen - sublime first touch, a creative mind, unparallelled decision-making and a penchant for spectacular goals.

This excellent 10 minute video by jbgooner highlights all the different facets of his game. It was a pleasure to watch him perform his magic for a decade at my club.

The Perfect Striker

One of my favourite players outside of Arsenal, a footballing wizard who never really got the recognition he deserved despite being the major contributor to arguably the finest footballing achievement ever by any English team.

I am of course referring to the smiling assassin Dwight Yorke. A flamboyant personality on and off the field, he had all the ability of a traditional English centre forward but with the technique and intelligence of a modern-day multifunctional forward. He was a pioneer at a time when English teams were still obsessed with one-dimensional big man/small man strike partnerships.

In my eyes he was the perfect striker.

Premier League Statistics 2009/2010

As the curtain draws on another Premier League season, I thought I'd take a look at some of the best individual performers throughout the campaign. (courtesy of OPTA statistics)

On the goal front, Didier Drogba capped an excellent season with a final-day hat trick to seal the Golden Boot ahead of Wayne Rooney. Impressively, only 1 of his 29 goals came from penalties, compared to Rooney, Bent and Tevez' 5 penalty goals and Lampard's incredible haul of 10 from the spot. Accuracy-wise, Bent was the most clinical of the top 5 scorers, while Torres demonstrated once again that he is one of the best finishers in the world, netting from 29% of his shots (Adebayor with 30% topped the charts).

Unsurprisingly, Javier Mascherano topped the tackles won column with an incredible 81% tackle success rate. He is one of the world's leading midfield destroyers and his form has been one of the few bright spots in a very disappointing season for Liverpool.

Liverpool, Wigan and Aston Villa dominate the top of the charts but this doesn't necessarily translate into solid defence on the pitch, in fact Wigan have the 2nd worst defensive record in the top flight this season (79 goals conceded).

Interestingly, Carlos Cuellar is the only defender to feature at the top, his aggressive approach may be one of the reasons Villa have managed to keep such an excellent defensive record this season (Chelsea game aside).

Onto the creativity columns, and Lampard has without doubt been the most creative player in the league this season, creating the most chances (for the 2nd season running) and setting up the most goals directly. Fabregas is behind in 2nd and has missed a fair few games through injury but it's testament to Lampard's fitness that he has managed 36 games at the age of 31. He's an incredible athlete.

Kevin Davies' presence is a surprise but when you consider how many aerial balls he wins and how well he holds the ball up, it begins to make some sense. Bolton will certainly struggle once he declines.

Valencia is high up the chances created column yet only has 7 direct assists, which indicates that Manchester United's strikers have yet to adapt to his crossing game (despite Rooney's best efforts at improving his heading). Conversely, Giggs and Milner have recorded a high number of assists without creating as much as others overall, perhaps suggesting that they prioritise quality of service over quantity.

Drogba's 10 assists in addition to his 29 goals means he has directly contributed (on a statistical level at least) to more goals than any other player. With an excellent record against the top 8 teams, plenty of game-changing goals and generally an excellent level of variety + quality to his finishes, it seems absurd that he lost out to Wayne Rooney by a landslide in the PFA and FWA player of the year awards. The voting system needs to change to take into account the whole season, but even then the issue of bias towards certain nationalities remains.

Assists of the Week - Sunday 9th May 2010

A lot of great assists this week, it was a tough job whittling them down but here's the final cut.

David Beckham Goals, Passes + Assists 2002/2003

David Beckham's final season at Manchester United was blighted by his famous fall-out with Sir Alex Ferguson, but on the pitch he was still as reliable as ever, scoring goals and whipping in delicious crosses on the way to his 6th league title at the club.

Assists of the Week - Sunday 2nd May 2010

Assists of the Week is back after a 3 month break. This week's edition includes excellent passes from Danny Murphy, Lucas Leiva, Nilmar, Aleksandr Makarenko and one other surprise inclusion...

Eric Cantona 1993/1994

Following on from his debut half-season at Man Utd, Eric Cantona was again an inspirational figure for the club as he scored 25 goals and set up a further 13 on his way to winning the Premier League, FA Cup and Charity Shield. He was rewarded with the PFA Players' Player of the Year award for his exploits.