At Liverpool, the Statistics Sometimes Lie...
By GRAHAM RUTHVEN
Liverpool fans well recall just how deflated Anfield seemed when a League Two side, Northampton, sent the Reds crashing out of the Carling Cup at the first opportunity last September.
They remember the bleak perspective at which their recently appointed manager Roy Hodgson’s so-called “new era” was judged. It would be forgivable if they did not; what fan would wish to remember such downcast times, especially after Hodgson’s successor, Kenny Dalglish, has restored the pride on Merseyside.
On Saturday the Reds will again cross paths with Hodgson, now managing West Bromwich Albion, a meeting that comes days after Dalglish’s side went some way to avenging last year’s humiliating exit from the Carling Cup by reaching the quarterfinals of the competition, defeating Stoke City, 2-1.
And while the victory stands in stark comparison to Hodgson’s failure last year, Hodgson’s results — oddly — compare favorably with Dalglish’s since he took over in January. Over the course of Hodgson’s 31 games in charge of Liverpool, he managed 13 wins, 9 draws and 9 losses, while in Dalglish’s first 34 matches, his team won 17 times, drew 8 and lost 9.
But it’s often said that you can prove anything with statistics, and these particular figures can’t possibly show the true extent to which Dalglish has transformed Liverpool in less than a year in charge.
Despite only being in charge for only six months, Hodgson amassed a rather ignominious collection of unwanted records. Upon his exit in January, he had led to Liverpool to its fewest wins at that stage of the league season (7), its most defeats (8), the fewest goals scored (23) and the worst goal difference (-1). And of Hodgson’s 13 wins, four were Europa League qualifiers before the league season had begun.
In contrast, Dalglish’s winning percentage since starting his second spell as manager stands at 52 percent, giving him the third highest percentage of any manager in the club’s history, behind only Joe Fagan and Bob Paisley.
But no comparison is as stark as simply examining where each manager’s team sat in the Premier League table at this point in the season. Hodgson’s Liverpool languished one place above the bottom with a measly six points from eight games, while Dalglish has led his current team to sixth, only four points out of the Champions League places.
Perhaps Reds fans should try to remember how the Hodgson era felt, because it is true that statistics can prove anything.
Unless they’re countered by more convincing statistics.
Corner kick: Can Liverpool’s turnaround be traced directly to the arrival of Dalglish, or the departure of Hodgson? Or was it something else, namely the £50 million Dalglish got for Fernando Torres, which he then turned into the purchases of Andy Carroll and Luis Suárez?
http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/29/at-liverpool-the-statistics-sometimes-lie/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+nyt%2Frss%2FSports+%28NYT+%3E+Sports%29