They would be bottom of the league. Scratching the controversial Uruguayan’s goals and assists for the season and Liverpool would be winless at the foot of the table. Without Van Persie Manchester United would sit in twelfth. Do these statistics mean anything at all?
It was one of the biggest transfer sagas of the summer and perhaps in Premier League history as Manchester United pried a star-player from one of their biggest rivals. Robin Van Persie’s big money move to Old Trafford from The Emirates came as a shock too few after it became increasingly apparent it was the only destination he wished for.
No clearer has the effect of the forced extraction of their star asset been than at Saturday lunchtime. United comprehensively outplayed their North London opponents with RVP bagging a typically predatory early finish after Thomas Vermaelen seemingly forgot which team he played for.
An interesting statistic came up after this game that involved where exactly in the league table Manchester United would currently lay if you extract Robin Van Persie’s goals and assists from the equation.
The answer is twelfth.
United would sit below Liverpool, Swansea and Newcastle United in the bottom half of the table while Arsenal would be in fifth position although still struggling to be considered serious title contenders.
It is a statistic of course that in reality has no weight. Manchester United have plenty of capable players at their disposal who would pick up the goalscoring mantle in the absence of RVP. Javier Hernandez, Danny Welbeck and Wayne Rooney in a more advanced position would not allow United to languish in the bottom half of the table after 10 fixtures.
It does not however mean these statistics do not show how important RVP is to United. Southampton in this hypothetical table sit off the bottom step as they would have beaten Sir Alex’s men at St Marys without the Dutchman’s solo effort.
Perhaps a better example of how one player can be so important to a single team would be the Premier League table if Luis Suarez’s current statistics were to be struck from the record. There was a brief period where he was linked with a move to Juventus but he instead signed a new deal this summer.
Forgiving all his apparent misgivings, if you are to base your opinion on the Uruguayan purely on footballing talent then there is no doubt he is one of the best operators in the league. At the weekend the pesky forward forced Newcastle United stalwart Fabricio Coloccini to Kung-Fu football in frustration. His goal in the same fixture was truly sublime.
So take away his goals and assists and where are Liverpool without the man dubbed as their very own Lionel Messi by Brendan Rodgers.
Liverpool would sit bottom of the league.
Without Suarez the Merseyside club would have won zero games drew twice and been defeated no fewer than eight occasions. It is a swing of nine points from reality and its hypothetical cousin. The difference between this example and that at United is without Suarez you cannot see where else the goals would come from at Anfield.
Would they be bottom of the table without him, no probably not, but would they have drawn against Everton? Would they have thrashed Norwich? Drawn with Manchester City?
Say what you want about the lad but there is a reason why many Liverpool fans will back their man to the hills. He is a quite sensational footballer on his day.
What do you make of these statistics?
image: © Viking-
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