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Drogba v. Rooney: Chelsea's Ivorian still has edge over Man Utd striker
However this season’s Premier League finishes, people will look back over the year at how two of the best strikers in the world have dominated proceedings for their clubs.
Earlier in the season I debated what evidence there was for Drogba, Rooney or Torres being the best striker in the league, and praised Drogba for being the most effective. Since then, even the most biased Chelsea fan would have to admit that Rooney has been on an incredible run of form and has proved prolific in front of goal. He now has four more goals in the league than Drogba, and effectively rendering the loss of Ronaldo irrelevant has been no mean feat.
Looking at the stats though, the difference between the two is too close to call. On average Rooney has scored a league goal every 95 minutes, Drogba has taken five minutes longer (a goal every 100 minutes). If you take into account assists though (Drogba has made nine compared with Rooney’s five) Drogba ‘contributes’ a goal every 71 minutes compared with one every 80 for Rooney.
Stats like this, of course, tell only one part of the story. Man Utd fans will point to Rooney’s other contributions to the team – for example his all action style, leadership, tracking-back and tackling. Chelsea fans of course would do the same for their man: he has probably been Chelsea’s most reliable defender from set pieces, he is one of the team’s most vocal leaders, he plays his game in the middle and out wide and his strength creates invaluable space for the likes of Anelka and Malouda.
So whilst these stats point to both strikers being almost equally balanced, I looked for other ways to compare their performance. Looking back over Drogba’s four goals against Arsenal this season, it occurred to me to compare which player scores most frequently against higher quality opponents. In this comparison, Drogba comes out comfortably ahead.
Flat track bullies?
So far this season, just over half (55%)of all Drogba’s 22 league goals have come against teams currently in the bottom half of the table. By comparison, 69% - or 18 – of Rooney’s goals have come against teams currently placed 11th or below. Elsewhere, just 14% (3) of the Ivorian’s goals have come against the bottom three, while well over a third of Rooney’s (38%) have come against those currently in the relegation places. In fact, nine of Rooney’s 26 goals have come in the four matches Man Utd have played against Portsmouth and Hull.
Making it tough at the top?
Drogba’s record so far against teams higher in the table is impressive: 23% of his goals have come against top four opposition. Rooney has only scored three goals against the top four (12%). In total, less than a third (31%) of Rooney’s goals have come against teams in the top half of the league. While Rooney still has an opportunity to score against Chelsea to come, Drogba will face both United and Liverpool before the season is through.
Looking more broadly than just the percentages – and trying to give some proportional value to scoring against teams of different ability – I looked at giving each goal scored a number of points based on the league position of the team against which it was scored. I’m no mathematician, but giving a range of points from 20 (for each goal scored against the team currently placed first in the table, Man Utd) to one (for each goal scored against the team currently 20th in the table, Portsmouth), seemed the fairest way.
Allotting points in this way, Drogba comes out on top again by a significant margin, scoring 220 ‘points’ to Rooney’s 181 (see table – click to enlarge).
Of course, in pointing to which player has been the most effective this season all these stats are flawed in some way. Firstly, not all games have been played, so whilst Drogba might have more games against better opposition to come, Rooney could well score hatfuls more against mid-table opponents still on Utd’s fixture list. More significantly, form changes everything too: one team’s resistance against Man Utd or Chelsea could be entirely different from one end of the season to the other. That also means that teams may have been in vastly different league positions. Furthermore, both players play in different sides who rely on them to varying degrees. Finally, I haven’t been able to look at goals scored in competitions other than the Premier League.
Nevertheless, the stats are indicative, and tell a part of the story that anecdote and opinion can’t reach. At the very least, they demonstrate how the number of goals in the ‘scored’ column alone doesn’t necessarily give the whole picture. Rooney will almost certainly win the key player of the year awards in the weeks to come – and those awards will be well deserved. But Drogba has been similarly unplayable and deserves equal recognition: the pre-World Cup hype of the English media and Chelsea’s recent decline shouldn’t colour judgement of his season come May.
http://www.bridgeviews.co.uk/bridge_...d-striker.html
However this season’s Premier League finishes, people will look back over the year at how two of the best strikers in the world have dominated proceedings for their clubs.
Earlier in the season I debated what evidence there was for Drogba, Rooney or Torres being the best striker in the league, and praised Drogba for being the most effective. Since then, even the most biased Chelsea fan would have to admit that Rooney has been on an incredible run of form and has proved prolific in front of goal. He now has four more goals in the league than Drogba, and effectively rendering the loss of Ronaldo irrelevant has been no mean feat.
Looking at the stats though, the difference between the two is too close to call. On average Rooney has scored a league goal every 95 minutes, Drogba has taken five minutes longer (a goal every 100 minutes). If you take into account assists though (Drogba has made nine compared with Rooney’s five) Drogba ‘contributes’ a goal every 71 minutes compared with one every 80 for Rooney.
So whilst these stats point to both strikers being almost equally balanced, I looked for other ways to compare their performance. Looking back over Drogba’s four goals against Arsenal this season, it occurred to me to compare which player scores most frequently against higher quality opponents. In this comparison, Drogba comes out comfortably ahead.
Flat track bullies?
So far this season, just over half (55%)of all Drogba’s 22 league goals have come against teams currently in the bottom half of the table. By comparison, 69% - or 18 – of Rooney’s goals have come against teams currently placed 11th or below. Elsewhere, just 14% (3) of the Ivorian’s goals have come against the bottom three, while well over a third of Rooney’s (38%) have come against those currently in the relegation places. In fact, nine of Rooney’s 26 goals have come in the four matches Man Utd have played against Portsmouth and Hull.
Making it tough at the top?
Drogba’s record so far against teams higher in the table is impressive: 23% of his goals have come against top four opposition. Rooney has only scored three goals against the top four (12%). In total, less than a third (31%) of Rooney’s goals have come against teams in the top half of the league. While Rooney still has an opportunity to score against Chelsea to come, Drogba will face both United and Liverpool before the season is through.
Allotting points in this way, Drogba comes out on top again by a significant margin, scoring 220 ‘points’ to Rooney’s 181 (see table – click to enlarge).
Of course, in pointing to which player has been the most effective this season all these stats are flawed in some way. Firstly, not all games have been played, so whilst Drogba might have more games against better opposition to come, Rooney could well score hatfuls more against mid-table opponents still on Utd’s fixture list. More significantly, form changes everything too: one team’s resistance against Man Utd or Chelsea could be entirely different from one end of the season to the other. That also means that teams may have been in vastly different league positions. Furthermore, both players play in different sides who rely on them to varying degrees. Finally, I haven’t been able to look at goals scored in competitions other than the Premier League.
http://www.bridgeviews.co.uk/bridge_...d-striker.html
Paul Marin -19 is one thing, 20 is a whole other matter. It gets even worse if they win the UCL. *groan*. 
05/18/2011.MU fans naah cough, but all a unuh a vomit?-Lazie 1/11/2015
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