Why the Eye Test is Important in Football

A thread:

Jose Mourinho said “I can analyze what I can see.” when talking about the evolution of Lionel Messi.

This simple phrase describes what the Eye Test is. The ability to judge a player using one’s own intuition without the use of statistical analysis and raw data.

In 2013, Franck Ribery unfortunately missed out on the Ballon D’or. He finished third behind Messi and and eventual winner, Ronaldo.

Ribery missed out because according to stats, Ronaldo and Messi were the far superior footballers, which is wrong.

The field of statistics can be very deceptive, and it's simple to draw seemingly logical conclusions from limited data. A player's value and quality is dependent on more than goals scored in all competitions.

By that logic, Lewandowski should be the Ballon d’or winner this year.

Ronaldo scored 34 goals that season, which seems impressive but one thing those stats don’t say were that in 19 of those games Madrid were already in the lead.

Ronaldo often went missing in big games with Karim Benzema taking up his slack like against Dortmund.

Lionel Messi scored 46 goals that season, but 26 of those goals were scored against teams where Barcelona were already ahead.

Messi was more clinical in big games than CR7 who finished trophyless that season but LM10 frequently went missing himself.

Ribery never touched Messi and CR7’s goal scoring records obviously but what stats didn’t show were that his goals and assists counted for more.

Ribery was a harder worker on the field, Messi more prone to walking if he’s not creating and Ronaldo just waited to be fed the ball.

Even Mourinho highlighted the fact that he tried to work on Ronaldo’s defensive aspects but CR7 never listened and that was something that the Dortmund player’s exploited.

Another player who’s wrongfully judged by stats is Roberto Firmino.

A lot of non-Liverpool fans continuously disrespect him because he doesn’t score as much as other forwards or his attacking output isn’t that eye-opening.

Peter Crouch said, “He is the man who makes Liverpool tick. He’s a genius.”

Without Firmino, Salah and Mane wouldn’t score a much as they did. Firmino, similar to Bergkamp for Arsenal, is the catalyst for Liverpool’s attack but he wasn’t the direct assister/goalscorer.

Firmino leads Liverpool’s press, with him tied for first with possession won in the final third. He also is 7th for most big chances created and he’s made more key passes than Auba, Aguero, Rashford and Kane. His finishing hasn’t been that great but his playmaking is still elite.

Pochettino’s said that Firmino was in his top 3 favorite players in the league with Agüero and De Bruyne and its for good reason. He’s a dangerous player even if stats say otherwise.

Other players done wrong by stats are:

- Giggs
- Hazard
- Iniesta
- Verratti
- Thiago
- Modric
- Messi
- Ronaldo
- Bergkamp

Statistics and bar charts don’t tell you the entire story. Football is a game meant for you to watch and observe.

The Eye Test rules all.

Retweets appreciated please this shit took so long.

Thank you to @Aary0uz for his help with Firmino. Go follow him.

Follow me for more tweets like this btw I’d really appreciate it