Friday, November 24, 2006
European Soccer Teams
Live Up/Down to Stereotypes??
The ANNOTICO Report
Using sort of BSC methods,
two Britishers have used a weighted model of the
goals scored and conceded in all the top divisions in
There are seven Spanish clubs in the European
top 20, but only two Italian clubs.
First they ranked the strength of the
clubs in each league and then ranked the leagues. On this measure
(strength rather than predictability), the Spanish take the honours,
with the Premiership in second place. Next come the
French, then the Germans and only then the Italians.
The character of the leagues differs greatly, and not necessarily in the ways you would expect.
Which is the strongest attacking league in
There are seven Spanish clubs in the European
top 20, but only two Italian clubs. (Ranking Chart below)
November 25, 2006
The
Germans? Ruthless
but efficient. The Italians? Ruthless
but inefficient. The Dutch? Flair
and brains. The Spanish? Temperamental,
cant hack the pressure. The Greeks? Er, pass, give me another one. The
English? Tough but sloppy. The
Belgians? Who cares.
Come on, then. Tell me you dont share
these prejudices. Much football chat is like an episode of Mind Your
Language. I dont want to spoil the fun, but is
any of this true? The Fink Tank adjudicates.
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Dr Henry Stott and Dr Ian Graham have been assessing
the strength of European teams with three aims to rank European leagues, to assess their
character and to establish a league of the best European clubs.
Before the results, first a
word on our methods. We have used
a weighted model of the goals scored and conceded in all the top divisions in
The first thing that this enabled us to do
was to take an average of the strength of clubs in each league and then rank
the leagues. On this measure (strength rather than predictability), the Spanish
take the honours, with the Premiership in second
place. Next come the French, then the Germans and only
then the Italians.
The character of the leagues differs greatly, and not necessarily in the ways you would expect.
Which is the strongest attacking league in
The Premierships strength is dependent
on the big four Manchester United,
This work also enabled us to assess the
relative strength of the Scottish and English clubs. If Celtic and Rangers
competed with the English, where would they stand? Well, Celtic would be one of
the big boys. Even without any extra cash, they rank sixth, just behind Tottenham Hotspur. Rangers, on the other hand, may struggle
to retain Premiership status. Fink Tank ranks them in nineteenth place.
Finally, there is the European club ranking itself. Unsurprisingly,
There are seven Spanish clubs in the European
top 20, but only two Italian clubs.
Other interesting features
of the European ranking? Wigan Athletic are a
European-class team, creeping in near the bottom of the second rank of clubs.
In fact,
The
ANNOTICO Reports
Can
be Viewed, and are Archived at:
Italia
Italia Mia: http://www.ItaliaMia.com
Annotico
Email: annotico@earthlink.net