STAT ATTACK: England, Spain, Italy & Germany
March 16th 2009 14:03
Vedad Ibisevic has left his mark on the German Bundesliga this season.
Player statistics for the English, Spanish, Italian & German leagues as of March 17th 2009
Like so many others, I love to keep tabs on the latest statistics in basically every league around. Players can talk all they like about how great they are but in the end the talking has to be done on the pitch and the facts divide the pretenders from the champions.
In the table above are the latest goals, assist and games played stats from England, Spain, Germany and Italy.
ENGLAND
In England Anelka leads the pack with 15 goals after hitting his first ten goals in Premier League record time. He's slowed down quite a bit of late though, just before the sacking of coach Phil Scolari and during Drogba's renaissance now. It's also interesting to see that though Anelka is top scorer he hasn't provided his teammates with any assists.
The other recognisable big names are up there with Ronaldo in second position with 13 goals and 5 assists whilst Gerrard and Lampard are both slotted in at fifth position with 10 goals and 6 assists a piece; Gerrard having played three games less though.
Personally I'm most impressed with the exploits of Kevin Davies (3rd) and Robinho (Equal 3rd). Kevin Davies is an Englishman who has always scored goals in the Premiership for Bolton over the past 4 or 5 seasons yet he has never won a cap for England. He thinks it may be because he doesn't look as 'flamboyant' as his counterparts and I'd attest to that.
When Robinho arrivied in England I really doubted he'd be effective against Premier League defenders because of how slight he is but he's proved me wrong. He's so nimble and quick it doesn't matter how lightweight he is and his 11 goals and 4 assists are proof of that. Manchester City fans must love him.
SPAIN
La Liga has got to have two of the world's best strikers and a football prodigy like no other. Samuel Eto'o tops the goal ranking with 23 in 25 games. I'm terrible at math but that's a 92% chance of Eto'o scoring in a La Liga game.
Then there's David Villa in 2nd position with 19 goals in 23 games and and Forlan with a better 18 goals in 21 games.
For a player who is still only 21 Messi just blows my mind away. In 23 games he has 18 goals playing from his right flank position and an incredible 10 assists. The Barca team are definitely a much better side when he is on the pitch (obviously Eto'o would back that up) and no other player in world football is playing on his level right now.
ITALY
In Serie A former Juve man Marco Di Vaio is proving experience is invaluable with 19 goals in 28 games.
In second place Zlatan Ibrahimovich hasn't lived up to manager Jose Mourinho's description as the "best player in world football" but you cant doubt his excellence nevertheless. 15 goals in 25 games and a contribution of 6 assists is pretty good compared to other strikers.
Other than the surprising amount of players with a name beginning with the letter "A" filling up the other slots in Serie A's top goal scorers I think Adrian Mutu and Alexandre Pato are worth special mentions.
Mutu has come a long way since his drug incident back at Chelsea. It's nice to see a great player pick himself up and get back to where he used to be. 12 goals in only 17 games is a very wealthy return for his club Fiorentina.
12 goals in 26 games plus a contribution of 5 assists from Alexandre Pato. He's got a lot of pressure on his back leading the line for Milan but he's doing alright for a 19 year old and better than others older than him.
GERMANY
In Germany well traveled Brazilian striker Grafite is scoring freely for VfL Wolfsburg with an incredible 18 strikes in 17 games. But I have to save the best for last.
24 year old Bosnian striker Vedad Ibisevic has rocked the Bundesliga like no other player. Ibisevic played much of his youth football in the United States college football system and a small portion in the MLS for Chicago Fire (Played 3 games in which he scored 3 goals).
After leading the league for a short time his club TSG Hoffenheim currently sit in 5th place in the Bundesliga; Not a bad position for a side which was promoted only this season and playing 3rd division football only two years ago.
Much of TSG Hoffenheim's good fortune is a result of Ibisevic's fine form in which he has scored an incredible 18 times in 17 games, racking up a hefty 6 assists along the way as well. Sadly there is little chance for Ibisevic to hit the 20 goal mark after he injured ligaments way back in January. Regardless I'm sure he has a bright future ahead of him be it in the Bundesliga or elsewhere.
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