Shooting Accuracy

[Sanj]

Just seen this on the Martin Tyler thread (http://www.skysports.com/opinion/story/0,25212,12038_5688495,00.html) on SkySports.com:
HE SHOOTS, HE SCORES...
Martin. During the Man U v Moscow analysis, Ruud Gullit said Michael Owen had become a 1 in 4 scorer, so my question is this: We often hear about strikers goals-to-game ratio but I was wondering who is the best striker in terms of goals to shots ratio? Could you do the top 10? It would be interesting to see the English strikers' return with a WC just around the corner....and I would like to see where Robin van Persie is. Keep up the good work Thanks, Marcus Glazebrook

MARTIN SAYS: The boys at Opta have looked into this for us and the stats make interesting reading. If you take strikers who have attempted 10 or more shots this season, the players with the best goals-to-shots ratio are Manchester City's Craig Bellamy and Sunderland's Kenwyne Jones. They have both had 14 shots this year and have both scored five goals. That means they have both scored with 35.71 per cent of their shots.
Tottenham's Robbie Keane is not far behind, while the Premier League's top scorer, Fernando Torres is fourth in the list. The leading Englishman is Gabriel Agbonlahor, who appears ahead of Darren Bent and Jermain Defoe - while Robin van Persie comes in 10th place having scored with just over 20 per cent of his shots.
Michael Owen does not make the top 10, arguably because of a lack of opportunity, but this is a very interesting question. As we are not yet a third of the way through the season, I look forward to revisiting this subject later in the season when we have a larger sample to look at.
Top 10 goals-to-shots ratio

Player Team Shots attempted Goals to shots ratio
Bellamy Man City 14 35.71%
Jones Sunderland 14 35.71%
Keane Tottenham 17 35.29%
Torres Liverpool 30 33.33%
Adebayor Man City 13 30.77%
Agbonlahor Aston Villa 22 27.27%
Saha Everton 31 22.58%
Bent Sunderland 36 22.22%
Defoe Tottenham 27 22.22%
van Persie Ars*nal 34 20.59%

Rather suprising results, tho i seem to remember Keano having the best goals/ shots ratio at the end of a season 2/3 years ago.

Also another couple of interesting stats relating to or including spurs players in the link.

 

[jamesc0le]

ohdear the stats have returned to save keano's arse once again!


it's getting beyond silly now

 

[mattdefoe]

at the end of the day its junk, If you dont shoot you dont score, its better to just have shots left right and centre rather than not.

 

[ShelfSide18]

Whilst very interesting, they are meaningless stats. I mean you can score with a weak shot that the keeper cocks up but have a brilliant effort that just goes past the post.

I'm a Keano fan (if you hadn't already guessed) but trotting out pointless stats like these (not an attack on you Sanj at all) makes a Keane fan look like he/she is desperately clutching at the last few remaining straws.

Stats are good in moderation, and when used sensibly, but it's not an argument to say Keane deserves his place in the team because his goals to shots ratio is better than Defoe's. At the moment it is patently obvious he is not on top of his game, and hasn't been for a fair while.

I do still dream of a team of Robbie Keanes though :roll:

 

[tylaw]

Why are they expressing the ratio as a percentage?

 

[SpurSince57]

Er, just to be pedantic, shooting accuracy and conversion ratio are different things entirely.

 

[tRiKS]

it's not meaningless at all. stats can have varied uses, they must be backed up with other comments thats true, but they are not meaningless.

 

[SpurSince57]

at the end of the day its junk, If you dont shoot you dont score, its better to just have shots left right and centre rather than not.

Or if your name happens to be Didier Zokora, you do shoot and you don't score.

 

[spursman85]

I'd agree they are not meaningless, but I think the sample needs to be over a longer period than the course of this season alone. This will only let you know about form, but luck plays a huge factor in how many of these goals go in, with deflections, keeper errors etc. If you do it over a longer period, luck is reduced and class comes to light. The only problem then is a player like Keane who was awesome two years ago and doesn't play well these days. So not meaningless, but not to get carried away with either.

 

[Adam]

I dont want to start a new thread as this one is essentially about our strikers, but with all the Keane baiting that has been going on recently, i cant help but feel that Defoe is seemingly becoming an untouchable, for example in the way that Robinson was in his early years with us.

As far as I can see, Defoe has been really poor since 00:31 vs United, and has offered very little to our overall game, which is disappointing considering how many options he gives the side. Since then, he has scored 1 league goal and got a stupid red card, as well as missing quite a few chances that Keane would have been slaughtered for, eg away at Chelsea and three at home to Burnley.

I am not saying that he should be dropped or that he isnt our best striker, but for those reasons i think we have the right to expect him to perform better, and in all honesty i cant see how he has played any better than Keane in the past two months in his favoured position, whilst our much maligned captain has been forced to do a job for the team in almost every game since Modric got injured, yet has still scored more goals.

 

[sherbornespurs]

Having worked for a government department for nigh on 40 years I have an ingrained suspicion of statistics, official or otherwise. I tend to take the healthy view of Josiah Stamp, an economist and banker of the early 20th Century;

"The government are very keen on amassing statistics. They collect them, add them, raise them to the nth power, take the cube root and prepare wonderful diagrams. But you must never forget that every one of these figures comes in the first instance from the village watchman, who just puts down what he damn well pleases."

I've no reason to suspect that the village watchman at Sky is any different from the village watchman in a government department.

 

[mattdefoe]

defoe has missed 2 league games remember, oh yeah we didnt score in one of them!

 

[weststandvoice]

Er, just to be pedantic, shooting accuracy and conversion ratio are different things entirely.

Spot on.

And another thing. Even this type of 'stat' is especially worth nothing as some bloke you've never heard of can score 5 for Wolves in one game and suddenly be a Prem super hero. So it's nonsense.

 

[SpurSince57]

Which is why you need to look at stats over several seasons, so you can weed out the one-season wonders.

 

[Woody10]

Interesting, but facts will never waver opinion.

If people dont like Keano then this wont change there minds! I do like Keano and he has improved alot regarding his finishing but he will always be the Marmite player!!

 

[Bus-Conductor]

Was I the only one who thought this thread was going to be about Tottenham's turkish mafia feud ?

 

[Coyboy]

Yes.