Scottish Mag 3 Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 December is always a key month in English football, with a multitude of games being packed into the schedule and plenty of points on offer for teams looking to become upwardly mobile before the New Year arrives. December 2006 in the Premiership saw Manchester United consolidate their lead at the top of the table, despite a rare loss at West Ham, and the Opta Player of the Month reflects United's general dominance. Cristiano Ronaldo was virtually unplayable throughout December, featuring in all six of Manchester United's games, and scoring in four of them. Indeed, the Portuguese scored two goals in three successive matches for United, contributing six of the nine goals the Red Devils knocked past Aston Villa, Reading and Wigan Athletic. Not only was Ronaldo in deadly goalscoring form, but he also created two more strikes for his side and delivered 25 crosses, second only to Ryan Giggs. If he can continue this form for another month or so then surely he will be named the Premiership's player of the season. He was the league's top scorer in December with seven goals. In second place is Newcastle United captain Scott Parker who was a key figure in the Magpies' steady recovery during December. His side played a mammoth seven games in the month, winning four of them, with Parker notching his side's third goal in their 3-1 win against Spurs. He also ended the month with one assist and made 25 tackles in the heat of the engine-room. Third place goes to Manchester United's Louis Saha who may not have generated headlines as glowing as Ronaldo but was still effective for the league leaders. The Frenchman scored only one goal but was constantly involved in their build-up play and had a pass completion of well over 80%. Fourth and fifth places go to two players from London clubs, Arsenal's Robin Van Persie and Chelsea's Frank Lampard. The former finally hit a rich vein of goalscoring form in December, ending the month with three goals, while the latter was one of the few Chelsea players to show some consistency, scoring twice and creating three other goals for the champions. Player Team Index Score Cristiano Ronaldo Manchester United 2270 Scott Parker Newcastle United 1520 Louis Saha Manchester United 1494 Robin van Persie Arsenal 1448 Frank Lampard Chelsea 1384 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammynb 2934 Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 even Dr Gloom made a mention about the teams performances when Parker plays recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ally 0 Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 Parker only played 3 games in December, OPTA are talking shit. Oh, and we lost 2 of them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmill 36825 Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 I think Opta stats are bollocks tbh. From what I can gather he's picked this up for making 25 tackles, one assist and scoring one goal in the month. I don't think Parker's shit by any stretch, but second best player in the Premiership in December? I'm not sure he's even been the second best player in our team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Maul 0 Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 He's fucking wank and the team plays worse when he's on the pitch. The sooner people learn that, the better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmill 36825 Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 That's bollocks like, he's quite clearly not fucking wank. Amdy Faye was wank. Parker's a good player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Maul 0 Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 That's bollocks like, he's quite clearly not fucking wank. Amdy Faye was wank. Parker's a good player. He's wank. It's a fact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 Feast or famine tbh. And he doesn't go to the games. The CLS emo twat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Maul 0 Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 Feast or famine tbh. And he doesn't go to the games. The CLS emo twat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 Feast or famine tbh. And he doesn't go to the games. The CLS emo twat. JOKE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ally 0 Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 Parker isn't a wank player at all, not in the slightest. Its just with the squad we have, and potential midfield partners at his disposal, the team is sometimes better balanced without him in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Maul 0 Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 Feast or famine tbh. And he doesn't go to the games. The CLS emo twat. JOKE! I could take the 'emo twat' bit, it was the fact you accused me of coming from Chester that hurt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 Feast or famine tbh. And he doesn't go to the games. The CLS emo twat. JOKE! I could take the 'emo twat' bit, it was the fact you accused me of coming from Chester that hurt. I thought you were. Sorry, I can see how that would cause offence. Washington is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Maul 0 Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 Feast or famine tbh. And he doesn't go to the games. The CLS emo twat. JOKE! I could take the 'emo twat' bit, it was the fact you accused me of coming from Chester that hurt. I thought you were. Sorry, I can see how that would cause offence. Washington is it? Aye. Coming from Washy is just as bad like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 It's just like Paris man. You even number the districts just like they do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sima 0 Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 Do Opta count the stat of "Mongs who shout GERRRRRRRINNNN!!!!!! as a player goes to ground for no apparent reason and not even winning the ball"? This could be the result of Parker's high placing. Either that or pirouettes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 Do Opta count the stat of "Mongs who shout GERRRRRRRINNNN!!!!!! as a player goes to ground for no apparent reason and not even winning the ball"? No. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meenzer 14247 Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 Mongs who shout GERRRRRRRINNNN!!!!!! That's just Asprilla's foreskin's World Cup song Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark 0 Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 It's just like Paris man. You even number the districts just like they do. We don't anymore. Ted Maul/Skol/Briggs Emo Can't believe you accepted being called that... well with that hairstyle suppose you have to Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOPTOON 0 Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 Parker is an absolute class player!! I really don't understand his critics, he can't be MOM every game ya KNAA!! When he hasn't been our MOM people get on his back when he clearly didn't do anything wrong and was one of the players who were half decent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renton 18559 Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 Parker is an absolute class player!! I really don't understand his critics, he can't be MOM every game ya KNAA!! When he hasn't been our MOM people get on his back when he clearly didn't do anything wrong and was one of the players who were half decent! We play better without him though, don't know how anyone can deny that. All this proves is OPTA statistics are meaningless imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 Parker is an absolute class player!! I really don't understand his critics, he can't be MOM every game ya KNAA!! When he hasn't been our MOM people get on his back when he clearly didn't do anything wrong and was one of the players who were half decent! He's not an absolute class player anymore than he's fucking wank. Good player though who gives 100%. Ally was spot on in his assessment imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fish 9382 Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 he's average. better players out there, and certainly have been better Premiership performaners in Dec. I think OPTA use things like distance traveled, tackles attempted and passes completed. well Parker runs about alot, he attempts a shit load of tackles and he makes a lot of short passes. this doesn't mean the runs are helpful, the tackles are won and if the Passes are at all useful or not Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Maul 0 Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 It's just like Paris man. You even number the districts just like they do. We don't anymore. Ted Maul/Skol/Briggs Emo Can't believe you accepted being called that... well with that hairstyle suppose you have to Being called an Emo pales in comparison to being told I come from Chester-le-Street. And anyway, me hair's class. Nee way is it emo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 I think it does take into account whether or not the tackles are successful btw but they are/can be misleading to a degree. They're an aid to help analyse performance rather than the be all and end all. Ronaldo is top though and he probably was the best midfielder in December. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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