Hilfestellungen » they were immortals, to me, true heroes inside their helm

The early match on the last Saturday of 2013 will be remembered for being the Nicolas Anelka Celebration game. It is a pity because the contest, which ended 3-3 between West Ham and West Brom, was a highly entertaining affair. The first half alone gave all us all three possible result scenarios alone - draw, home team leading, away team leading. West Brom began the second half in the lead. Finally. Anelkas second goal of the contest in the 45th minute gave the Baggies their first lead in over a month. They coped with this well and looked the better team as the game came close to its final third but, suddenly, West Ham grabbed an unlikely equalizer. At 2-2, West Brom restarted the match stunned that they had allowed another lead to slip. They had not won a Premier League match for eight weeks, despite having been in front against Chelsea and Aston Villa. Here they were again, collapsing when they should have been at their best. Seconds after the restart, West Ham had the ball again. One minute and 55 seconds later they were ahead 3-2. Two minutes after that West Brom were back level having played more direct and determined, once they were losing, than they did when they were in front and, most certainly, level. We do not hear often about a teams performance relevant to the scoreline within the game. Football matches come and go, usually thought of directly by the final scoreline that gave the game its master title. How a team got to the victory can be watched on highlight shows but usually by the next day, and definitely by the next week, most people judge a team by whether or not they won a match. However, watching how a team responds when they have taken the lead is fascinating. Earlier this season I wrote a column on this site about how hard it is for a Premier League club to win when trailing 1-0, which included this stat: Last season in the Premier League, there were 33 matches that ended scoreless, and, subsequently, 347 occasions when a team took a 1-0 lead. The minute in which the goals were scored matters, of course, but of those 347 1-0 leads, only 54 times did those leads give the winning team no points. This means a team who took a 1-0 lead, had a 84.4 per cent chance of not losing the match.How a team plays when they are winning is essential for success. Last season, Chelsea had two different managers, two different identities but the exact same problem. Jose Mourinho speaks of that side like a rude, uncomfortable in-law. When he is asked of them, his face turns sour, he looks disgusted and bemused at what they were. Chelsea finished a distant third last season but led in 1,417 Premier League minutes, second only to champions Manchester United. In fact, these two teams were the only teams to lead in over a third of their minutes last season (1,140 minutes). Yet, when the Blues were in front, they were far from automatic winners. They were everything Mourinho believes a side shouldnt be, surrendering an incredible 14 leads. Manchester United and Manchester City gave away leads just six times all season, Arsenal eight times. Chelsea played over 330 more minutes in the lead of matches than City but still couldnt beat them in the table, giving away 17 points from winning positions. They lost the league by 14 points.A statistical look at teams in winning positions in 2013-14It is not exactly the halfway stage in the season but, with the FA Cup played last weekend, it feels like it. All teams have now played exactly 20 matches, and all have 18 to go. In total, 200 Premier League games have been played, resulting in 153 wins and 47 draws. All teams have played 1,800 Premier League minutes (* injury time in each half is counted as 45 and 90). Although only two teams led for over a third of their season last year, currently five teams are above this threshold in 2013/14.The fab fiveManchester City 949 mins (52.7 per cent) Liverpool - 911 mins (50.6) Arsenal - 779 mins (43) Chelsea - 681 mins (38) Manchester Utd - 606 mins (33.7) Uniteds low placement obviously stands out but it is actually surprising that they are on this list at all, given that they have only taken the lead 13 times so far this season. Here is a look at the amount of leads teams from this group have taken so far: Manchester City - 21 Chelsea - 19 Arsenal - 18 Liverpool - 17 Manchester United - 13 To lead often can lead to more opportunities to surrender such leads and it is interesting to see Chelsea still having issues in this area under Mourinho.Leads surrendered:Chelsea (7) - The Blues have given up the most amount from this group but have also gotten the most back, claiming an impressive five wins back from the seven surrendered (71 per cent). This continues to go against Mourinhos philosophy and it is interesting to watch his team improve in this area as the season has gone on. Man City (6) - Manuel Pellegrinis side have turned 50 per cent of these scenarios back into three points with the three games they failed in all coming before the end of October. Liverpool (5) - The Reds have had a very successful season so far but with just one lead recovery from a possible five attempts, they are becoming known as a momentum team who struggle to wrestle the game back their way when the other team is on top. Arsenal (4) - The Gunners have a very impressive record of surrendering just four of 18 leads so far and those four include two more lead recovery wins, meaning the only game, since the opening day loss to Aston Villa, they failed to win when leading was the home game against Everton. Man Utd (3) - United have the least amount of leads surrendered because they have only led 13 times. While the other four have at least 12 games where they have led, kept the lead, and won, United have just 10. This is down to their inability to score early. Only five times this season have they scored the games opening goal before the 45th minute and gone on to win the game. They did it 16 times in 2012-13. Last season, United got a lot of headlines for their ability to claim points while behind but what went under the radar was their ruthlessness when leading. They were ahead in 31 Premier League matches last season, going on to win 28 and draw three. Quite simply, the moment they got anywhere close to leading, they believed they would win. This season, United remain unbeaten when they are leading but their biggest problem has been the lack of time spent in front. Their current average of 33.7 per cent is a massive drop off from the 48.2 per cent they achieved last season. This has allowed doubts to creep in, taking away their confidence and handing other teams more opportunities (i.e. time) to take advantage of United when the game is scoreless. The three draws from winning positions last season meant United dropped just six points from winning positions in 38 matches (Swansea, Tottenham and WBA all away). It is no wonder a team that led in 1,647 Premier League minutes dominated so much. Points dropped from winning positions this season:Liverpool (10) - Second with 911 minutes led, this is why the Reds are not higher in the table, particularly the three points each they handed recently to Chelsea and Man City when they were winning 1-0 in both games. Man City (6) - These all came before the end of September, with losses at Cardiff and Aston Villa. Chelsea (5) - West Brom and Stoke were able to overturn deficits to earn points against Mourinhos men who would be at six if it wasnt for referee Andre Marriners decision to allow a late penalty to give them a 2-2 draw against the Baggies. Arsenal (5) - As stated above, these came in home games to Aston Villa and Everton. Man Utd (4) - David Moyes saw his side surrender leads against Southampton at home and at Cardiff (twice), forcing them to accept draws instead of wins.Best of the rest - Percentage of time spent winning this seasonNewcastle - 595 mins (33.1 per cent) - Alan Pardews men just miss out on the top category down to total minutes led but surpass Manchester United in other categories. The Magpies have taken the lead 17 times this season (tied for fourth). The high number is reached because they have surrendered seven of those leads but went on to claim four lead recovery victories (57 per cent), which has helped them get to 595 minutes. Incredibly, they need to lead for just 29 more minutes this season to pass their entire total from last season. Tottenham - 528 mins (29.3) - Spurs are also tied for fourth having taken the lead 17 times this season but, because they have struggled to score goals, many of their games (like Man Utd) have seen them take the lead late, meaning they have been unable to show they can keep a lead for a long time. They have only won four matches when they have scored the games opening goal in the first half. Hull City - 441 mins (24.5) - This is why Steve Bruces side are in the top half. It is also why he thinks his team should be higher than 10th. Their fast starts in matches have given them a real opportunity to play a lot of games in front. Over a halfway through the season, the Tigers have more first half minutes led than Manchester United (167-161). It says a lot about the champions but also quite a bit about the newly promoted side who know early leads are the key to their success. They have led 11 times, given up five and only got one lead recovery win but that was a special one for Hull, beating Liverpool 3-1. Southampton - 437 mins (24.3) - Despite their high position on this list, and in the league table, the Saints have taken the lead (eight times) no more than the likes of Crystal Palace and Sunderland. Yet, when they do get in front, they do tend to hold on to leads and that is a good thing because in the two matches they surrendered leads in, they actually went on to lose, albeit against tough opposition in Chelsea and Tottenham. Everton - 429 mins (23.8) - This is a fascinating case study. Everton sit fifth in the table, having won exactly 50 per cent of their games this season (10 of 20) but have led in less than a quarter of their season, placing them 10th on this list. They are tied for fourth with 17 leads but, like Newcastle, have given up seven leads and gained four lead recovery wins (57 per cent). No team in the league has spent more time drawing in games than Everton, at a rate almost two thirds of their minutes played, and it has been their ability to stay in games that has allowed them to do their damage late in matches, picking up points while not spending too much time in front. Ten first half goals compared to 22 in the second half tells the story. Norwich City - 385 mins (21.4) - It may not be as interesting as Everton, but for a team to lead in just eight games, give up three leads and claim none of them back, Chris Hughtons side have done well to get above 21 per cent in minutes led so far (last season they finished on 18.3 per cent). Hughton preaches a need for his defence to be solid and with leads lasting 77, 68, 60 and 56, so far this season, it shows the Canaries play confident when they get ahead early. Stoke City - 370 mins (20.6) - The above description could be assigned to Stoke teams of the past but their identity is changing under Mark Hughes. Stoke have led as many times as Manchester United (13) this season but have been unable to hold leads, giving up 12 points from winning positions already this season. Continuing with their evolution theme, they have managed to score more goals which has helped them claim three lead recovery victories. Swansea City - 291 mins (16.1) - There is a significant drop-off between Stoke and Swansea and this reflects the struggles for Michael Laudrups team in front of goal this campaign. Swansea led in 22.7 per cent of their season in 2012-13 but are almost two hours behind that pace this season, taking just eight leads on the season, while giving four of them back. In truth, they are fortunate to be this high. Alarmingly over half of their time winning games came in two matches, wins at West Brom and Crystal Palace back in September. West Ham - 290 mins (16.1) - West Ham have led more times than Swansea (10) but are tied for the league lead in wins surrendered with seven. They play nervous when they lead because they know they dont have the firepower to kick on. The team cannot score enough goals to recover from those blows, coming back to gain just two lead recovery wins (29 per cent), meaning they are top of the table no team wants to be - 14 points lost from winning positions. Sunderland - 282 mins (15.7) - The Black Cats have four games this season where the minutes led was 50 or more and they won just two of them. They have led eight games but given up five leads and have lost 11 points from winning positions. West Brom - 281 mins (15.6) - Last season, they led in over 25 per cent of their season but now two games are responsible for half of West Broms minutes led. One of those, when they led Aston Villa for 70 minutes, wasnt even a victory, one of five leads given up, with just two being recovered into wins. Fulham - 271 mins (15.1) - For the final 485 minutes of Martin Jols reign, Fulham led for exactly zero minutes. Under Rene Meulensteen, they have led in four of their last seven games, holding the lead for good in each of their last three. Fulham are traditionally terrible the moment they go behind, so they must start games better and the new manager has already improved that key area. Aston Villa - 270 mins (15) - Only twice this season have Villa led in a game for longer than 33 minutes - at Norwich and Sunderland. Their leads against Swansea and Sunderland over the festive period took their percentage from a dismal 10.8 per cent to a less dismal 15 per cent, which is still a far cry from the 23 per cent rate they finished last season with. They sit 11th but unless they can start playing better when they are ahead, a drop down the table looks likely. Crystal Palace - 246 mins (13.7) - Under Ian Holloway in the first eight games, Palace led for just 105 minutes, conceding 19 goals. Tony Pulis has now been in charge for eight games and has tightened up their defence, conceding just a goal per game, while finding a way to get leads. Four of their eight leads have come since Holloway departed and each one of them has turned into a win. Cardiff City - 204 mins (11.4) - Much was made about the great job Malky Mackay did for Vincent Tan but when he departed after 18 games, his team had led in just 7.4 per cent of their season. A lead for 84 minutes over Sunderland followed, until the visitors scored an equalizer in the last minute. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has a bigger job on than many seen to think. Later this week, I will have Part II on this study - a statistical look at how Premier League teams perform when they are losing. Cheap Nike Air Presto Uk . Wade is posting a short film on his website next week, with a sneak preview scheduled to come out Wednesday. Air Force 1 Cheap Near Me . The Mavericks avoided a season sweep by the Nuggets, who ran away with a win in Denver two weeks ago to hand Dallas its longest losing streak at three games. Dallas (42-28) got a boost in the playoff race when Miami rallied from seven down in the last 3 1/2 minutes to beat Memphis 91-86 Friday night. http://www.airforce1cheapuk.com/ . After losing a shutout bid in the dying seconds of Sundays win over the Colorado Avalanche, Luongo would not be denied against the punchless Oilers and is now just one back of Patrick Roy for 14th on the all-time list. Fake Huaraches For Sale . Bjoerndalen, who had failed to win any major race for two years before Sochi, writes in a Facebook entry that he is "full of energy and inspiration" after winning the 10-kilometre sprint and mixed relay at last months Olympics. Air Force 1 Shoes Clearance . -- Theres nothing like winning to bring hope for a struggling team.Back in the autumn of 1985, a seven-year-old child stood by a bridge waiting. There were no large crowds around him and, for early October, the south of England was beautifully warmer than anyone expected. This was a much simpler time. A time when sports stars had to make their way through some of the public areas to get to speak to the awaiting media, but they were able to do so without being mobbed. Each year, the winner of the pole position for the Grand Prix, on the Saturday, was required to make the journey behind the public grandstands on the front straight. In a few years, more and more professional autograph hunters would put a stop to such a simple passage and not much long after the entire complex was seen as being way below par to host a Grand Prix. But on this day, October 5, 1985, Brands Hatch circuit was the centre of the Formula One universe. The next day Alain Prost would become World Champion for the first time but today was all about that gorgeous black Lotus-Renault that popped and demanded your attention thanks to the yellow helmet belonging to a star in the making, 25-year-old driver, Ayrton Senna. Already it was plain to see that the young Brazilian was remarkable on a fast qualifying lap and an hour or so earlier he had taken his sixth pole position of the season. The boy waited to see if he could get a glimpse. And then he appeared, in his civvies, and just like that he was gone. In between he had taken a second to write his autograph in the book held tightly by the young fan. The next day the boy and his father stood on the final turn of Brands Hatch and watched with their very eyes as Senna, leading the race, collided with the Williams car of Keke Rosberg while battling for the lead. The crash, which for an added bonus knocked the easily unlikeable Nelson Piquet out of the race, forced Rosberg into the pits. When he returned he did so right in front of Senna and the charging Englishman Nigel Mansell. It was the kind of plot a moviemaker would think up, yet this was really developing in front of the eyes of stunned seven-year-old. An incensed Rosberg held Senna up, Mansell saw his moment and overtook the Brazilian. The crowd erupted immediately, like a football stadium reacting to a late goal. Mansell would go on to win his first-ever Grand Prix, joined by Senna and Rosberg on the podium. The boy was hooked. These days it will take you less than five seconds on Google to find an article preaching to its readers to not make a sports star your hero. One of the biggest issues surrounding this notion is that it is being told to you by an adult who has grown to know no one is perfect and feels the need to protect people from being let down. Children dont have much of a voice when it comes to adults but they certainly can teach us a thing or two about the innocent beauty of admiring a sports star for what he/she does in their chosen field, regardless of what they are like otherwise. That day, back in 1985, the seven-year-old boy who cried when the race was over, and spent the five-hour car ride home with his mind full of race cars driven by gladiatorial figures, didnt have a platform to write about what those drivers meant to him. Today, he does. I still have that autograph, now proudly placed in a frame beneath a painting of Sennas first win in Portugal, achieved in that gorgeous black Lotus. When I glance at it, I am reminded of that weekend in 1985. As we made the journey north towards home I didnt do it as an Ayrton Senna fan, after all, an Englishman had captured the hearts of thousands, completing a rags-to-riches story by winning his first ever Grand Prix. I was a Nigel Mansell fan. However, the beauty of youth and the sport, meant I could be much more than just that. This was not like football where you were taught to love one and despise all others. Grand Prix racers, with the exception of Mansells nemesis in Piquet, were to be admired and as the years went on, even during epic Senna-Mansell rivalry seasons, I feasted on the epic greatness from both. Id witness Mansell winning the British Grand Prix in 1986 and 1987 and in 1991 I was on the track when he drove by with Senna, hanging on his car as a passenger after retiring late in the race.dddddddddddd By then I was old enough to know Senna was better than Mansell and that was what made his victories even sweeter; knowing he had beaten the ultimate standard set by the greatest racing driver I had ever seen. Id watched from my couch, in the middle of the night, Sennas titanic tussles with Prost in Japan when the pair clashed for the 1989 and 1990 World Championships. The drama was incredible and the plots main character, Senna, was an enormous figure in my life. I never missed a race and the sport back then gave me memories to last a lifetime. The way my dad talked about Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier to me is how I can talk about Senna-Prost to my children. Id eventually hear the Brazilian anthem played for Senna at a Grand Prix in Belgium in 1991, the day Michael Schumacher made his first career start, but nothing came close to what I saw in 1993. This time the weather was far from nice. It was absolutely awful, in fact. We were no longer in the south either. My familys love for the sport had taken us to Donington Park, in Derbyshire, in early April. Remarkably, the crowd was very low, with the nation suffering an F1 hangover from Mansell packing his bags for Indycar. Those lucky enough to get absolutely drenched that day witnessed true greatness. Senna would win 41 Grand Prix races but his best happened that day as his McLaren danced in unison with the rain at the European Grand Prix. It is hard to put into words what he did, just watch his opening lap on Youtube and see for yourself. The rain master obliterated the field that day giving the fans and his rivals a lesson in perfection, every single lap. It was what all sports fans crave. Its one thing to witness a group of sports stars doing something we could never dream of, but it is quite something else to see someone take that standard to another level. To this day when I think of Senna I think of Donington Park for two reasons. I was there the day he won that race and I was there on May 1, 1994 when we lost him for good. That day he was in Italy for the San Marino Grand Prix, where ten years earlier I had been to see a race, the only one in Sennas career he failed to qualify for. A decade on he had different troubles. Troubles with his new Williams car and troubles with the sports safety after witnessing brutal, violent accidents on the Friday and Saturday of that race weekend. Young Rubens Barrichello survived his on Friday, Roland Ratzenberger wasnt so fortunate on Saturday afternoon, becoming the first F1 driver to be killed at a Grand Prix in 12 years. Id heard of his death on Saturday night on the new BBC Radio Five Live station and remember to this day how they teased it with Formula One loses its first driver since 1982, coming up well tell you who. I sat alone terrified, waiting for the answer. I was sixteen now but had been fortunate enough to watch these incredible men drive these amazing machines without ever getting the news that all motorsport fans fear. They were immortals, to me, true heroes inside their helmets guiding rocketships on wheels and leaving you with the most wonderful sound as they blasted by. I was part of the lucky generation. My dad, who had gotten me into the sport, had watched many of his favourites perish in years gone by but, for kids like me, we never faced such heartache. Until that weekend in 1994. That night I did what many teenagers in England did on Sundays - I listened to the Top 40 charts. Each song that came on provided background music to the career of Ayrton Senna da Silva that played out on my mind. I was overwhelmed by many different feelings, sadness being one of the main ones, of course, but, to this day, I remember the strongest emotion of all was pure disbelief. I kept wondering in mind, over and over, what it was going to be like to go to a Grand Prix without him being there. Twenty years on, the answer I got that night remains the same. The truth was it was never, ever the same. I had watched true greatness at a time when I was allowed heroes. After that, nothing could come close. ' ' '