Damn lies and statistics

Setanta sports have published a neat little performance comparison of Newcastle's defenders here.

According to the OPTA stats, Beye made more tackles then Taylor and Faye put together and won 78% of all the tackles he went in for. Habib showed fantastic judgment in the defensive third and didn't give away a foul within 30 yds of goal at all. Beye made 50 interceptions and actually only gave away 12 fouls all season, which goes to show the heavy handed refereeing that allowed him to somehow get 5 yellow cards.

The comparison includes yet to be confirmed new boy Coloccini who seems to have similar stats to Habib Beye with a very similar number of corners conceded. This suggests a similar no nonsense approach from the Argentinian who played every minute of Depor's La Liga action. Adding to this defensive strength the stats showed that Coloccini weighed in with 4 goals and a huge number of passes. Indeed the pass success rate shows that Coloccini and Taylor could turn the back four into a decent passing unit.

We look forward to seeing the results of this season.