The Almighty 2015 Summer Transfer Window Thread

Without Benzema Madrid wouldn't have won la Decima. He would be perfect for us, far better than Giroud though in a sort of similar mould.

Griezmann, anyone? Or would he cost three arms and a testicle

Griezmann, anyone? Or would he cost three arms and a testicle

Would rather have Reus in that case.

Griezmann and Benzema can stay where they are.

Griezmann and Benzema can stay where they are.

Some just want to watch the World burn

What's wrong with Griezmann? There's the 15 goal a season wide player Wenger's looking for. Plus he's been playing at striker for Atletico and knows how to find the back of the net

No to Higuain plz.

Spurns more chances than Oli G

No to Higuain plz.Spurns more chances than Oli G

One of the best poachers in the world, but ok.

Scored 18 goals in a notoriously hard league to score goals in, but ok.

Was the best central forward at Real Madrid, but ok.

Has awesome facial hair, but ok.

One of the best poachers in the world, but ok.Scored 18 goals in a notoriously hard league to score goals in, but ok.Was the best central forward at Real Madrid, but ok.Has awesome facial hair, but ok.

How many of them were pens? And notoriously hard? Luca Toni at the age of 38 got 22 in a piss poor side

How many of them were pens? And notoriously hard? Luca Toni at the age of 38 got 22 in a piss poor side

And how many of Luca Toni's goals were penalties? Icardi? Tevez?

Anyway, you're wrong. Higuain is fantastic. When he ends 2015-2016 having scored 30 goals in his debut season for Arsenal, I want a written apology from you, in blood.

Sign Bale. Piss off Spurs fans.

I know it won't happen....but can you imagine.

Big Luca scored the same amount of pens as Gonz

Therefore Carlitos Tevez is the best with fuckboy Icardi being an average piece of shit

I'm not buying into the "goals are hard to get in Seria A". Are you suggesting that a striker will find it easier to score in the Premier League? Cavani had 30+ goals for 3 consecutive seasons in Napoli. Now, a 54 year old is the top scorer in Seria A...

I'm not buying into the "goals are hard to get in Seria A". Are you suggesting that a striker will find it easier to score in the Premier League?

puts on my stats analysis hat:

Yes and no! Overall, there are more goals scored in Italy in general. But there are fewer teams capable of scoring a lot. As a collective, Italian teams score (and therefore concede) more than English or Spanish teams, and the league is more competitive in general:

• Serie A: 51.20 avg goals scored per team. 67.20 avg goals per team in the top five, 40.66 avg goals per team in the bottom six. Top scoring team had 72 goals.

• La Liga: 50.45 avg goals scored per team. 87.20 avg goals per team in the top five, 31.33 avg goals per team in the bottom six. Top scoring team had 118 goals.

• Premier League: 48.75 avg goals scored per team. 69.40 avg goals per team in the top five, 34.16 avg goals per team in the bottom six. Top scoring team had 83 goals.

More goals in total doesn't necessarily mean it's easier for a striker to score, it just means there is a smaller gap between the top and bottom teams:

• Serie A: Only a 26.54 avg goal difference between the top and bottom teams.

• La Liga: Massive 55.87 avg goal difference between top and bottom teams, perfectly illustrating what an unbalanced two-horse race La Liga is.

• Premier League: 35.24 avg goal difference between top and bottom teams.

From an individual's perspective it's not that much harder to score - the top five scorers in Serie A compare almost identical to the Premier League:

• Serie A top five scorers: 19.6 avg goals per player.

• Premier League top five scorers: 20.2 avg goals per player.

However...despite football becoming more global, and country-specific styles have become more similar, Italy is still quite weird in comparison to the rest of Europe. There is a heavy emphasis on tactics still, making it much harder for attacking players to find space and express creativity.

This helps defenders as well, as they usually have great backup from players in front of them, due to the team mentality. This is why the highest scoring team in Serie A only managed 1.89 goals per game, compared to 2.18 in the Premier League and 3.10 in La Liga.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a perfect example of how Serie A transforms individuals into team-centric drones. When he arrived from Ajax, he was the ultimate egocentric footballer. Everything focused on him, his creativity was key and he was doing tricks non-stop for 90 minutes every game. But just six months in Italy and all his individuality was gone.

TL;DR:

No, statistically it's not harder for a striker to score in Serie A than in the Premier League. But Italy is not about great individual moves deciding games, it's all about the collective tactical approach. Most strikers coming to Italy have to quickly adapt to this approach, they can't just keep playing like they did in Spain or England.

So basically the TL;DR is that Higuain is a bit poop

So basically the TL;DR is that Higuain is a bit poop

Or he's good at adapting to different styles and approaches, which makes him perfect to come to a new country and score 100+ goals in his debut season for Arsenal.

Or he's good at adapting to different styles and approaches, which makes him perfect to come to a new country and score 100+ goals in his debut season for Arsenal.

Like a FM06 Valeri Bojinov

Jesus Christ that's a long post...

Jesus Christ that's a long post...

Wow.