Who didn't like Sanchez

Please don't keep up this level of delusion, it makes for a bad reputation amongst Arsenal fans; almost Liverpool like. Just because Giroud has had one decent striking record in 3 seasons at Arsenal at the age of 28 it doesn't mean that he's better than Robert Lewandowski.

Giroud is a better striker than Lewandowski at the moment. No one has said Giroud is the best striker in the history of the sport, just that currently he is one of the best.

And again, someone needs to teach you a bit about context. Yes, Lewandowski has a good track record, but he's also played in a very weak league where faced with amateur teams every week. Not really that hard scoring in those conditions. Would he have that record in the Premier League? Not a fucking chance.

But does that also mean that Harry Kane is a better striker than Lewandowski at the moment?

I'm gonna be honest. I really hate stats in football. The obsession of stats over watching football with your own two eyes has become too much. There's too many variables in football for it to become stat-heavy like baseball imo

But does that also mean that Harry Kane is a better striker than Lewandowski at the moment?

Well, yes?

I'm gonna be honest. I really hate stats in football. The obsession of stats over watching football with your own two eyes has become too much. There's too many variables in football for it to become stat-heavy like baseball imo

I don't rely fully on stats, but I also don't think my eyes know better than actual facts. Giroud scores more goals per 90 minutes than Lewandowski, in a vastly superior league (harder to score goals in the Premier League), in a team with lesser and more injury prone talent. You don't need stats to figure out that Giroud is doing exceptionally well.

I know I don't need stats to tell me that Giroud is doing great this season, but saying Giroud & Kane are better strikers than Lewandowski because of stats is when I start to ignore them. They're clearly not better than him when I watch them all play.

Andres Iniesta is one of the best midfielders I have ever seen, but his goals and assist stats are terrible and if you went purely by stats probably 7/10th's of La Liga's attacking midfielders are 'better than him'. Don't get me wrong, I find statistics interesting; but I really don't like how stats is dominating football somewhat.

I know I don't need stats to tell me that Giroud is doing great this season, but saying Giroud & Kane are better strikers than Lewandowski because of stats is when I start to ignore them. They're clearly not better than him when I watch them all play.

The problem with trusting your eyes is that you apply too much emotion and opinion into what is actually happening, which is why stats are important. They don't lie, they tell a complete objective truth about one or more attributes of a player.

And again, they are better strikers, at the moment. If Lewandowski was a better striker than either of them, he would be scoring more goals and making more assists, especially in context - he's up against lesser teams on a weekly basis and he has world-class players around him that should be serving him better passes. Yet he's not performing to an expected standard of a Bayern striker.

Andres Iniesta is one of the best midfielders I have ever seen, but his goals and assist stats are terrible and if you went purely by stats probably 7/10th's of La Liga's attacking midfielders are 'better than him'. Don't get me wrong, I find statistics interesting; but I really don't like how stats is dominating football somewhat.

Iniesta had great stats when he was in his prime. He doesn't anymore because frankly he's not that good anymore.

Stats have less power when talking about midfielders and in particular, playmakers. They might not get an assist because the striker misses his chance, they might break the entire defense, pass it and the ball might get passed once more so he gets no credit in goals/assists stats etc.

Stats have less power when talking about midfielders and in particular, playmakers.

But hold on, you say 'stats' as if there's a global set of them. Statistics just means measuring an aspect of a player's performance. So your argument doesn't work, there are ways to measure second- or third-generation impact.

They might not get an assist because the striker misses his chance

That would be a key pass anyway, so would be measured.

they might break the entire defense, pass it and the ball might get passed once more so he gets no credit in goals/assists stats etc

Again, this can be easily measured through chances created, adjusting for legacy passing across the pitch. The only real thing you can't measure is off-the-ball behaviour (dragging defenders out of positions, shaping opposition defensive lines through off-the-ball positioning, etc).

The man was talking about assists/goals in Iniesta's case. I'm saying it doesn't matter for a playmaker he can still be obliterating opposition.

The man was talking about assists/goals in Iniesta's case. I'm saying it doesn't matter for a playmaker he can still be obliterating opposition.

Well sure, but goals and assists are not the only stats that can be measured. Of course you can't measure Iniesta's impact through goals and assists alone. But there are 100 other stats you can measure his impact by.

It's fair enough you trust stats more than personal judgement. I just think otherwise and I think the majority of people would believe that Lewandowski is a better player than Giroud, which for me he undoubtedly is.

It's fair enough you trust stats more than personal judgement. I just think otherwise and I think the majority of people would believe that Lewandowski is a better player than Giroud, which for me he undoubtedly is.

Problem is that if we attach too much emotion or opinion, we end up debating whether Lewandowski or Giroud is the better player, when we can just look at the stats and facts and use that as the measure to decide once and for all who is better. Otherwise it's just opinion, which means no one is right and no one is wrong.

I'm not saying stats are the definitive measure of player quality, or even something we should fully trust (I've had plenty of discussions with Orbinho on Twitter when it comes to off-the-ball actions), but compared to raw opinion and emotional value, stats are far superior.

Lewandowksi at Dortmund was better than Giroud is now. But currently Giroud takes it.

I'm not saying stats should be disregarded, but if you look purely at goals scored per min etc then it as you said isn't indicative of player quality. Look at Bas Dost, he's got a great record this season but he's one of the worst strikers I've seen. He is awful to watch and can't do anything else but finish.

Lewa for me is probably my perfect Arsenal striker. Physically great, no rapid but has pace, supreme technically, amazing finisher, quality dribbling and good passing (not just flicks like Oli G). Close to van Persie when he was at us.

Sanchez was diver and cheat in Barca, that just show how important is influence from good manager and team. I prefered Reus back then, but Sanchez went next level with us. Better then his Barca or Udinese days.

Sanchez was diver and cheat in Barca, that just show how important is influence from good manager and team. I prefered Reus back then, but Sanchez went next level with us. Better then his Barca or Udinese days.

I see Sterling as a similar player, i hope we add him as well to our squad.

Updated minutes per goal in the Prem:

Giroud: 125 mins Costa: 103 mins Agüero: 98 mins Kane: 125 mins

Anyone who thought Giroud was a better striker than Diego Costa is a fool; I'm sorry.

Costa hasn't played at all that's why his minutes are good.

Giroud has played 1756mins whereas Costa has played 1960mins. 'Not playing as much' wasn't a factor with Giroud when people laughably thought he was better than Diego Costa.

He is better than Costa.

He isn't though. And the fabled stats prove it.