Well, I’ve always been into football stats, especially when it comes to big matches. So, when the game between PSG and Girona Futbol Club came up, I decided to dig into the stats and see how accurate they really are.
I started by gathering data from various sources. I went to some common sports news websites and downloaded the stats they provided about the game. I printed them out and spread them all over my table. It was like a battlefield of numbers!
First, I looked at the possession stats. The reports said PSG had 60% possession. I thought, “That sounds about right, PSG is a big – name team and usually controls the game.” But then I watched the replay of the game. I sat on my couch, with a bag of chips in my hand, and carefully watched how often each team had the ball. It seemed to me that the possession was a bit more evenly split than the stats showed. Maybe it was more like 55 – 45.
Next, I checked the shots on goal. The stats claimed PSG had 15 shots on goal, while Girona had only 5. I counted the shots myself during the replay. I was like a little referee with a pen and paper. And you know what? I found that PSG actually had around 12 clear shots on goal, and Girona had about 7. The official stats were way off in this case.
I also looked at the passing accuracy. The stats said PSG had a 90% passing accuracy, which is super high. I watched some key passages of the game where PSG was passing the ball around. I saw quite a few passes that went astray. I guessed their passing accuracy was more like 80%. It made me wonder how they calculated these numbers in the first place.
After spending hours going through the game, checking and double – checking the stats, I realized that the official statistics can be pretty inaccurate. There are so many factors that can affect the numbers, like human error in counting or the way the rules for defining a stat are set.
So, in conclusion, when it comes to football stats, we can’t just take them at face value. We have to be a bit skeptical and do our own research if we really want to know what happened in a game. It’s like when you’re buying a used car, you don’t just trust what the seller says, you check it out yourself. The same goes for football stats!