Manchester City had a wholly dismal afternoon at the King Power Stadium on Saturday.
Defensive frailties left Pep Guardiola’s side 3-0 down to Leicester inside the first 20 minutes, and Serbian international Aleksandar Kolarov came in for plenty of criticism for his part in the visitors’ struggles.
https://twitter.com/janhopis/status/807651721140994049
We can stop calling Otamendi the weak link now I think. I'm yet to figure out where Kolarov is actually supposed to be playing
— Sam Parker (@SmParker8) December 10, 2016
If you hadn’t seen the game, though, you could be fooled for thinking Kolarov actually had a good performance – well, at least if you looked at the stats.
The left-back midfielder winger centre-back footballer was given a rating of 8.63/10 by WhoScored, more than any other defender with the exception of Watford’s José Holebas.
Premier League Team of the Week – Gameweek 15 https://t.co/BIw8fiiPO3 pic.twitter.com/HJdaFl5sBF
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) December 12, 2016
In essence, the numbers demonstrate the limitations of certain statistics in football – it’s easy to measure the value of goals and assists, and Kolarov got one of each on Saturday, and a nominal defender achieving this can sometimes carry significant weighting.
But being caught out of position or easily brushed aside is harder to quantify, so his contribution to City’s two goals (both scored after Leicester had netted four times without reply, we might add) overshadows his role in those scored by their opponents.
And the responses to the Serb’s inclusion showed that people at least had a sense of humour about it all.
https://twitter.com/StefanPopovic/status/808313167168372737
https://twitter.com/BantsLikeChappy/status/808317126930939904
Kolarov made it there after conceding 4 goals pic.twitter.com/IYIyPxF5Fd
— Y Dottt 🍊🍊 (@YusufGhori) December 12, 2016
https://twitter.com/Aelrufaii/status/808330695147917312
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