A few words on statistics

It's true that I am generally happy with the greater use of stats in football and access to them by fans. It's something that has been so important in American sports. When I used to watch Channel 4's coverage of NBA in the 1990s and 2000s, I found it strange when the commentators kept on putting stats on players as well as teams during play but I liked it! I can't remember the name of the programme though but I followed it as much as I did Football Italia and the excellent delivery of the legend that is James Richardson. I thank the powers that be on the Guardian's football section who continued James' review of the football papers across Europe. Good times continue to roll on.

Why Liverpool need Leighton Baines

So, the silly season has begun. The top six teams in the Barclays Premier League are all on the lookout for players and it will be an exciting summer trailing newspaper websites, newsnow and twitter in search for transfer updates. It is rumoured that Kenny Dalglish will look to acquire a left back already playing in Britain which brings Leighton Baines, Emilio Izaguirre and Jose Enrique into strong consideration. Liverpool need a starting left back and as Jonathan Wilson has discussed, full backs are key positions in the modern game:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2009/mar/25/the-question-full-backs-football