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Saw this infographic floating around...
I know Gunnarsson seem to be a bit of a "marmite" player on here, but the fact we just haven't won a single league game without him is quite an interesting stat.
I'll miss him if/when he leaves in the summer.
So on that ratio had gunnarson played every game we would be 8th.
I think he's been great for us, when he goes we will miss him ,great servant to the club.
Ah, stats, eh!
No taking into account we played some of our tougher fixtures at the beginning of the season when Gunnarsson didn't play. Him not having to face Arsenal; Manchester City; Chelsea and Spurs, might have helped in massaging those stats in his favour a little.
Nevertheless, I'm sure if Neil can manage to extend Gunnarsson's contract another 2-3 years, you and a few others will be delighted.
Gunnar has made a difference. Anyone can see that. He's severely limited but at times, and used correctly he's very effective. We haven't won a game without him. If we really wanted to kick on and become established, of course we need better but for this season he's doing well. His body positioning isn't great, he's not the most mobile but he still plugs gaps. He also gives something else, he seems to lift other players around him and he's a natural leader, he's been captain of Iceland for 7 years! I think in the summer he will move on but it'll be a sad day. He's one of the great Bluebirds of the modern era.
I think that the stat about us not winning a game without him wouldn't count for much if we were fulfilling Chris Sutton's prediction and were on our way out of the division with something like eight points so far, but when you're talking seven wins, I don't think it can be put into the stats can say whatever you want them to category.
There are those who would like to see us embrace a style which puts more emphasis on ball retention and playing out from the back. When we start doing that, players like Gunnar will become less important to us as they struggle to cope with the change, but, until this happens, we need his sort of player and getting another one as effective as he has been for us could cost more than some might think.
He has been a part of both promotion seasons and Iceland’s recent success. His intelligence and industry are top class and I think his technique, passing and break up play are also very good. He’s not flashy but gives a sense of control when he plays in the middle.
It’d be interesting to see what his equivalent stats were for championship games as well. I bet they’d be similar to the ones above.
Correlation not causation perhaps?
He has played very well in a few of our wins this season though in fairness.
No great difference last season, in fact we did slightly better without him than we did with him.
With Gunnar, won twelve, drew four and lost five, without him, won fifteen, drew five and lost five.
I don't think we need to usher him out the door, though. We've won nearly half of the games he's played (7/16) and drawn 1 from the games he's played. He's certainly not without weaknesses but that's some record. We've got 22 of our 25 points with him in the side.
Bump.