Its unfortunate, but soccer statistics don't reflect the real game!
In baseball you have stats for defense - errors, putouts, fielding percentage; some ball players are more valued for their defense than their offense. In basketball you have rebounds, block shots, steals, as defensive stats. In football there are interceptions, tackles, blocked punts, FGs, and many other defensive stats. But in soccer, whoever scores or gets an assist gets their name in the box score in the newspaper. Look in your newspaper the next the rain allows us to play! Its as if they were the only ones who were on the field! Of course there are keeper stats. But thats it defensively! And some of the shots I have seen lately in games simply roll right to the keeper. Should that really be recorded as a save? There is no record at all of the play of a sweeper , a stopper or other defensive player. There could be a game where your sweeper shuts down the other team by himself, and a forward gets one lone goal on one shot taken and he is the star of the game with his name in the newspaper? Lets have some new stats to recognize the defensive players!! The stoppers, sweepers, and other backs have to constantly protect the keeper and direct the attack away at all times, so the midfielders can then set a play in motion. ALL HAIL TO THE UNSUNG DEFENSIVE PLAYERS!!!!
![[Roll Eyes]](images/icons/rolleyes.gif){kind=icon}