Comments on: Sublime Barça

By: PB

PB — Wed, 27 May 2009 06:31:49 +0000

In the goal differential you reference, you should note that the the La Liga this season is less competitive than the Premier League.

By: James C

James C — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:36:48 +0000

Agreed, I don’t see Chelsea being much less happy to let Barca have possession in the 2nd leg, excpet they’ll be a lot more willing to commit numbers forward on the counter and test what is a distinctly dodgy defence.

By: Lane Kenworthy

Lane Kenworthy — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 04:27:35 +0000

Goal tax: Nicely put. Of course, in professional sports the standard remedy is to equalize opportunity (rather than outcomes) among teams via a salary cap. The experience in American football suggests it tends to have the intended effect. Is it good for fans? For fans of teams that otherwise would be at the lower end of the spending scale, it certainly is. For fans of those that would otherwise be at the high end, definitely not. For fans with no allegiance, it depends on whether you prefer watching lots of close games between average teams or domination by teams that amass a lot of talent.

Is there an analog to the income distribution? Notwithstanding the popularity of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” in the 1980s, I suspect few get much utility from watching those with enormous incomes consume.

James C: Chelsea did what they had to do. It’s a striking thing watching a side with that much offensive talent forced to essentially sit in its own half for a full 90 minutes in the hope of coming away with a goalless draw. It wouldn’t surprise me if they do the same thing next Wednesday and hope to poach a counterattack goal or win on penalties. Manchester United more or less did that last year (against a Barca team that wasn’t nearly as good as this one), and it worked.

By: James C

James C — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 09:38:23 +0000

I suppose a 0-0 draw was inevitable after this post…

By: Goal Tax

Goal Tax — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 01:05:04 +0000

I see that Barcelona is rich in goals.

The distribution of goals is very skewed toward the upper teams, with the top 10% earning more than double the league average for goal difference.

How do we reduce this goal inequality? Do we need a goal tax to reduce the inequality? The goals “collected” by the tax could then be redistributed to the teams with the lowest goal scores. This would reduce the dominace of the leading teams (such as Barcelona) and help the least fortunate teams.

Why should Barcelona get to keep so many goals and the related wins, when there are other teams with very few wins.

By: derek

derek — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:51:22 +0000

In the goal differential you reference, you should note that the the La Liga this season is less competitive than the Premier League.

By: James C

James C — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 10:43:45 +0000

No question, Barce’s attacking line up is an incredible assembly of talent, but they are dodgy defensively. Chelsea will need to bully them – they’re much more direct and the clash of styles could create a great match.

But the match I really look forward to is Man Utd versus Arsenal on Wednesday. A huge tradition of rivalry between them (especially the managers) and they’ve usually produced fascinating matches.