Tim Cahill will not like the new stats released today, which shows he touches the ball less than every two minutes he is on the pitch in the Premier League.
According to a recently published table Cahill has managed 388 touches in his 822 minutes of football this season – an average of less than 43 every game.
Graeme Sharp doesn’t think too much of the stats though.
“They’re a load of rubbish,” he rapped. “Those stats are misleading. They’re only good for giving somebody a job to count the touches every player has in a match.
“Strikers are only as good as the service they’re getting. If you’re playing up front on your own, running the channels and getting in the box 10 times only for the ball not to reach you on nine occasions, you’re not going to have many touches.
“There are players like Ray Wilkins who used to have lots of touches, and maybe Lucas at Liverpool, where a lot of those touches are short sideways passes.
“The only stat that matters as far as strikers are concerned is goals scored – that’s always been the case, even going back to my day when I took as much joy out of creating goals as I did scoring.
“That’s the only statistic Tim will be worried about.”
Cahill has not scored in the Premier League since 20th December 2010.
Simon Paul
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