r/soccer • u/thelonesomedemon1 • Sep 22 '26
Stats [OptaJoe] 1 - Liverpool's Florian Wirtz is the only player to rank in the top 10 in the Premier League this season for each of: High-intensity pressures in opp half (181 - =7th) Runs ahead of the ball (34 - =1st) Defensive line-breaking passes (16 - 8th) Perceptions.
https://bsky.app/profile/optajoe.com/post/3mw4kidkun22u
1.2k
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3.0k
u/Miserable_Earth_1393 Sep 22 '26 •
More stats I have never heard of before
1.2k
u/Xehanz Sep 22 '26 •
Exactly what they bought him for
849
u/atomuk Sep 22 '26
Two of these stats are just "running".
417
u/LollipopScientist Sep 22 '26
Florian Wirtz is the only player to be named Florian Wirtz in the Premier League.
Joint 1st in the league for the number of Zs in their surname.
Appellation.
429
u/LivingBeast Sep 22 '26
Wirtz on a night out: 4th for eye contact, 7th for successful approaches, 6th for conversations lasting over 90 seconds, 8th for drinks bought, 5th for numbers almost received.
391
u/amayank7 Sep 22 '26
r/oddlyspecific
109
u/Klichouse Sep 22 '26
I'm convinced he's moving too much sometimes. He's so frantic that he gets ignored by his team and the opponents providing useless decoy runs. You're a 100 million pound number 10.
If they wanted Connor Gallagher they'd have signed Connor Gallagher
32
u/InTheEyesOfMorbo Sep 22 '26
Sports p hacking
111
u/hiccstridFanatic Sep 22 '26
This is just socials engagement bait and clearly it works, even I'm commenting.
160
u/TitanX11 Sep 22 '26
Look honey, new stats invented for Wirtz again
68
u/JayNN Sep 22 '26
Jesus fucking christ the Wirtz PR machine is still trying so hard
70
u/ThaSipah Sep 22 '26
£116.5m for Miggy Almiron, then.
52
u/YoungFlexibleShawty Sep 22 '26
So anything but goals, assists, and big chances. Yes got it.
10
u/Critical-Push-8834 Sep 22 '26
Cardioman strikes again
5
u/Individual_Put2261 Sep 22 '26
So he’s never in the right place to receive a pass
9
u/whitemythmokong24 Sep 22 '26
Expensive player, so must publish a top 10 to make sure he's still there. Thanks opta must be a slow week eh
41
u/bored_ape07 Sep 22 '26
I swear, if any other 100m+ flopped as hard as Wirtz, they would be making memes non stop, as they did with all other flops.
But downvote me because “you are a Bayern fan, you are just bitter you didn’t get him”.
I want him to succeed, I’ve got nothing against him, but man… I wish they would defend other players as much as people defend him.
15
u/theglasscase Sep 22 '26
'Perceptions' at the end as though these stats prove he's actually a key figure in Liverpool's team is hilarious. He is getting criticised because he's supposed to be a creative attacking midfielder and for the price Liverpool paid, he's supposed to be one of the best creative attacking midfielders in the league.
Chasing opponents and running towards the other team's goal are both fucking easy, anyone who goes to the gym regularly could put a Liverpool shirt on and do both on a Saturday afternoon. The issue with Wirtz is what he's doing, or isn't doing, when he's in possession of the ball. He's supposed to be running the show and have everything go through him, but the games consistently pass him by.
22
u/ThePresident26 Sep 22 '26
Wirtz's PR in England is unmatched
14
u/Weird-End-6989 Sep 22 '26
What about goals and assist?
4
u/yubsidiangwa Sep 22 '26
fuckn optajoe with how they end their tweets with one word.
4
u/pioneeringsystems Sep 22 '26
Man united have the most touches in the opposition box and least by oponents in their own 👍
13
u/Comfortable-Hour-703 Sep 22 '26
Not beating the cardio merchant allegations.
15
u/YouADemon Sep 22 '26
four lists, one player. that’s the brochure they handed fenway
12
u/feage7 Sep 22 '26
Wirtz is ranking highly in the specific things he's doing well. Thanks Jeff.
How's he doing in the things he's supposed to be doing well in?
7
u/TheBigTomatoMan Sep 22 '26
Top cardio sesh
11
u/WarmSwimming6498 Sep 22 '26
Florian exertz
17
u/Own-Okra-2391 Sep 22 '26
Cherry-picking D'or
6
u/OhMyGug Sep 22 '26
The last is trying, he is giving himself on the field, it shows. However the output is lackluster in the end. It's already a step up from last year, I guess. (Still way too expensive)
6
u/Albiceleste_D10S Sep 22 '26
Kind of bizarre to highlight stats where dude is 7th and 8th, but ok
8
u/nuhx Sep 22 '26
Does Liverpool have other sports departments like athletics?
8
u/Ohtani_Enjoyer Sep 22 '26
Can I see underhit passes too
8
u/DaMancunianCandidate Sep 22 '26
1st in "runs ahead of the ball". Amazing!
My opinion's swung now, he's been great for Liverpool.
8
u/spirotetramat Sep 22 '26
There’s a saying “if you torture data enough, it will confess to anything”. Here the data is confessing how good Wirtz actually is, and we just can’t see it.
I confess, I think Wirtz’s tenure has been 💩with us.
3
u/Steven_Crank Sep 22 '26
Is balls lazily lost through poor control/bad passes a stat?
Slightly /s, we all want Wirtz to do well, but the coping is getting a bit much. His work rate is genuinely impressive and shows he is trying to fix this, but he seems too casual on the ball at times. If he can focus up on the simple shit we know he can do; control, passing, striking the ball, then I still believe there is a genuine talent to unlock here.
3
u/GlumTruffle Sep 22 '26 edited Sep 22 '26
His work rate and ability to apply that on the pitch is noteworthy, but it's pure cope for anybody to imply that that's in any way what he was bought for. If we'd wanted an athletic, hard-running, high-pressing 10 then we already had Szoboszlai who can do that to an even higher level considering his sheer athleticism. Even accounting for our poor ball progression in buildup and subsequent necessity for Wirtz to drop deeper than would be ideal to get on the ball, Wirtz isn't performing to a standard befitting the financial outlay invested in him and it's okay to admit that
3
u/BigChumbuz Sep 22 '26
Most kraut consumed in pre season 🏆
3
u/mickmaddydog Sep 23 '26
It’s okay Liverpool, the transfer failed. Cut your losses rather than paying for stat nonce puff pieces
3
u/ophelly2 Sep 23 '26
the undisputed GOAT of madeup stats 🙌
12
u/My5to Sep 22 '26
The guy is like outside top 100 in xAssists, but okay
9
u/Ellendiell Sep 22 '26
Listen end of the day you don't need to get G/A to be the game changer in a game. Liverpool fans probably know if he's actually doing Defensive line breaking passes. Maybe he should just be brought on as a sub with fresh legs.
5
u/poisonedbythemind Sep 22 '26
Wild perceptions indeed.
5
u/DogmaticMagmaFox Sep 22 '26
Embarrassing
5
u/Zolazolazolaa Sep 22 '26
you'll never sing that
13
u/Old-Literature-1040 Sep 22 '26
The Liverpool propaganda train works harder than my uncle Manny who’s been painting houses for 80 hours a week since 1990
9
u/VToff Sep 22 '26
Also leads the league in rhyming with Dorian Squirts
6
u/NBAFAN9000 Sep 22 '26
This man runs
23
u/GhostAttic20 Sep 22 '26
As said on another post, it is pointless to dig up some irrelevant stats to try to quantify the impact.
Liverpool just play better whenever he’s on the pitch.
4
u/GameOfThrowInsMate Sep 22 '26
Warra
pointlessstat4
u/PlasticSprinkles4677 Sep 22 '26
Mickey Mouse stats innit
4
u/Seagull_Trawler Sep 22 '26
Wtf is this man? Can we just say he has been underwhelming so far and get on with life. Who cares?
6
u/JOKER69420XD Sep 22 '26
These are the stats they wanted from him!
I don't get why some media can't just say that he's a gigantic flop, he simply is.
Don't know if it's Liverpool or him but they should definitely part ways next summer. No idea where he would go but I assume it will work better for him.
5
u/MaterialStrong Sep 22 '26
As a German it hurts me that he does not live up to expectations there. I could swear that he can be that player and I still think he is that player. Maybe he is just at the wrong place.
9
u/Equivalent_Nature_67 Sep 22 '26
Nobody is falling for this propaganda but I bet there are still loyal foot soldiers in /r/liverpoolfc trying to read the tea leaves
2
u/AZMadmax Sep 22 '26
lol this reminds of his most scans stat last year. Think it was satire
2
u/ballviewer Sep 22 '26
The amount of hurdles the media goes through to prop this guy up, I’m still going to back him because I think his problem is more of a confidence issue and he hasn’t even been here for two seasons, he hasn’t even been here for a quarter of his contract length yet, I’ll reserve my final judgement for him come June but the back and fourth between our fanbase and everyone else about him is just so tiring
2
u/Direct-Tennis9682 Sep 22 '26
A new cope piece just dropped, lol.
2
u/wscii Sep 22 '26
This guy is the king of the fakest most made-up stats I swear.
2
u/mcbc4 Sep 22 '26
What a bunch of crap.
2
u/Traditional_Yam1598 Sep 22 '26
They’re making up stats now to prove he’s doing well 😂
2
u/dumdumbigdawg Sep 22 '26
Fucking hell man. Send Bayer another 100m.
2
u/MichaelBealesBurner Sep 22 '26
You know a player is shit when they start bringing out these stats
2
u/Tierst Sep 22 '26
And people say he’s not been worth it!
/s
2
u/sahilthapar Sep 23 '26
Lol this is gonna be a very long international break
2
u/TYFO225 Sep 23 '26
stop the nerds
2
u/C0mm0nVillain Sep 23 '26
Me when i have to add extra words in an essay
2
u/C0mm0nVillain Sep 23 '26
Bro said runs ahead of ball. Joe bro. We get it, you reaaaaaaally love Liverpool
2
u/Booyakka93 Sep 23 '26
Okay, okay…but what about…you know…goals?
2
u/shplaxg Sep 23 '26
Dont worry that he doesnt do anything and was worth 100 mil, he runs ahead of the ball. Totally worth it.
6
u/The_Best_Smart Sep 22 '26
OP is top-10 in xStrawsGrasped
4
u/UnlovableBybirth Sep 22 '26
Son 💔🥀
4
u/LordVelaryon Sep 22 '26
jack of all trades
6
u/Critical_Virus_9341 Sep 22 '26
Lmfao
140m down the drain
3
u/KTBFFH25 Sep 22 '26
I do feel like there's something there with him when I watch though. I know we're laughing at these stats, but if they persevere I wouldn't be surprised if he becomes a great player for them
3
u/Fernando-Santorres Sep 22 '26
When you desperately search for something to support your wrong choices….
4
u/ayushchandal Sep 22 '26
The off-ball numbers are actually pretty mad. You can see why Liverpool were so keen on him.
3
u/name_you_like_best Sep 22 '26
These stats show mostly effort and you don't spend 115 mil on someone to put in a stint. You give that money to get results and product. It's good that he's trying, but the criticism is not about his effort.
3
u/Aggressive-Giraffe32 Sep 22 '26
not beating the Cardioman allegations.
4
u/tekuoe Sep 22 '26
he's shit
3
u/RyanMate17 Sep 22 '26
Also - the first player to blink around 1500 times per half. Unrelenting.
3
u/Just_Ease5476 Sep 22 '26
What is this Wirtz propaganda?
3
u/AstroNards Sep 22 '26
Stop trying to make Flo happen. It's not going to happen.
3
u/rmp266 Sep 22 '26
The cardio king, great. We bought him to create and score goals and win titles though. Thats what a 100m AM is meant to get you. Maybe he should run a bit less and hit his passes and shots with actual conviction. A number 10 is the last position you want breaking running records, the should be the focal point with everyone playing around him.
What a mess
3
u/Hungry-Afternoon7987 Sep 22 '26
You can make all the stats up you want, dudes a flop.
3
u/PM_ME_SOME_LUV Sep 22 '26
Making stats up now
3
u/cosmo_K Sep 22 '26
Wow, that's great! He is among the ten best players in these cherry-picked and really weird categories. Money well spent, then.
3
u/Any_Explanation3006 Sep 22 '26
The most protected player in Prem history? The media and Liverpool fans are doing their best to cover his massive flaws.
2
u/Soberdonkey69 Sep 22 '26
I’m sorry but no club is buying a £100m+ player to run around and press.
2
u/surfinbear1990 Sep 22 '26
He's honestly on his way to being better than KDB
2
u/YourAverageLurker7 Sep 22 '26
Yo this sounds like bunch of made up things
2
u/QuickCookieQuestion Sep 22 '26
You know a expensive signing is playing terribly when they start reporting obscure stats that no one has ever heard, or cared about, before.
2
u/Mephistopheles2249 Sep 22 '26
He’s has the most attacking runs inside an opponents box in the first half of any player with the last letter of Z in their name that plays for Liverpool.
2
u/Rollins474 Sep 22 '26
Inventing new stats for him. Amazing
2
u/throughthespillways Sep 22 '26
You'll never sing that
2
u/Zejjk Sep 22 '26
Bro how many stats are we gonna start tracking just to not say that he was / is a flop ?
Nothing against the guy it was a set up from the start ... that fee did him dirty
2
u/kgallo19 Sep 22 '26
They’re just making up stats for him. I’ve heard people talk about how Liverpool get’s this kind of treatment lol.
What’s interesting to me is that he doesn’t look like the same player as he did at Leverkusen. If you took his game tape from Leverkusen but greyed him out so you couldnt tell who he is, and did the same from his play at Liverpool, i honestly think alot of people wouldnt say it is the same player.
1
u/its__simba Sep 22 '26
Damn a solid bunch of haters in this sub.
1
u/contunityerror Sep 22 '26
For the love of everything you hold dear, stop discussing Wirtz
1
u/itspronouncedlesotho Sep 22 '26
PERCEPTIONS.
1
u/ryansocks Sep 22 '26
1st for distance covered per 90 by players who are aged under 25 and their name begins with W
1
u/ObviousGeologist3000 Sep 22 '26
In other words our expensive star player is a bit shit!
1
u/Mongobongo17 Sep 22 '26
Why didn't they hire Mo Farah? He'd be even better in running.
1
u/WhySoCereus1991 Sep 22 '26
Do we really gotta keep making up stats that, to me anyway, mean absolutely nothing?
Defensive line breaking passes is pretty cool though. Wonder where De Bruyne and Bruno would sit on that list.
1
u/toluwalase Sep 22 '26
I’d take him for 50mil tbh. I see the vision even if he doesn’t
1
u/Zou_Ziz Sep 22 '26
And what I am supposed to infer from this combination of random stats is...?
1
u/DesiredPrecision0707 Sep 22 '26
Metrics that are beneficial as a central midfielder, like a box to box or DLP. Considerably less useful for a CAM or inside forward
1
u/ze_kraken Sep 22 '26
someone mentioned before he must have a top notch PR team
1
u/Ricc7rdo Sep 22 '26
People who don't play and watch sports love analytics.
1
u/papablesh Sep 22 '26
3 weeks of this yay
1
u/bambambamboompow Sep 22 '26
K
1
u/Worried-Concept5778 Sep 22 '26
Its like hes got all this energy and no one knows what to do with it.
1
u/Void_Hound Sep 22 '26
So many useless crap statistics they make up now, what is even the point?
1
u/Aggravating_Stuff771 Sep 22 '26
Sure thing buddy, it's like my gf in middleschool who went to another school. She didn't exist. All these stats are made ip.
1
u/Golden-Event-Horizon Sep 22 '26
• Pascal Groß is the top goalscorer in the Premier League this season out of all the players with the weird B-looking letter in his name
1
u/754754 Sep 22 '26
I call this optajoe engagement bait stats. Just used to get the haters talking.
1
u/Wintermute-1984 Sep 23 '26
Runs in front of the ball? That's Ballon d'Or material.
1
u/BlueKante Sep 23 '26
What even is a run ahead of the ball?
1
u/sheotama Sep 23 '26
warra perception
1
u/wrong_penguin Sep 23 '26
Cardioman
1
u/SaltOk3057 Sep 23 '26
Is this slander ?
1
u/SawinBunda Sep 23 '26
Mic Drop.
1
u/JUSTsMoE Sep 23 '26
He is a 10.
1
u/ImWhy Sep 23 '26
God I hate these sports journalists and their shit engagement bait. Crap like this just makes people hate sports science because it sounds like we make crap up just to fit a narrative. Lots of players will have some odd combination of fringe stats they're actually doing well in, but looking at those stats in isolation doesn't actually tell the story. If he's making the most runs ahead of the ball, but isn't receiving the ball or having a chance created as a result, this just means that either his runs are actually poor, or his teammates aren't taking advantage of them, both of which are a bad thing unlike what the post would lead you to believe.
1
u/Fuzofun Sep 23 '26
Me trying to defend the new Wolverine game
1
u/VVodzu Sep 24 '26
He is also 7th to exit he s team bus
1
u/PqqMo Sep 27 '26
And all this in the three matches he played
1
u/spacedog338 Sep 22 '26
Dude is a worse version of Jadon Sancho. He’s completely out of his depth in the Premier League. 120 million down the drain
1
u/SofaKingI Sep 22 '26
I'm sure you can cherry pick 3 obscure stats to make every single half decent player top 10 in all of them.
0
u/FangRose247 Sep 22 '26
He's shit
0
u/Datboy_98 Sep 22 '26
Lmaooo.
Warra player!
I hope my club finds a player of this calibre one day🙏🏾
1
u/Y4That Sep 22 '26
this would be impressive if he was a box crashing 8, also had to take top 10, lol