30 May 2011

Infographic - Turning Points

Welcome to infographic week. Over the next five days, I'll have charts, graphs, and other visual lunacy in an attempt to further dissect the season that was. Today, Liverpool's league points week by week.


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• Liverpool's points per game under Hodgson = 1.25 (25 in 20)
      - Hodgson points per game under H&G = .85 (6 in 7)
      - Hodgson points per game under FSG = 1.46 (19 in 13)

• Liverpool's points per game under Dalgish = 1.83 (33 in 18)

I briefly mentioned these stats in Friday's season review, but that doesn't compare to a visual reproduction. Liverpool's rejuvenation is far more than obvious here. There are clearly defined turning points, unlike 2009-10's oft-mentioned "false dawns." This season's points haul is almost wholly symbiotic with the off-field concerns and dependent on the manager. When those situations improved, results improved. Quod erat demonstratum. Who would have guessed...

But a second, similar image demonstrates Liverpool's lost opportunity.



An 11-point gap behind last year's points total and this year's Spurs team with 16 games to play, and Liverpool could have topped both if not for two losses to close the season.

Yes, last year was bad but nothing compared to this season's trauma, while Spurs were rightful winners in the week 37 meeting, but the revival remains incomplete. Somehow climbing into a European place while bettering last season's haul would have sent an unavoidable message to Liverpool's closest competitors.

There's always next year.

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