Napoli +13VA and +3.5PVA lead the stats.

Lille in 3^rd get automatic promotion and 2^nd in the stats , with Fenerbahce with an amazing +11 VA make the playoffs and 3^rd place in the stats.  CSKA and Bordeaux managed great performances this year.  Sao Paulo did what they needed to, winning the leagues as favourites.

Most disappointed must be FC Twente , 2^nd favourites slumping to 10^th and -8 VA , with Dynamo Moscow, Kyiv also missing out on the playoffs. Villareal get relegated with the joint worse VA.

Third time is a charm as the winners of D3 lead the stats.

Wolfsburg the champs top PVA.

Looking at the playoff spot as the season started but at seasons end on top of the pile +5 VA +6PVA for Wolfsburg.

Feyenoord had the highest VA on 8 just missing out on the playoffs. River Plate would perhaps their + 7VA and 2^nd spot in the stats for the auto promotion of Hamburg in 3^rd spot.

Credit to Zenit for avoiding relegation on +4 VA.

Swansea underperformed on -10 VA , as did Sassuolo on -9 VA. Partizan can redeem a poor performance with a win in the playoffs.

WBA top of the league and top of the stats.

Seen that headline before. Well as Arsenal did in D1 , WBA did the same but more so in D2. +4 VA and +5 PVA a dominant season.  Third place Hertha and 5^th place Udinese share the best VA on + 13 with Hoffenheim not far behind on + 12.

The worse performing teams were Ajax who fell from grace to 12^th with the lowest PVA and Leverkeusen on  -12 VA in 16^th.  Less said about Augsburg the better. Not very consistent in the stats this year but perhaps that is indicative of the tightness of the division.

Arsenal top of the league and top of the stats.

No one can deny Arsenal are the team of the season in D1. Three places above prediction and finishing above a resurgent Barcelona and Juve.

Valencia come 3^rd in the stats table , a creditable 5 places above prediction which was matched by Spurs. Mid table in D1 went largely to form.  This meant the lowest rated teams stats wise were Chelsea despite coming 4^th were well below par this season and Hellas finishing 13^th with the lowest VA.

With last season well and truly in the rear view mirror, and more importantly the legal issues with your author right here cleared with the estates of The Two Ronnies, we are back with some tables, charts and data to confuse, bemuse and put you into a snooze ...

The Final Table

The table below shows the final spectacles, testicles, wallet and watch of Division 1 last season

A terrific season from Chelsea, chased all the way by Barcelona, James McKenzie and DanWally going the full 12 rounds, Real Madrid and Porto putting in solid seasons, with some pundits pre-season favorites Juventus having a tough time of it before turning it around in the last third of the season and finishing strong.

The Worm Chart

From about a third of the way through the season, James assumed the perch at the top of D1 and fought off the challengers, primarily Barcelona ... Dan putting in a solid effort to fight it out. FC Porto have a nibble mid season but just couldn't sustain the challenge, Real Madrid with a late flourish to climb over their rivals Barca late in the season before that was stomped out ... and Juventus ... the author feels a slight brief fleeting twinge of responsibility for their wretched season, selling wantaway SC Internacional star Bruno 'Ego' Fernandes, for him to only regress at Juve despite being given the responsibility (and honour) of the #10 shirt.

Possession (no ... not The Exorcist kind)

Impressive display at the top of the tree, with the Top 5 being pretty even. Chelsea and Real Madrid with a lot of time ahead in matches, Juventus defensively super strong as always, matching Chelsea in not trailing in matches, but significantly spending more time scratching around for goals to go ahead with. Barcelona not able to consistently put in the shifts that keep them ahead in matches. At the caboose of the division, the trend is predictable, however Stoke City did find themselves spending more time ahead in matches, but were unable to close out them out with vital 'keep me up' points.

When the ball hits the back of the net ...

I like this one ... always interesting to know when the goals are scored. Starting at the top of the list, not very flippin' often, authors team included. Further down the list ... Arsenal and Real Madrid are the front running first half fancy's, not so good when the legs get weary and the 6'2" defenders studs are raking down the achilles for the fourth time. Chelsea and Barca, evenly distributing the net flaring goodness across the full ninety.

Same chart, but with percentages not goals scored

Look at the SC Internacional ... scores fark all 50% in the first half ... and the other 50% of fark all in the second half

If they don't have the ball they cannae score

Chelsea leading the way, impressive effort that ... at the foot of the table not surprisingly across a full season, even with the judicious application of slow ball, against the talent in D1, you just cannot crack high 40's or 50%. The rebuilding Hertha the outlier, a wretched run of form to end the season blunting superior possession performance

Who has been a naughty naughty boy then

They say nice guys finish last, but AC Milan averaged a red card every five matches ... even before VAR was in play to slow down the most inconsequential contact. Having the benefit of a lot of other data, I would lean towards the teams at the top of the table averaging higher YC counts per match being a result of playing a lot Hard football ... comfortable in the knowledge that their squad depth can see the third or fourth midfielder easily being as good at a mid to bottom of the table starter. Stoke City and Liege being the Mr Nice Guys ... thems was raised right by their parents by the looks of it.

Octopus or Concrete Mits ... the GK stats

Now ... some GK stats ... which, I think, provides some key insights into how your team performs, and ultimately where you might finish.

The next few tables will show the Home fixture, Away fixture and Full Season stats for the D1 keepers, which I will explain underneath the first table

Alright alright alright ... here goes nothing

Club & Keeper name - check, matches played - check ...

Clean sheets kept - check, goals conceded - check ... you still with me Gav ...

Goals conceded per game (match) - check, average match rating - check ... we doing ok so far

Average #of shots faced per game - check ... average #of shots on target per game - check ...

MoM - Man of the Match awards - check ... ok ... the easiest part is over

I use the following four categories to measure and rank each ol' concrete mit's

1. Clean Sheets - the GK with the most gets ranked 1st ... all the way down to last
2. Goals Conceded per game - the GK with the lowest avg gets ranked 1st ... all the way down to last
3. Avg. Match Rating - the GK with the highest avg. rating gets ranked 1st ... and you get the drill
4. MoM's - GK with the most ... 1st ... down to least MoM's gets ranked last

You can also see the shaded "1" being that GK had the best rank in that specific category

I simply then add the four ranking scores together to get a total for each GK, and then I rank those totals from lowest to highest. He who has the lowest sum gets ranked 1st, etc. etc.

I will do this for the Away fixtures (see below) as well. And then for the full season (Home & Away) stats, I simply average the scores for each GK from the Home data and the Away data, and then add these four averages together, and then rank them again

Question - who finished 6th in storming Season 17 ?

Answer - Sami Hando's team ... RCD Espanyol ... who is ranked as the best of the GK wild bunch in Home fixtures

And who is ranked 2nd ... the author's Division 2 playoff promotion winning side who I would suggest owes a very large part of their survival in D1 to the performances of Postman Pat

Same stats ... but for the Away Fixtures below

Superlative performances in goal away from the comfort of Barcelona, Sami was a force for Espanyol, with Moraes at Porto being a top shelf operator as well. Cragno for AC Milan with more screen time fending off more shots than a Page 3 girl at Stringfellows in the 1980's ...

Now for the combined seasons stats

Pretty impressive ... no ... farken impressive work from Sami in goal all of Season 17. Probably the dominant reason that Espanyol were flying high and finished 6th. Experience matters, and Sami has it, and gave Glen a massive boost and huge rewards in Season 17. A new contract beckoned. Champions Cup football beckoned. It was to be a golden twilight to a magnificent career.

Narrators sagely serious voice footnote - on Saturday 18th June, the day before the first fixture in Season 18 Sami was sold to Ajax along with Robert Firmino for Paulo Dybala and Edin Dzeko. At the time this article went to press, Espanyol were languishing in 17th place, 2 points from safety with a final day home fixture against 13th place Hellas Verona needing a victory to remain in Division 1. Away from the bright lights in Division 1, Sami has struggled at Ajax in Season 18, with the Dutch powerhouse out of the playoff positions in 13th place, well ahead of the relegation places. Sami declined our request to be interviewed for this article, though his agent provided a sliver of insight into what he thought of his transfer one day before the start of the season, "did you see the photo's of Glen leaving grab a granny at 6am last weekend ... ?!"

"Though we will never know if Sami could have maintained his level of performance from Season 17, it can be safely stated that the Espanyol manager would have taken half of those performances not be in perilous danger of relegation the following season"

Postscript

With the same level of record keeping for the soon to be completed Season 18 ... there will be some charts tables and mildly comedic moments coming in the near future ...

Top of the stats but not the league?

Rubin and Sunderland are the clear stats leaders but the first two games haven’t been kind to them.

Kazan and Sunderland are almost two rating points better than most.  Solid all round teams, that should be able to double bounce with ease .  When you consider the 5^th place team in D3 has a ranking of 219.43 they should have no trouble winning the league with games to spare.

Then as is usual for D5 there are a huge amount of team separated by a tiny margin. Lyon and Spartak are give or take identical. Torino just really need to add a keeper, Stuttgart could add a little depth.  Atalanta are a much more solid outfit now and they would be my prediction for a good cup run.

No relegation of course but always the sack race to look forward to.  Shaktar are the weakest by far,  then as far up as Athletic club any of those could finish in the lowest 3 positions,  some TLC or maybe TCP needed for a few of those clubs I think.

Division 5 is slightly weaker than last season about 0.1 across the board , which would equate to 1 88 becoming an 87.

Sao Paulo 2 points above the rest clear favourites

The Brazilian team should make light work of the opposition. Strong in all departments , plenty of depth . Should romp to victory.  Twente lack a keeper and 2^nd  could flatter them but not if they make a great signing , maybe cash in some depth,  Inter should grab third, a more balanced side than Twente , similar to their close rivals Cruziero.

Dynamo Moscow risking it all with an attacking formation ,they too need a keeper and could finish much higher if they can pick up an 88.

218 is the Division 3 cut off, so Palace, Kyiv, Lille, CSKA, Malaga , VIllareal can all still hope for a playoff with security in D3 if they make it up.

216.5 was the relegation danger zone last season,  by in large Newcastle and Lazio are doomed at the moment, with Fenerbache likely to join them . West Ham maybe have a strong enough keeper to pull them through , which could leave Brugge or Koln if they get injuries hanging on the edge.

Cup run? Bordeaux, Inter or Twente.

Division 4 is considerably weaker than last season with a 0.3 rating point drop across the board.

Leicester lead the pack but other teams have options.

Leicester sit 0.7 points above nearest rivals Swansea who are kind of Leicester lite. Partizan are a different prospect in 3^rd weaker in most areas but potentially stronger up front.  Similarly for Schake, weaker in defence and midfield but with the strong keeper, attacker combo.

Maybe you need 221 to survive D2 so Celta who just need a keeper, Wolfsburg weak at the back and Hamburg who lack a little depth just need a small improvement to move up to the next step.

Last year 217.5 was pretty much the relegation cut off.  Roma have the best defence of the relegation candidates, if they could pick up an attacker who know? , Sevilla have decent keeper as do Zenit. Besitkas could also do with an attacker or two.

Swansea look best placed for a cup run, with Borussia also in with a chance of making it deep into the knock out rounds.

Division 3 is slightly stronger than last year, potentially 2 87s are now 88s.. with an increase of 0.25 rating points.

Three teams should be solid for promotion. Playoffs for the rest?

Ajax, Anderlecht and Genoa would sit mid table or better in D1. They are 2 rating points or better above all the rest. Ajax lack a little depth; Anderlecht are full of depth but are perhaps a keeper away from greatness. Genoa are the midfield maestros.

This leaves the chasing pack feeding off the scraps.  WBA and PSG have a potent attack, with PSG also having a decent keeper, they could give the top 3 a run for their money.  Leverkusen and Liverpool are more balanced.  Southampton lack a decent keeper but should they find, one could finish way above 8^th spot.  As for my side Augsburg, good upfront but the defence still lets us down a little.

Looks like 224 is needed to survive in D1 so really only the top 5 should aim for promotion without substantive improvement.

In the lower reaches relegation was set just under 221 last seasons.  Dnipro look even more detached than last season, I think it has to be the end of them now. Hertha has a good midfield and that should be enough. Udinese have very little threat up the front, while Hoffenheim are vulnerable at the back and Milan also lack a midfield threat.

Good cup run, AC Milan may be up for that but Anderlecht could do a rare D2 and cup double

Division 2 is around .3 rating points stronger than last season , which is perspective would men 3 players in most sides who were 89's are now 90s

Dawn of a new era will Chelsea be dominant again?

Ratings are calculated using a formula based on rankings in GK,MID ,ATT and DEF. The average and top 18 are also taken into account to balance odd formations and  potential injuries.

This gives the ETOT, with Pre being the predicted position.

Hard to see past Chelsea winning the league again, almost 1.5 points above their nearest rival. They may lack depth and can be stung in midfield but the defence looks near unbeatable and they will knock them in at the other end.

Juventus also stand clear of the pack. They should get second and if Chelsea pick up injuries they would be there to pounce.  Porto also look strong in defence, as do Arsenal. Barcelona rebuilding slip to 5th favourites, with Bayern just below them now. Barca is still potent up top but I think they will lack the possession they crave and the fans won’t be happy.

Benfica look to be stronger than their mid table ranking suggests and Madrid will hope to challenge up top once again.

Last year if you were in the lower 3 or had a rating less than 223 you were sure to be relegated. Looks like Levante will be taking the fall this year, with Spurs joining them.  Spurs lack in GK, DEF and MID. Villa and Internacional will be fighting it out hoping to do what Levante did last year and beat the stats. Looks much tougher for Villa as they are almost 0.7 rating points beneath their rival.

Good cup run well Internacional look the team for that with Benfica or Dortmund sure to want something from the season. Division 1 is slightly higher rated than last season.

Time to look at Division 2 internal and external deals in Season 17 - and it doesnt make good reading - in fact they had the lowest number of total deals completed when adding up the stats.

A total of 100 deals across the 20 clubs with an average of 5 per club. In fact an incredible 4 teams didnt make one internal deal all season - do they need to deal or are their teams good enough already? Andrew Bailey (774) will admit that no one wanted to deal with Dnipro - but what of RJ Alston (743), Mark Phelps (725) or Liam Pigott (676) would they be more suited to empty gameworlds with less active managers? In Mark's case his Flamengo project is unique in SM Worlds from my experience - certainly one over such a long period anyway.

Externally Santos under Josh McMillan (808) and his predecessor were very busy, Adam (770) and Ash L (500) too were quite lively both externally and internally.

So the big question is does transfer activity = success ? We ranked the sides by the number of internal deals and then put their final league positions next to them? The result?

Some wild results in division 5 with rebuilds a plenty.

+14 VA for Malaga and +8 PVA for Koln.

Koln are worthy winners of D5 and came in 7 places above expected.  They just lead fellow promoted team Malaga who may have had the performance of the year.  Independiente had +10 VA in 9^th from 19^th ,with playoff Marseille on +6 VA. Twente also promoted in 2^nd with a a great +1.5 PVA.

The predicted top 5 with the exception of  Twente were a big flop, Inter and Rubin made the playoffs so all could be well. Boca , Spartak and Athletic club have nothing to show this season in the league and should aim for much more next year.

Swans fly high in D4 with Besitkas a Turkish Delight.

Two promoted teams lead the stats. Swansea always a promotion favourite over achieved and got top spot in the league and  the stats.  Besitkas have the highest VA on + 7 , just above Bordeaux on +6 who just miss out on the playoffs. A great performance by  Lazio and West Ham , shown up much more on the stats than the mid table positions.

6 of the top 8 teams really failed to deliver.  Celta promoted as expected shouldn’t be worried. Leicester, Dynamo and Sao Paulo have the playoffs to fight out.  Cruziero miss out though on the playoffs and have the lowest PVA just better than joint lowest VA Chievo who could argue they were better off than Sunderland also on -5 who were relegated.

Udinese promoted in second have the highest PVA with Zenit and Celtic showing great VA.

As expected division 3 shows more variance than D1 or 2.  Udinese expected the playoffs but got 2^nd place and promotion.  They just beat Celtic who had the 2^nd best VA of +8, with +11 VA Zenit just missing out on a playoff spot.  Borussia Monchengladbach a +3 overperformance worth a mention but Hamburg showed true grit +8 VA and a playoff spot.  West Brom did all they could and should be proud of their promotion.

Disappointment for Roma on -8 VA and more so for Palace who are relegated also 8 places below expected.   Galatsaray on -6 VA will be looking for more next season.  Disappointing seasons for Sampdoria and Wolfsburg . Only 2 of the 4 expected teams were relegated although 3 of the lower 5 did go down.

Spurs lead the stats with Dnipro having +13 VA.

A much greater level of over and underperformance in division 2.

Spurs finish 7 places higher than expected and finish 2^nd in the real table but just pip champs Villa in the stats.  Dnipro make the playoffs not bad for a relegation favourite but that has been said too often about them.  Valencia clinch the 3^rd auto spot  and they just lead the mighty Augsburg in the stats table who just missed out on  the play-offs. Honourable mentions also to Southampton and Man Utd who showed considerable improvement this season.

It all went horribly wrong for Anderlecht and to some extent Genoa , but they at least could redeem all with a play-off win -13 and -4 VA respectively. Liverpool , Flamengo and Santos also failed to live up to expectations. 3 out of 4 teams expected to drop in the top 2 divisions did so.

Chelsea champions and stop of the stats.  Espanyol and Real Madrid make great progress.

A few notes. Value added is literally how many places above the expected position a club finishes. PVA or positional value added is the value added +1  divided by the finishing position, so a high position counts more.

Chelsea are well deserved champions , they pushed 1 place above the predicted level and lead the stats.  Espanyol have the highest value added , in the top 6 and 8 places higher than expected .  Madird and Dortmund showed some real improvement with most of the rest of the division close to what would have been expected.

The only exception to this is Arsenal who finish in the lower half of the table on -7 VA and -0.5 PVA.

Rubin and Inter lead the pack is defence the best form of attack in division 5.

Both the leading clubs have a good keeper and defence combo and a fairly strong attack. Athletic club also have a strong keeper and stronger attack in the top and tail approach.   Twente and Spartak have 87 rated keepers but this is standard in D5, Spartak have a far weaker defence than most but will be reliant on the midfield to shield the back line and the strikers to push the goals in.

Boca will fancy  their chances of at least a play off spot with a strong keeper , attacker pair.

217 is the cut off for relegation in D4 so a dozen or more teams could compete for promotion, Atalanta may well have a good mix for that in my view.

Obviously no relegation , just the sack race to avoid. Shaktar are very much a work in progress.  They are very much an easy meal for most teams,  Independiente just need to get the defence together.  Torino rebuild almost there . Malaga just need to polish up the midfield a little.

Division 5 will probably be a little easier to exit from this season it is about half a point weaker mainly due to Swansea & Sao Paulo’s promotion leaving no teams rated above 220.

Five teams in the fight for the title in Division 4.

It seems that Division 4 will have at least 2 really disappointed teams that most years would have grabbed an automatic place but will now be in the playoffs at best . Celta Vigo have a strong attack and a good midfield. With a competent back line , at least by D4 standards they should gain promotion.  Sao Paulo a little less attacking but more defensive, should score less but concede less than Celta so should match them all the way.  Swansea just a fraction lower than Sao Paulo, better in midfield but less potent up top, will need to make the most of the increased chances.  Leicester ,pretty much like Celta Vigo should make up the top 4.  Dynamo Moscow have a major weakness in goal, especially against these and other potent attacks.

This really only leaves two play off spots.  Lille top and tail their team and must be favourites to upset the top 5 if anyone does,  Cruziero are a similar build with CSKA the other playoff possible having a more balanced approach.

218 could be the survival stakes in D3 so any team down to Chievo could make a run for the play off spot and survive the next season and they look like a team who could make a good performance in the cup this year.

At the wrong end of the table , the cut off for relegation is around 217 at the moment.  It is hard to see Lazio surviving with a weak defence and attack.  Basel need to strengthen the midfield and West Ham their defence.  PSV should be ok if they avoid injuires. Lokomotiv must use their attacking line effectively as they will ship goals at the other end.

Division 4 is half a point stronger this season, maybe a little skewed by the top 5 which show the challenge anyone outside that group has getting into automatic or even play off spots.

Will West Brom’s strike force carry them to the title?

A huge reliance on a potent strike force has worked well in the past in D3 and West Brom have all the tools to pull off that trick.   They sit well above Zagreb the next best attacking side and Sassulo who pack the back line better than most. They probably should be the top 3 .  The play off teams should be  Roma who lack depth so will need a good start and a similar issue could affect Wolfsburg while both teams are an attacking force.  Udinese and Hoffenheim have more coverage and may have to wait a game or two to make an impact.

To survive in D2 you will need a rating of 221, so other than the top 3 , the rest will struggle if they go up.  Feyenoord  and Fenernahce are an interesting prospect ,strong keeper and attack but lacking elsewhere.  Galatasaray could be consistent all season and should put in a good cup run.

Last season a rating of 218 or less got you relegated no questions asked.  This leaves Newcastle ,Sevilla, Zenit and Napoli in serious trouble unless they can pull off a Dnipro.  Zenit really just need a slightly better attacker,  Napoli have much more work to do in midfield and defence.  Sevilla an attacker could help and Newcastle maybe a better Keeper and defence.

Compared to last season division 3 is half a point weaker across the board. This could lead to a larger selection of playoff teams than usual but won’t really save the weaker teams as even 217.5 is the already the level of the lowest 4 teams with the next worst .7 above them.

Genoa certain to return to Division 1? What about the rest

Genoa are by rights a mid table D1 side and while nothing is guaranteed they lead every important stat except defence.

There are then maybe 4 other teams in for a good shout at the remaining 2 automatic places.  Anderlecht have huge depth and if Genoa falter are the only team who could challenge them.   Villa potent up top and in midfield but lacking depth.  Ajax , surely a keeper away from a great team and Valencia who again maybe a little weak in defence but are more than solid elsewhere.

Then doing the maths that leaves 2 free playoff spots.  Everton , Leverkeusen, Liverpool and Tottenham should be favoured teams.  Everton weaker at the back, Leverkeusen maybe need a star forward. Liverpool will they get enough possession and Spurs a good all rounder team.

The cut off to survive division 1 is around 224, so realistically it would probably be unwise for any other team to push for promotion without drastically improving first.

At the lower end it was pretty much set in stone 219.5 or less last season meant a massive risk of relegation.  Only 3 teams sit close to that Dnipro, the galant over performers will be out classed in all departments, River Plate surely an 87 keeper will not be enough without the back up of possession or a scoring force.  Monaco seem to be a rating or more below 17^th spot.

That high cut off now could drag Santos or Schalke into the mix with even Man Utd, PSG, Southampton and Sporting needed to keep an eye on what is going on should they slip into danger.

As for a cup run Anderlecht would have a chance, as could PSG or Schalke.

Division 2 is substantially stronger than last season and will be a tough challenge for all concerned.