Best & Worst of EPL 2006-07 - 2

Henrik Larsson – Man U

This was one of the smartest transfers that Ferguson got in the mid season. Man U was going short on striking force and he got the brilliant Swede to play for Man U for 3 months and he did score goals and kept the momentum going for Man U. Fergie would have loved him to stay longer till the end of season but the cameo that Larsson played for Man U was another smart move for Man U.

The Flops

Shevchenko - Chelsea

If there was one signing which made news at the beginning of the year, then this was the one. This is the story of how a hugely successful player in Europe can go down in form in the EPL. His loss in form was not helped by loss in confidence and also loss in solidarity from the dressing room. And it also did not help when your strike partner goes on to score goals by the dozens in the same year. His pound per goal ratio must have been the worst if there was a statistic like that.

Baptista - Arsenal

This was a deal which was not by design but in exchange for Reyes going to Real. If ever there was a flop this year after Shevchenko in Chelsea, then this has to be it. He tried hard to score, to beat defenders, but either shot it wide or got dis-possessed. He is better off in Spain or wherever he wants to go. As an Arsenal fan, i dont think he has the quality to be Gunner. Having said that, he was the architect of that 6-2 drubbing we gave to Liverpool at Anfield.

And just before I leave, thought I would share with you this piece of info. All the stats that are thrown up on TV during the football match, like the total distance run by each player, total completed passes by each player etc etc, this is done by a company called

OptaSportsData

They do for Sky, ESPN and the rest