Peter Crouch: He doesn’t play in Europe, either

November 28th, 2007 | by: Matthew |

Part II of my statistical analysis of Peter Crouch takes a look at his European record, and reveals that conventional wisdom on the player is flat out wrong. Part I, on Crouch and the Premier League, is here. The conventional wisdom:

Rafa Benitez operates a rotation system, with some players appearing more in the Champions League squad and others in the Premier League squad. Crouch may start few Premier League games, but he’s a regular in the Champions League.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. Let’s look at the evidence.

First off, the current Champions League season. Liverpool have played 6 games (not counting today’s), for 4 of which Peter Crouch was in the starting 11. He didn’t play in one game, and came on as a substitute in the other. This means Crouch has started in 66% of Liverpool’s Champions’ League games so far this season. This seems high, but last season is far more revealing:

At this time last season, Crouch had played four, come on as a substitute in one, and remained on the bench for a final game (against PSV Eindhoven). This is exactly the same percentage of starts as this season (66%). By the end of the last Champions’ League campaign, however, Crouch had only started in a total of 8 Champions’ League games – just 53%. He was substituted into the squad in all but one of Liverpool’s games that season, but most of those substitutions were fairly late in the game – in the 52nd, 65th, 74th, 78th, 89th and 89th minutes (the latter two 89th minute substitutions were both against Barcelona). Furthermore, he was brought off in many of the 8 games he started, playing a full 90 minutes only a few times that season.

So, in last season’s Champions’ League, Peter Crouch started 53% of Liverpool’s games. In the last Premiership season, he started 50% of Liverpool’s games. Still think Benitez prefers playing Crouch in Europe? I’m not seeing it.

How about the rotation system? Well, it does exist, but look at the appearance list for Liverpool last Champions’ League season (same format as before, starts first, then substitute appearances in parentheses):

J Reina 15 (0)
J Carragher 14 (0)
X Alonso 13 (3)
D Agger 13 (0)
S Finnan 13 (0)
J Riise 13 (0)
S Gerrard 10 (3)
D Kuyt 10 (1)
J Pennant 10 (5)
P Crouch 9 (6)
C Bellamy 8 (5)
M Sissoko 8 (2)
B Zenden 8 (4)
S Hyypia 5 (0)
M Gonzalez 4 (5)
A Arbeloa 4 (1)
J Mascherano 4 (0)
F Aurelio 3 (3)
S Warnock 2 (1)
R Fowler 1 (3)
J Dudek 1 (0)
G Paletta 1 (1)
L Peltier 1 (0)
D Guthrie 1 (0)
E Insua 0 (0)
H Kewell 0 (1)
J Kromkamp 0 (0)
S Darby 0 (0)
N El Zhar 0 (0)
D Martin 0 (0)
D Padelli 0 (0)
M Roque 0 (1)
F Sinama Pongolle 0 (1)
J Smith 0 (0)
P Anderson 0 (0)
J Hobbs 0 (0)

Crouch moves up to Liverpool’s 10th most played player in the Champions’ League last year, as opposed to 13th most played player in the Premier League. This isn’t a huge difference, as the percentages I mentioned earlier attest, but it does make him (barely) one of Benitez’s most-played 11. He is clearly subject to rotation, though, in a way that many of his teammates are not. Despite the fact that he’s played the same number of games so far this Champions’ League as the last one, bear in mind that Liverpool have two new strikers this season, both of whom have ranked more highly than Crouch in Benitez’s Premier League selection process (Voronin and Torres), so it’s very likely that Crouch will play fewer Champions’ League games than last year as the season wears on.

So, to sum up. Peter Crouch is not a first-team player at Liverpool, regardless of whether you consider the Champions’ League or the Premier League. He is not “primarily used in the Champions’ League” – he’s rotated regardless of whether Liverpool are playing in England or in Europe. Last season, he started in just 50% of Liverpool’s Premier League games, but still only started in 53% of Liverpool’s Champions’ League games.

Why do people think Crouch is a regular for Liverpool in Europe? Probably because his scoring record – 8 last year – is the team’s highest in the Champions’ League, with Riise and Gerrard tied for second place with 3. He’s also tied for highest scorer this season, having scored 3 goals along with Kuyt and Benayoun. Crouch is Liverpool’s most prolific European goalscorer, something which sticks in the mind far more than his number of starting appearances. The truth, though, is that, rotation system or no, Peter Crouch hardly plays in Europe more than in the Premier League – he is, to repeat a phrase I used over the weekend, a late game substitute.

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[...] Peter Crouch: He doesn’t play in Europe, eitherPart II of my statistical analysis of Peter Crouch takes a look at his European record, and reveals that conventional wisdom on the player is flat out wrong. Part I, on Crouch and the Premier League, is here. The conventional wisdom: … [...]
Bman

Yes, though he actually is Liverpools leading scorer in all competitions for the 2006-2007 season with 18 goals, he does not appear as often as one would think whether in premiership matches or champions league. What is staggering is how he takes advantage of his time on the pitch often scoring when coming on as a sub. He has alot more skill then alot of ppl think and i think alot of people laugh and underestimate him when they first seem him a skinny, super tall man, but he has lots of skill and technique. If Benitez has any 2 other strikers, he always plays them instead and of course his favorite is Tores, but Crouch is doing about as well as a substitute can do to prove himself.

Benitez doesnt have the so called luxury of a rotation system in defense. He has Carragher back there nonstop and i dont blame him and i still think idealy him and Terry as center backs would be an interesting combo if it hasnt been done. Maybe we can have a debate on this, Any how great post and alot of cool info.
http://england.worldcupblog.org/ Matthew

I agree on Carragher, although I’m not convinced he’s better than Rio Ferdinand for England. The reason Carragher doesn’t play for England is that he retired from international football after being upset about not being selected ahead of Terry and Ferdinand. While he’s a great player, Ferdinand and Terry – the former cultured and skillful, the latter a stereotypical strong English centre-back – work extremely well together. It’s interesting that England’s defensive implosion against Croatia happened in a game with only one of the first-choice back four (Richards, Terry, Ferdinand, Cole) on the pitch, and he the least experienced of the four. Dire as England’s performance was at both ends of the pitch, I think the result might have been very different with Terry, Ferdinand, and Cole rather than Campbell, Lescott, and Bridge. It might even have been different with Carragher rather than Lescott, but his premature retirement (read: tantrum) prevented this.

As far as Crouch goes, you’re absolutely right: he’s an excellent player, and far better than is immediately apparent from his appearance. I still consider him a poor choice for England given how little he plays for his club, but if he leave Liverpool (which he really should – any of the top clubs outside the Premiership’s big four would snap him up in a heartbeat) he could easily be one of the league’s top scorers within a season. All he needs is some faith and a regular starting berth. I can’t understand Benitez’s unwillingness to start with Crouch – for my money, he’s a better player than Kuyt and Voronin, both of whom start far more often, in all competitions, than Crouch. Torres is better than Crouch, but then he’s one of the best young strikers in the world, so that’s not too terrible. A regular Torres-Crouch front pairing would be fascinating to watch, but Benitez will never use it.
Bman

I thinkt that England need heart, I see tons of heart in Carragher and he is part of one of the most incredbly tough defenses in the Prem. He lines up next to Hyppia, imagine him instead next to Terry. I think ferdinand is solid though he often looses concentration. I see Carragher fighting to the point of exhaustion, he is like a lion and it hink he has more intensity.

i am not English but I think England needs heart like Terry, Carragher and Rooney, Also i really want to say that David James is still the best Keeper England have, Scott Carson is a choir boy compared to him, and he at age 37 is still very impressive. Finally i think Agbonlahore has to be brought in the England 11, he is a great competitor and scores all the time because he is always in the right place. This is off topic of Crouch, but by the time the World cup comes through 2010, many of these players will most likely be replaced.

To figure out what England is missing all you have to do Is see what most English teams have brought in from outside england, Super strikers like Drogba and Torres, and we can go on by position.