OPINION

What the stats don't show

I like statistics, they are entertaining, informative and give us lot's to talk about and at times they help us to direct our attention to what is truly important.

However despite all of that, I try to remain cautious when it comes to reading into certain data. Sometimes we see a stat that makes us think that it is the whole truth when in fact all is quite relative and we tend to forget that the whole truth rarely exists, especially in football.

I remember for example the day that I beat Carlos Santillana as the player with the most appearances for Real Madrid. In an event organised by MARCA, Carlos told me that until that moment he had not been aware that he had held the record and so of course when he had beaten it nobody had bothered to mention it to him. Today not one stat escapes those who dedicate their time to that type of information.

In this game obsessed with numbers and percentages, Cristiano Ronaldo is becoming a cult figure. His amazing form is making light of records we believed were unbeatable. Matches played, double strikes, hat tricks, shots on goal, percentages….wherever you look you will find stats and records being broken by the Portuguese star player.

However what statistics do not tell us are aspects to do with his importance as a member of the group, his closeness to the fans, his liking for an assist, the strained face when he makes a mistake, his happiness as a footballer, the awards that flood in, his consistency, the constant hunger, the sense in his words or his understanding of his role within the club.

To sum up, Cristiano all that is relative about you seems so obvious that you yourself appear to be the definitive truth.