a little quiz - united goalscorers

who are the most productive united players? two (rather arbitrary) lists; put each list in order in terms of games per goal. appearances (starts/total including sub appearances) are given after each name.



attackers
dimitar berbatov (47/58)
eric cantona (184/185)
andy cole (231/275)
mark hughes (453/467)
danis law (398/404)
wayne rooney (224/253)
louis saha (76/124)
teddy sheringham (101/153)
ole gunnar solskjaer (216/366)
ruud van nistelrooy (200/219)
denis viollet (293/293)
dwight yorke (120/152)


wingers/wide midfielders
david beckham (356/394)
george best (470/470)
steve coppell (393/396)
ryan giggs (705/817)
andrei kanchelskis (132/161)
nani (61/85)
cristiano ronaldo (244/292)
antonio valencia (12/17)


for calculating goals per game we'll take the total (incl. sub) number of appearances. cheat if you're a £#%&!er, otherwise do it without looking anything up.

louis saha and george best?

843 and 17 remaining

Ralphie Milne and Eric Djemba Djemba respectively..

That's some appearance record of Bestie's. 470 games and not a single one as sub

Originally Posted by borsuk

who are the most productive united players? two (rather arbitrary) lists; put each list in order in terms of games per goal. appearances (starts/total including sub appearances) are given after each name.



attackers
dimitar berbatov (47/58)
eric cantona (184/185)
andy cole (231/275)
mark hughes (453/467)
danis law (398/404)
wayne rooney (224/253)
louis saha (76/124)
teddy sheringham (101/153)
ole gunnar solskjaer (216/366)
ruud van nistelrooy (200/219)
denis viollet (293/293)
dwight yorke (120/152)


wingers/wide midfielders
david beckham (356/394)
george best (470/470)
steve coppell (393/396)
ryan giggs (705/817)
andrei kanchelskis (132/161)
nani (61/85)
cristiano ronaldo (244/292)
antonio valencia (12/17)


for calculating goals per game we'll take the total (incl. sub) number of appearances. cheat if you're a £#%&!er, otherwise do it without looking anything up.

My spotty maths is about to be exposed


dimitar berbatov (47/58) 17? Goals, Roughly 1 in 3.5
eric cantona (184/185) 74? goals, Roughly 1 in 2.5
andy cole (231/275) 121? goals, Roughly 1 in 2.3
mark hughes (453/467) 165? goals, just under 1 in 3
danis law (398/404) 220? goals around 1 in 1.8
wayne rooney (224/253) 120? goals, just over 1 in 2
louis saha (76/124) 42 goals, around 1 in 3
teddy sheringham (101/153) 45? goals, around 1 in 3
ole gunnar solskjaer (216/366) 120 goals, 1 in 3
ruud van nistelrooy (200/219) 150 goals, better than 1 every 1.5, incredible record
denis viollet (293/293) 180 goals? just over 1 in 1.5
dwight yorke (120/152) 60? goals, 1 in every 2.5.

From that Ruud, then Viollet, then Law, with Rooney surprisingly coming in next. Not sure of the number for Law though, have a feeling i have sold him short.


wingers/wide midfielders
david beckham (356/394) 80 goals, so around 1 in 5
george best (470/470) 174 goals, around 1 in 2.75
steve coppell (393/396) 40? goals around 1 in 10
ryan giggs (705/817) 150 goals, 1 in 5.3
andrei kanchelskis (132/161) 50 goals, a little over 1 in 3
nani (61/85) 13 goals 1 in 6.5
cristiano ronaldo (244/292) 120 goals 1 in 2.5
antonio valencia (12/17) 3 goals, 1 in 6

Ronaldo then Best, then kanchelskis with the rest having more normal scoring rates for wide players. May have given Andrei more goals than he actually did score though.

who is this danis law that you mention ?

Originally Posted by helmet

That's some appearance record of Bestie's. 470 games and not a single one as sub

you're a bit of an helmet.

Why isn't Park in the list??

Originally Posted by John Blazini

Why isn't Park in the list??

you know why

Andy Cole and Ronnie surely.

i'd take a guess at ruud and ronaldo.

they fall into some clear groups, as you might expect. we've really had three pure goalscorers who are way out in front. denis viollet is perhaps not given the credit he deserves for such a record. law's record stands out for the length of time he maintained his strike rate, incredible in a time when far fewer games were played.

rooney is already comfortably matching the greats of the past in his position (second striker, not out and out goalscorer) and his strike rate has improved noticeably this year:

2004-05 17 in 43 (1 in 2.5)
2005-06 19 in 48 (1 in 2.5)
2006-07 23 in 55 (1 in 2.4)
2007-08 18 in 43 (1 in 2.4) - season disrupted by serious injury
2008-09 20 in 49 (1 in 2.45)
2009-10 8 in 15 (1 in 1.8)


surprising how low saha actually is in the list. berbatov's return so far has to be disappointing.

ronaldo and best's records from their position are simply incredible and testament to just what special players they both were for us.


[SIZE="4"]attackers
ruud van nistelrooy (200/219) 150 goals - 1 in 1.5
denis viollet (293/293) 179 goals - 1 in 1.6
denis law (398/404) 237 goals - 1 in 1.7

eric cantona (184/185) 82 goals - 1 in 2.3
andy cole (231/275) 121 goals - 1 in 2.3
dwight yorke (120/152) 66 goals - 1 in 2.3
wayne rooney (224/253) 105 goals - 1 in 2.4

mark hughes (453/467) 163 goals - 1 in 2.9
ole gunnar solskjaer (216/366) 126 goals - 1 in 2.9
louis saha (76/124) 42 goals - 1 in 3

dimitar berbatov (47/58) 18 goals - 1 in 3.2
teddy sheringham (101/153) 46 goals - 1 in 3.3


[SIZE="4"]wingers/wide midfielders

cristiano ronaldo (244/292) 118 goals - 1 in 2.5
george best (470/470) 179 goals - 1 in 2.6

andrei kanchelskis (132/161) 36 goals - 1 in 4.5
david beckham (356/394) 85 - 1 in 4.6
ryan giggs (705/817) 150 goals - 1 in 4.7

steve coppell (393/396) 70 goals - 1 in 5.7

nani (61/85) 12 goals - 1 in 7
antonio valencia (12/17) - 2 goals - 1 in 8.5

RvN, what a great £#%&!ing player.

nft

The meaning of those sort of stats are always slightly skewed by the people who take free kicks and penalties.

Originally Posted by zzalsar3

The meaning of those sort of stats are always slightly skewed by the people who take free kicks and penalties.

true, and the number of 10 minute sub appearances.

if you've got the stats for pens then put them up. free kicks are perfectly ok to include imo - a great skill.

should have put Tommy Taylor in there

re Ruud - great record but the style of football we sometimes played to accommodate him and the fact that we were less successful as a club with him in the side is pertinent

Originally Posted by borsuk

berbatov's return so far has to be disappointing.

]

Interesting to note how similar it is to Hughes's. Hughes was often criticised for not scoring heavily enough but this was contered by his supporters who said he created a great deal for the team and to look beyond just the goals. It's ironic that now Hughes is remembered mainly for the important, and spectacular, goals he scored.

Originally Posted by Billy Baroo

re Ruud - great record but the style of football we sometimes played to accommodate him and the fact that we were less successful as a club with him in the side is pertinent

Indeed, ties in with my post above too.

assists should come into play in these stats. surely it is of equal importance for a second striker/winger to be providing chances for their team mates as well as finsihing them..