https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51491041
Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Robertson, Gomez, Van Dijk, Fabinho, Henderson, Wijnaldum, Mane, Firmino, Salah.
Liverpool's first-choice starting XI are already on their way to iconic status courtesy of performances over the past two seasons, including a stunning run of form to go more than a year unbeaten and lead the Premier League by a massive 25 points in 2019-20.
Would it surprise you, then, to learn that the 1-0 defeat at Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie in February was the first time this side had started a game together?
It is not such a unique phenomenon, though. Some of the most iconic starting XIs in football history barely ever began a game together.
Injuries, suspensions and, more recently, squad rotation, along with perhaps a bit of misremembering on our part, all contribute to make some of football's most revered sides no more than a myth.
Well, I suppose that's just how numbers work . If each individual player started 90% of the team's matches, and we assume that all of their absences were independent... then, we'd expect them to be there together (0.9)11*100 = 31% of the time. (And, of course, some of these "Famous starting XIs" will feature a substitute player who just happened to get lucky on the day of a big match - so, those players will have started a lot less than 90% of the team's matches...)
It's interesting, but not massively surprising. (At least, not to a mathematician like myself !)
Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Robertson, Gomez, Van Dijk, Fabinho, Henderson, Wijnaldum, Mane, Firmino, Salah.
Liverpool's first-choice starting XI are already on their way to iconic status courtesy of performances over the past two seasons, including a stunning run of form to go more than a year unbeaten and lead the Premier League by a massive 25 points in 2019-20.
Would it surprise you, then, to learn that the 1-0 defeat at Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie in February was the first time this side had started a game together?
It is not such a unique phenomenon, though. Some of the most iconic starting XIs in football history barely ever began a game together.
Injuries, suspensions and, more recently, squad rotation, along with perhaps a bit of misremembering on our part, all contribute to make some of football's most revered sides no more than a myth.
Well, I suppose that's just how numbers work . If each individual player started 90% of the team's matches, and we assume that all of their absences were independent... then, we'd expect them to be there together (0.9)11*100 = 31% of the time. (And, of course, some of these "Famous starting XIs" will feature a substitute player who just happened to get lucky on the day of a big match - so, those players will have started a lot less than 90% of the team's matches...)
It's interesting, but not massively surprising. (At least, not to a mathematician like myself !)
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