Alright folks, gotta share this headache I got myself into today. Wanted to figure out why comparing AJM vs SHA player stats even matters for some fantasy league I’m messing with. Sounded simple enough, right? Boy, was I wrong.
The Hopeful Start (Where I Was Dead Wrong)
Started out thinking, “How hard can this be? Just pull up their goals and assists.” Grabbed stats from one website for AJM. Easy. Then hopped over to another site for SHA stats. Piece of cake.
Then I tried lining them up side by side in this old spreadsheet I had. Instantly hit a wall. Things didn’t match AT ALL.
- The stats looked different: One site called it “Key Passes,” another called it “Chances Created.” Same thing? Who knows!
- Time frames messed up: One player had “Last 5 Games,” the other showed “Season Total.” Compared apples to oranges. Useless.
- Weird numbers: Saw percentages for stuff like “Pass Accuracy,” but no clue if they counted the same types of passes or just guessed half of ’em.
My nice, neat comparison sheet looked like a toddler scribbled all over it. Total mess.
The Slow, Painful Realization
Spent ages digging, trying to make sense of it. Needed to understand what those stats actually meant behind the fancy names before I could even think about AJM vs SHA.
Realized comparing raw numbers is pointless if:
- The stat definitions aren’t exactly the same down to the little details.
- They ain’t covering the exact same games during the exact same time period.
- The players play totally different positions! Comparing a striker’s goals to a defender’s goals is nuts.
- You don’t know if it’s per game, per 90 minutes, or just some random total.
Turns out, saying “AJM has more shots than SHA” means absolutely zilch unless you know exactly what counts as a “shot” and over how many games. Might as well just flip a coin.
What I Ended Up Actually Doing (The Boring Truth)
After wasting most of my afternoon, here’s what you gotta do, painfully step by step:
- Pick ONE source: Found ONE stats site I trust a tiny bit more than the others. Used THAT site for BOTH players. No mixing!
- Set the same filter: Made DAMN sure both players’ stats were for the exact same last 10 matches. Same date range, same everything.
- Stuck to roles: Only compared AJM’s midfielder stats to SHA’s midfielders. Didn’t bother trying to compare AJM’s forward stats to SHA’s goalkeeper. Duh.
- Focused on “Per 90”: Looked harder at the stats shown per 90 minutes played. Way fairer than totals, especially if one guy gets more minutes riding the bench.
- Picked key battles: Instead of trying to compare everything under the sun, I looked at maybe two or three stats that actually matter for what they do on the field. Like, for midfielders: passes completed, tackles won, maybe interceptions. Ignored the rest. Too noisy.
It ain’t rocket science, but it ain’t just clicking buttons either. You gotta be stubborn about making things match up right, or your comparison is pure fantasy. Learned that the hard way. Save yourself the headache!
