This is a text version of a video I made – The clickable links should take you to the appropriate graphs etc. (:
So, how do I go about making a framework to help identify these future legends of the pub table and the lads group chats? What separates a player that the streets won't forget from a simple, good old fashioned cult hero in the Premier League?
The first thing I did was to scour the internet for every player who I could find who was referred to as a player the "streets won't forget", on two or more independent occasions. I eventually ended up with a shortlist of over 120. I then went ahead and collected all of the relevant – widely available stats that I could think of for this group of players.
As I was collecting this data, and looking at my list of names, I could already tell there was a pretty big problem. I read through the names… Eden Hazard… one of the best wingers in the world for an extended period of time. Jermaine Defoe… Literally the 9th highest scorer in Premier League history. Samir Nasri, had extended stints at two of England's most successful clubs since the turn of the millennium. The history books will remember these players, there's no need for the streets to do so.
I guess that's what I get for trusting the wisdom of the crowd. This list was as trustworthy as a rope bridge made out of al dente pasta. Still, I found a way to make some use of all my data collection. I decided to go through the list again and narrow it down to those who appeared in a very scientific cut-off point of 'most' of the discussions around players that the streets won't forget. So I marked out my nice neat list of 23 sure-fire players, ordered roughly by how slam dunk I thought the label was for that player. So Adel Taraabt and Michu at the top, and Benjani scraping in as the 23rd and final – Discordant Football certified player that "the streets won't forget." Here's the full list if you want to inspect.
My first graph also comes with our first problem – and that's the Irishman with the long throw – it's Rory Delap. This is a simple graph of the amount of seasons that each player had in the Premier League. And down here ruining the nice gradual curve is big Rory. Rory sticks out in a lot of the data – and I'm going to put that down to one simple factor. He's a gimmick. If Rory Delap didn't have that throw, he would never be on these lists. It doesn't make him invalid, he just illuminates a separate path taken to street remembrance, when compared to most of the others on this list. If we get a goalkeeper who takes free kicks, or similarly memorable gimmicks. Then they too will probably be remembered.
Anyway, back to the graph. I decided to refine it a little bit by making it seasons with 15+ appearances. With this criteria, we can see that 18 of the 23 played between 2-6 seasons. Nothing groundbreaking, but something interesting to keep in mind. This graph of the amount of games played portrays essentially the same information, with a slightly different flavour. Like some vanilla ice cream – lonely in the Neapolitan tub – with only the ghosts of chocolate and strawberry haunting the sides of the container.
Next up I charted the finishing position for each season that a player spent in the league. Here is where you can start to see the interesting data come through I think. First – the most obvious fact is that none of these players have ever won the league. I don't necessarily think that winning the league would immediately exclude you from being labelled as a player that the streets won't forget – but I do think that playing an integral part in a title win, or winning multiple titles would pretty much eliminate you from contention. I'm sure they'll be devastated to hear that, but you can't have it all. There's a definite bias towards players who were middle table. With the mean, mode and median (I remembered something from my secondary school maths classes – a low bar I know.) all backing that up. Most of the higher finishes, came from those who were on the fringes of my selections. Andrey Arshavin for example, contributing two 3rd place finishes, along with a 4th place – but if they're on the list then they count. The main takeaway I had from this for my own selections. Is to look for mainly midtable finishes, but I won't be scared off by a couple of top 4 appearances. This graph can similarly be coupled with the player's win percentages in the PL – Showing the flame that sparks among midtable mediocrity – is generally more well remembered than the worst part of a title competing team.
I wasn't expecting it to do so – but charting the nationalities of the selected players did come with some interesting takeaways. The first thing that stood out, was that there was not a single English player on the list. Indeed, the great outlier Rory Delap is the only representative from either Ireland, or the rest of the UK on the list. I have a couple of theories about why this could be
- For a long time English football was defined by a lack of flair. Good, sensible 4-4-2 football is antithetical to the style of football which makes one whom the streets will remember. If this is the case then we can expect this trend to fade away as England have now (in general) transitioned to a more technical style of football in recent years.
- A player being English/British makes them far more likely to stay in England, and have a long enough career in the English leagues to make enough of an impact to rise above the label of someone who "the streets won't forget". Or alternatively to stay long enough to ruin their reputation in that regard. For example Jack Grealish at Aston Villa is absolutely someone who could have gotten that label, but then he moved to Man City. This led to him both winning the league at City – which as listed above is detrimental to his case – and having less freedom to impact games. If he was called Grealisho and was Brazilian, and he moved to Inter Milan over Man City. Then we'd be looking on him as a Juninho-esque Premier League icon. An English player is infinitely more likely to complete the vast majority of his career in a British league than a foreign one. However, it is seemingly becoming more common for English players to play abroad. So this could also lead to an English player being viewed as one the streets won't forget in the future, provided that they play a few applicable seasons within the PL and then leave with reputation intact.
- Alternatively, it could simply be the fact that someone who is English can never be remembered by the streets – doomed to wander unnamed. The simple stench of pie and mash can never be washed away. The public, and the streets, could never be tricked into committing valuable brain space towards remembering the name of an Englishman.
My personal take, is that it is possible for an English player to be one who "the streets won't forget", but they need to have an unusual career path. The closest I can reach currently in my mind is someone like Tammy Abraham (I was going to say Olise, but I have to count him as French), starting their career strong before making a move abroad to a strong team who are able to hold onto him. Alternatively, they can emulate Rory Delap and find a long throw or other suitable gimmick in order to cement themselves in history.
Outside of the English question. Europe was the most represented continent, having 11 of the 23 players. This was led by a very strong French contingent. There was also a good number of African players in the list, making up 7 of the 23. It was slightly surprising to me that this outnumbered the amount of South Americans present (4 of the 23). Ultimately the question of British identity was the main takeaway from this segment. But at least I made some ugly graphs.
The goals and assists per game stat – when coupled with the positions of these players paints a clear picture of the type of player who is more likely to be remembered by the streets. Once you get past the great outlier in Rory Delap, his two midfield friends, and the lone goalkeeper on the list, Wigan legend Ali-Al-Habsi – then the Goals+Assists/game shoots right up. Every other player on the list is either an Attacking Midfielder – Winger – or Centre Forward. It's a lot easier to go into the annals of history when you make contributions at the business end of the pitch, it's what most casual fans will pay attention to. When picking a player that the streets won't forget, there's a strong, strong bias towards attack minded players. It's part of my unprovable theory, that a good defensive player at a midtable club is more likely to be labelled as a 'cult-hero'. Unable to make their name on the streets they are instead, bewilderingly, made to be heroes of flawed, controlling religious or social groups.
And so, another clear, if unsurprising takeaway is that you are much more likely to make my list if play in the final third. Alternatively, if you play further back you should probably possess either a gimmick (looking at you Mr. Delap), or extreme flair and skill relative to the position you play – such as Moussa Dembele.
Finally, something which stood out to me, but which is surprisingly hard to find concrete statistics on. How many of these players were very good free-kick takers! It makes sense in a way. With free-kicks being very memorable pieces of play, in contrast to their overall impact. There's no easily accessible, widely available (free) data that I can find for direct free-kick goals. However, the players highlighted here in red are those who I would define as being free-kick specialists. The ones in orange are free-kick threats, and the rest are, well, the rest. 12/23 is a very high proportion, and something which I think can factor in strongly to our search. If a player is skilled at finding the back of the net from a set-piece, it's a great boost to their candidacy.
This leads into my first of 4 predictions for a player who could, in the future, be someone we look back on as someone "the streets won't forget." Which is a very confusing sentence. Fulfilling this free-kick taking criteria, and perhaps a little bit of the Rory Delap gimmick, is James Ward-Prowse. I realise that sounds a bit harsh on Ward-Prowse. But the fact remains that in general, a midtable, solid and serviceable central midfielder would normally not come close to this tag. I hate to break it to you, but Leon Osman isn't getting any shouts. The biggest argument against Ward-Prowse would be the length of his career in the Premier League, combined with his nationality. However, he has spent his time finishing in the perfect league positions, with the perfect clubs, throughout his time in the league to be considered. Throw that in with his "gimmick" of being able to score a lot of direct free-kicks, he's second only to David Beckham currently, and I think it could be a shout. It's possible that he's just going to be around the league for a little bit too long to be considered. I thought he was an interesting first candidate to test the limits of who could be considered, and to poke and prod at your own personal qualifiers for the term.
Next up I went with a much more 'traditional' choice. Not British, 2 seasons in the Premier League, an attacking winger with skill and flair. Raphinha was a standout player for Leeds for a couple of seasons before making a big move away to Barcelona. This – combined with his age – means he is unlikely to feature significantly for a top Premier League team again. His finishing positions in the league of 9th and 17th stick him squarely in our ideal range. He scored a free-kick in each of his seasons. There's not really anything I can see which would disqualify Raphinha from contention, and he's the choice here who I'm happiest at picking out. The only real point of contention I could see people having, is that an extended successful stint at Barcelona could make him 'too notable' to be considered.
Kaoru Mitoma is an interesting potential pick. His style of play, with aggressive dribbling suits the tag well. In addition Brighton is the perfect level of club to pull from. Shockingly, with a name like that he is also not British. My main concern with him is that he's never necessarily been a talismanic figure for a Brighton team which is always packed with interesting talents and technically gifted players. This is emblematic of a common thought I had while scouring squad lists. There are a lot more of these types of player in the league now. A player who would have really stood out in an old Bolton, or Middlesborough team is now one of 2 or 3 on a team. It really is an eye-opening way of looking at how much football has changed in the last 20 or so years.
And finally, Allan Saint-Maximin. You already know it's true. It's too easy, I'm not going to waste my – or your – time explaining.
Thanks for reading!
by longshortformcontent