So I kept seeing people throw around fancy stats about Pau Cubarsí but honestly? All those numbers just made my eyes glaze over. Decided to break it down like I’m explaining to my neighbor who only watches football during World Cup finals.
Starting With Total Chaos
First I grabbed every stat sheet I could find – felt like drowning in spreadsheets honestly. Pages full of numbers like 94.3% passing accuracy and 1.8 interceptions per game. Sat there scratching my head thinking “What does this actually mean on the pitch?” Like is that good? Bad? Average? Who knows!
My Kitchen Table Solution
Dumped printed papers all over my kitchen table (wife was NOT amused). Started circling stuff with red marker like:
- Pass completion = How many times he gives ball to teammate without messing up
- Tackles won = When he straight up takes ball from opponent’s feet
- Clearances = Boots ball into next town when danger comes
Basically turned each stat into playground football terms. If I couldn’t explain it to my 10-year-old nephew, I crossed it out.
The Lightbulb Moment
Realized nobody cares about exact decimal points – they wanna know:
• Is he good at defending?
• Does he lose the ball often?
• How much does he actually play?
So I took those kitchen notes and made three big categories:
1) Defending skills
2) Ball control
3) Game time facts
Throwing Out The Junk
Got ruthless with delete key. Anything that needed calculator? Gone. Made-up metrics like “expected tackle conversion”? Trash bin. Only kept stuff that actually shows up when you WATCH the game.
Ended up with maybe 5-6 real meaningful numbers that show exactly why Barça trusts this kid in defense. No fluff, no confusing charts, just clear connections like “high interception numbers = he reads passes like detective novel”.
What I’d Do Differently
Seriously thought about adding video clips but nah – defeats the purpose of SIMPLE stats explainer. Maybe next time I’ll use Lego figures to demonstrate tackles… though my dog ate last attempt at that.