Highlights - truth or lies

[OldManRed]

Highlights – are they a revealing insight or misdirection?

I just looked at the “ratings” thread in tyhe LFC formum for yesterdays match and, finding my opinion in conflict with some of the scoring, wondered why this was.

I watched yesterdays match live, then the 40 minute highlight package on the offal and got two completely different feelings for the player marks. It was particularly apparent with Kuyt, Alonso, Pennant and Garcia and the CBs.

When I watch a match live I get caught up with the emotion and the effort a player puts in stands out a lot. Kuyt tried really hard, defended from the front and looked a good player live, but in the highlights package he just looked so much less effective – his failings in front of goal were highlighted and he looked ill at ease. Not that he’s a bad player, but trying hard doesn’t seem so important after the match is over.

Mistakes also stand out when I watch live, so Garcia was frustrating (etc. etc.), but in the (40 minute) highlight package he was central to a lot of our attacking play so looked invaluable in the first half and important in the second. So do the highlights show what an important player he is, or cover up the fact he gives the ball away too much?

Watching live, Alonso did a lot of simple things well, but in the highlights scuffed shots, missed passes and poor tackles were the order of the day. This is the opposite of the Garcia syndrome and argues that highlights are misleading.

And so to Pennant... Well, both the live game and the highlights showed his commendable effort but the highlights pointed out the lack of end product. During the game I kept willing him on and thinking ‘oh, nearly’ but in the highlights I just thought ‘oh no, not again’. Which is the truth – nearly man or waste of air (I know neither extreme is true but I’m trying to point out the differences)?

And finally the CBs – they were both good with only one obvious mistake from each (at least, one which I saw). They were very good but the best points of CB play go unnoticed in TV coverage at the best of times and in the highlights you only see the mistakes (or the goals and crosses ).

The shorter the highlight package the worse the problems become (see Match of the Day) but at 40 minutes you seem to get a good insight.

So I’ll ask again – do (40 minute) highlights show the truth of a game better than the emotion of a live match, or are they equally misleading?

[Mumsafan]

Even watching the whole game live on tv doesn't show you everything. You are at the mercy of the camera man and can miss so much. Being at the game you can actually judge these things for yourself. Who does a lot of running off the ball etc.

[OldManRed]

Too true I'm afraid, but old men can't travel too often so we have to make do with the TV I'm afraid.

I do think highlights are intersting though from the prospective of who makes a difference, rather than who tries hard.

[machiavelli]

highlights are edited to show what the producers want to show

[lfc4ever]

Highlights are the world we live in, instant gratification of the want it now brigade, only showing the interesting bits of what some no-name suit thinks the public wants to see, action & goals & the referee getting involved etc.

What you don't see are the managers playing chess, the boring bits, the off-camera movement and positioning of the players, thereby preventing any advantage to the opposition type of play, which to a cameraman is just boring, but to the supporters of that team - highly important & relevant.

What we want is the option of live matches with a camera positioned as high as possible covering the whole pitch in one angle shot, with the possibility of picture-in-picture type options available.

[SouthAfricaRed]

I find the Best Highlight Packages are the 90 min versions

[dww]

It's a really interesting point actually. I think that both offer different views and highlight things the other don't. The Alonso/Garcia point being the key here. The thing is during a match you tend to give undue wait to things that don't come off - as it is incredibly frustrating and this can taint you view of a player. However in a highlights package you will always miss the hardwork that ensure we do well, the cutting out of opposition attacks before they start, the way Alonso keeps possession.

If you want to accurately judge players performance, you probably idally need to see the match live and then watch a full rerun on TV and have access to statistics. You have to accept that we live in an imperfect world and no matter what evidence you try and use it is hard to be objective in your analysis of football as you are a fan and emotions play a big part in your experiences of a performance.