Liverpool have, today, confirmed the departure of Nuri Sahin on their official website. His signing was one of the most eagerly anticipated by Liverpool fans especially as it initially looked like he had signed for Arsenal. He leaves with a lot of questions in the minds of Liverpool fans – why has Nuri Sahin not featured for Liverpool? I don’t think we’ll be able to answer that – only Brendan Rodgers or Nuri Sahin could answer that.

Another good point is that this is now the second club at which Nuri Sahin has fallen into the background, first Real Madrid and now Liverpool. Has he lost his edge after moving from Dortmund originally?

Well all we can do is display all of Nuri Sahin’s stats for you and compare him to the player that kept him out of the side – Jonjo Shelvey. Jonjo and Sahin would both be part of a midfield three – and it’s quite surprising that Shelvey started in place of a full international especially as Jonjo’s better performances have come in Europe.

The stats below are only for Premier League games – which is why you’ll notice that Nuri Sahin’s two goals against West Brom are omitted – it’s a fair comparison because Jonjo is also missing goals from the Europa League where he has been prolific.

[table id=152 /]

So both players started seven games but Nuri Sahin didn’t make one substitute appearance whereas Jonjo has come onto the pitch 8 times. There isn’t much in it at all with Nuri Sahin actually performing better than Jonjo in the majority. We’ve decided to use the minutes per statistics because it gives a fairer comparison between the players.

One argument is that Jonjo would win more duels or tackles etc – however Nuri Sahin’s matched him or even bettered him in many of the stats above. I highly doubt one defensive error would be the cause of being a Liverpool reserve – especially at a time where Liverpool need quality!

A lot of followers on our Twitter account argue that Jonjo is more attacking and therefore he was given the chance to play more minutes because he could make more of a difference further up the field. Well let’s take a look at the attacking stats below and see how much of a difference Jonjo has made in comparison to Nuri Sahin:

[table id=151 /]

In comparison to Jonjo Shelvey – passing was almost the same, Nuri Sahin had one more goal assist and played 300 minutes less. Nuri Sahin also created chances more often – one every 57 minutes compared to Jonjo’s one every 70. Jonjo does shoot a lot more often than Nuri did but it got them both the solitary goal in the Premier League. So has Jonjo really given us much more as a force further up the pitch? Are all the shots he takes worth it? Jonjo has potential – I admit that much – but has he done enough to keep Nuri Sahin out of the team? Sahin has produced as much from being in a deeper position?

Nuri Sahin has a goal and assist to his name for Liverpool in the Premier League and he achieved them both in only his second start. It took Stewart Downing almost 18 months to achieve a goal and assist- both of these occurring in December 2012 – again different positions but Nuri Sahin could have made a difference had he played more minutes.

A few questions I have:

Did the regular seat on the bench drive Nuri Sahin away?

Could Nuri Sahin not settle in Liverpool? Was he home-sick?

Are there other issues that none of us know about? Issues with players or management?

These questions are unanswered and until they are answered the blame-game for his departure should be put on hold!

Nuri Sahin – Given a Fair Chance?

Not a chance! I firmly believe that he hasn’t been given a fair chance and that with more starts he would have shined. He did look out of place at the start, yes he did, but with time I’m certain that a player of his quality would have really lit up the Premier League.

A stat to sum up Nuri Sahin’s tenure at Liverpool:

[quote]

Nuri Sahin leaves #LFC – he only managed an average of 65 mins for each of his 7 starts.

He was substituted in all 7 games. Reserve.

@AnfieldIndex[/quote]

In the end that’s all he was – a reserve.

A reserve that will more likely, than not, go and absolutely shine in the Bundesliga once again and show Liverpool exactly what they’ve missed out on.

We’ll leave you with some of Nuri Sahin’s stats in all of his Premier League starts – use them as you please but do credit EPLIndex.com if you do use them!

In-depth Nuri Sahin Stats available on next page covering: Tackling, Creativity, Passing, Possession & Attacking from his 7 Liverpool Premier League Starts.

Nuri Sahin Tackling Stats

Nuri Sahin Possession Stats

Nuri Sahin Attacking Stats

Nuri Sahin Passing Stats

Nuri Sahin Creativity Stats