POOOOOOOOWEEEEEEEEER!!!
We have now finished the 2022/23 season and have entered the month between when everyone’s contracts run out and when the transfer window opens. JUNE!!!
Across the globe, people are watching Lionel Messi decide where he’s going (Inter Miami), gawping in awe at Benzema heading to Saudi Arabia, guffawing at West Ham winning a European title and admiring/despising Manchester City for winning the treble.
But… We are not everyone.
Are we not?
No. Instead, I am taking this break in the season to have a look at a list organised by The Analyst, set up to work out who are the best teams in the world. The Opta Power Ranking. The global ranking system assigns an ability score to something near 13,500 domestic teams on a scale of zero to 100, where zero is the worst ranked team, and the best 100. The Rankings are updated every weekday. The system was originally used to rank chess players.
BINGO!
The system was in the news lately for the shocking inclusion of some teams in the Top 25, that included Newcastle United and Aston Villa.
What’s more shocking? The modellers have taken time to include Cypriot teams. And not just the First Division. Elia Lythrodonta are in it, and they were relegated from the Third Division.
There’s a Third Division?!
There’s relegation from the Third Division?!
So, what do the rankings look like in Cyprus? I had a look on 9th June 2023 to see what was what. Very interesting things is what’s what, in the top 20 teams of Cyprus:
Dracula voice - Veeeery interesting…
Aris are understandably top with their league win. Thanks to their win, they are sitting pretty next to teams like Nottingham Forest, Molde, Ludogorets and Getafe. See for yourself: https://theanalyst.com/eu/2023/06/who-are-the-best-football-team-in-the-world-opta-power-rankings/
APOEL are second, much like their second place finish.
However, the score for the next three teams might reflect form rather than final placing. AEK finished third in the league, but their form in the play-offs was terrible. Same thing with Pafos. They had a disastrous transfer window (it seems) and their form also fell off a cliff. The two teams have the exact same score if you look at the ranking score to the neatest tenth of a unit.
Meanwhile, Apollon appointed Bogdan Andone as head coach, and their season went from one of near absolute disaster, to being on the cusp of Europe. Even if they did finish 5th.
Up until 11th place, positions in the ranking seem to follow the finishing places in the table. In 11th place, ENP, who took the last relegation place. The team that they pushed up until the last game of the season, Doxa, are the 13th best team in the country. In fact, according to the power rankings, Olympiakos are better than Doxa, and they finished bottom of the table. Olympiakos’ form was terrible after they fired Makis Sergides, so I can’t imagine what Akritas and Doxa did to finish the season below Doxa in the power rankings.
Of course there are then six teams from the Second Division included in the Top 20. Achna, Othellos and AEZ were promoted, but not necessarily in that order. ALS Omonia finished the league in 4th. But what of PAEEK and POX? Well, they finished in the Relegation Group. The other 4 teams in the Promotion Group of the Second Division, being Achyronas-Onisilos, Peyia 2014, MEAP Pera Choriou Nisou and Omonia Aradhippou don’t even appear. In fact, MEAP and Omonia finished the season with power rankings being either side of Third Division Champions Digenis Morphou. Why such a disparity between their season end position and their power ranking?
Tell me why…
The playoff split. Unlike the First Division where teams played each other twice before the split, the Second Division split happened after all the teams had played each other once. 16 teams, 15 games. Which means the second phase was almost as long as the first with 14 games. Teams with midtable form, budgets and skill, were playing almost every week against teams challenging for those promotion spots. Which meant their form was utter trash.
Like this Pokemon. Look at it. Garbador. Their form was Garbador.
POX and PAEEK finished on the same points (39) at the top of the Relegation Group and in fact finished with more points than 7th and 8th. There’s not many leagues in the world where 9th and 10th finished with the same points as 6th.
That is not how numbers work
POWER RANKINGS!!!
