From the Referee team
1: Details of the match referees and assistants
| Manchester United vs. Southampton [2-0]
Referee – Anthony Taylor 1st Assistant Referee – Richard West 2nd Assistant Referee – Adrian Holmes Fourth Official – Andre Marriner |
Stoke City vs. Manchester City [1-4]
Referee – Mike Dean 1st Assistant Referee – Simon Long 2nd Assistant Referee – Andy Garratt Fourth Official – Roger East |
| Swansea City vs. Hull City [0-2]
Referee – Stuart Attwell 1st Assistant Referee – Stephen Child 2nd Assistant Referee – Marc Perry Fourth Official – Robert Madley |
Tottenham vs. Crystal Palace [1-0]
Referee – Michael Oliver 1st Assistant Referee – Gary Beswick 2nd Assistant Referee – Stuart Burt Fourth Official – Darren Bond |
| Watford vs. Chelsea [1-2]
Referee – Jon Moss 1st Assistant Referee – Andy Halliday 2nd Assistant Referee – Edward Smart Fourth Official – Graham Scott |
West Bromwich vs. Everton [1-2]
Referee – Neil Swarbrick 1st Assistant Referee – Darren Cann 2nd Assistant Referee – Derek Eaton Fourth Official – Duncan Street |
| Burnley vs. Liverpool [2-0]
Referee – Lee Mason 1st Assistant Referee – Simon Beck 2nd Assistant Referee – Scott Ledger Fourth Official – Kevin Friend |
Leicester City vs. Arsenal [0-0]
Referee – Mark Clattenburg 1st Assistant Referee – Jake Collin 2nd Assistant Referee – Simon Bennett Fourth Official – Andre Marriner |
| Sunderland vs. Middlesbrough [1-2]
Referee – Martin Atkinson 1st Assistant Referee – Peter Kirkup 2nd Assistant Referee – Adam Nunn Fourth Official – Robert Madley |
West Ham United vs. Bournemouth [1-0]
Referee – Craig Pawson 1st Assistant Referee – Harry Lennard 2nd Assistant Referee – Ian Hussin Fourth Official – Roger East |
2: Matchweek 2 Summary
Referees of The Week (with no wrong Important Decisions) – Craig Pawson, Lee Mason and Stuart Attwell. Stuart Attwell gets the prize as he made three correct decisions and not to award a Wrong Important Decision
Worst Referee of the Week – Mike Dean with 6 wrong Important Decisions, runner up is Jon Moss with 4 and Honourable Mentions to Mark Clattenberg and Neil Swarbrick who each had 3.
Mr Dean had a shocker, Min 30, Arnautovic should have had a straight red card for a challenge on Zabaletta (error 7), Min 38 Stoke should have had a penalty as Kolarov bundles Allen over in the Penalty area (error 6), Min 48 Shawcross was wrongly awarded a penalty and Stoke wrongly scored a goal – Shawcross made the first foul by pushing Sterling (error 10) Min 65 De Brune should have had a red card for a bad and late challenge on Wollschied (error 8), Min 35 and Min86 Pieters should have had two yellow cards for fouls designed to break up City attacks. (error 9). It is highly doubtful that these errors would have made any difference to the overall score as the first would have seen Stoke reduced to 10 men.
In order to celebrate his trophy :-
Here is something we all have seen before…
That sums it up nicely I would say.
3: Games where Referees arguably affected the Results
- Leicester v Arsenal, result was a draw – should have been a win for Arsenal with 2 not given penalties in favour of Arsenal (Min31 Morgan on Kosc and Min41 Huth on Holding) and Vardy for Leicester sent off for two yellow cards (Min18 high foot and Min 21 Scissors tackle).
- Tottenham v Crystal Palace, result was a win for Tottenham – should have been a draw. In Min8 Rose should have had a yellow card for wrestling with Zaha, in Min 25 he should have had a second for a professional foul designed to break up a Palace counter attack.
4: Lucky Players who should have been sent off but weren’t
- Straight Red Cards – Arnautovic (Stoke), De Bruyne (Man City),
- Two Yellow Cards – Vardy (Leicester), Pieters (Stoke), Rose (Tottenham), Costa (Chelsea), Britos ((Watford), Behrami (Watford), Olsson (West Brom)
Villain of the Week – Three contenders, Vardy for two stupid challenges, either of which would probably have earned a straight red card on the Continent, Costa for dissent and a dive, and Shaw for one of the most outrageous dives you will ever see (no-one within two metres of him when he trips himself up). For me the winner has to be Shaw for a dive that deserved a place in the Olympics.
5:- List of Major Errors in Matchweek 2 (with links to video clips)
1. No Second Yellow Card Against Vardy – Vardy committed two reckless and dangerous challenges on Monreal but was not booked for either of these. [Ref – Mark Clattenburg]Vardy foul on Monreal no yellow card , Vardy foul on Monreal no yellow card_0007 , Vardy reckless tackle on Monreal no Yellow
2. No Penalty For Arsenal – Morgan clearly held and pulled Koscienly inside the Leicester penalty box. [Ref – Mark Clattenburg] Penalty Morgan Foul on Koscienly , Penalty Morgan Foul on Koscienly_0014
3. No Penalty For Arsenal – Huth grabbed and pulled Holding by his neck inside the Leicester penalty box. [Ref – Mark Clattenburg] Penalty Huth foul on Holding
4. Wrong Penalty Against Southampton – Shaw went running in to the box looking for contact and went down theatrically with no foul contact. [Ref – Anthony Taylor]
5. Wrong Goal Against Southampton – Due to the wrong penalty given earlier, the goal scored was illegal. [Ref – Anthony Taylor] Man United vs Saints Wrong Penalty Against Southampton Shaw Dives_001 , Man United vs Saints Wrong Penalty Against Southampton Shaw Dives_002 , Man United vs Saints Wrong Penalty Against Southampton Shaw Dives_003
6. No Penalty For Stoke City – Kolarov clearly fouled Allen inside the Man City penalty box. [Ref – Mike Dean] Stoke vs Man City Kolarov Foul on Allen No Penalty For Stoke002 , Stoke vs Man City Kolarov Foul on Allen No Penalty For Stoke003 , Stoke vs Man City Kolarov Foul on Allen No Penalty For Stoke004
7. No Red Card Against Arnautovic – Clearly went in with foot above the ball, serious foul play. [Ref – Mike Dean] Stoke vs Man City Arnautovic Poor Tackle No Red Card
8. No Red Card Against De Bruyne – Clearly planted his studs on the foot of Wollschied, serious foul play. [Ref – Mike Dean] Stoke vs Man City De Bruyne No Red Card
9. No Second Yellow Card Against Pieters – Pieters made two attack breaking deliberate fouls, but was not booked for either of them. [Ref – Mike Dean] Stoke vs Man City Pieters Poor Tackle and Attack Breaking foul on Navas No Yellow Card , Stoke vs Man City No Second Yellow Card Against Pieters Attack Breaking Foul on Sterling
10. Wrong Penalty Against Man City – Shawcross initially made a foul on Sterling by pushing away. Sterling was only flailing his arms without making any foul (pull, push, grab, hold). [Ref – Mike Dean]
11. Wrong Goal Against Man City – – Due to the wrong penalty given earlier, the goal scored was illegal. [Ref – Mike Dean] Stoke vs Man City Wrong Penalty Sterling Shawcross , Stoke vs Man City Wrong Penalty Sterling Shawcross002
12. No Second Yellow Card Against Rose – Rose committed one reckless foul and one attack breaking foul. But was not booked for either of them. [Ref – Michael Oliver] Spurs vs Palace Rose Attack Breaking Foul No Yellow Card , Spurs vs Palace Rose Attack Breaking Foul No Second Yellow Card_0004
13. No Penalty For Chelsea – Cathcart clearly raised his arm to handle the ball in the penalty box. [Ref – Jon Moss] Watford vs Chelsea Cathcart Handball Penalty
14. No Second Yellow Card Against Costa – Costa made two yellow card offences. First he was booked for dissent and unsporting behaviour at ref. Second was when he dived to con the ref. He was only booked for the first one. [Ref – Jon Moss] Watford vs Chelsea Costa Dives No Second Yellow Card
15. No Second Yellow Card Britos – Britos made two attack breaking fouls but was only booked for one. [Ref – Jon Moss] Watford vs Chelsea Britos Poor Attack Breaking foul on Pedro No Yellow Card , Watford vs Chelsea Britos Attack Breaking foul on Hazard No Second Yellow
16. No Second Yellow Card Behrami – Behrami committed one attack breaking foul and dissent, and showed aggressive behaviour later in the match. But was only booked once. [Ref – Jon Moss] Watford vs Chelsea Behrami Attack Breaking Foul and Dissent No Second Yellow Card
17. No Penalty For Everton – Olsson took down Mirallas in rugby like tackle, with nowhere near the ball. [Ref – Neil Swarbrick] West Brom vs Everton Olsson Penalty , West Brom vs Everton Olsson Penalty002
18. No Second Yellow Card Against Olsson – Olsson committed an attack breaking foul and a reckless tackle on two different occasions. But was only booked once. [Ref – Neil Swarbrick] West Brom vs Everton Olsson No Second Yellow Card
19. Wrong Goal Against Everton – Stekelenburg was clearly fouled by Berahino during the corner. [Ref – Neil Swarbrick] West Brom vs Everton Wrong Goal , West Brom vs Everton Wrong Goal002 , West Brom vs Everton Wrong Goal003 , West Brom vs Everton Wrong Goal004
6: List of Major Correct Decisions on Match Day #02
1. Correct Non-Penalty For Arsenal – Both Holding and Huth were holding each other inside the Arsenal penalty box. [Ref – Mark Clattenburg]
2. Correct Non-Penalty For Arsenal – Koscienly did not make foul contact with Drinkwater and also kicked away the ball slightly. [Ref – Mark Clattenburg]
3. Correct Non-Penalty For Arsenal* – Musa and Bellerin were involved in a very doubtful incident even after the use of 4-5 replays. * [Ref – Mark Clattenburg] *
4. Correct Penalty For Man City – Shawcross clearly held Otamendi by the arm and shirt in the penalty box. [Ref – Mike Dean]
5. Correct Non-Penalty For Man City – Walters went down too easily without any foul contact. [Ref – Mike Dean]
6. Correct Non-Penalty For Swansea City* – Replays do not provide the correct angle of the foul. If Snodgrass’s right foot was fouled then it’s a penalty, but if Snodgrass’s left foot was fouled then it’s a freekick. Due to high doubt the ref’s decision stands correct. * [Ref – Stuart Attwell]
7. Correct Non-Penalty For Hull City – Huddlestone did not foul Fer inside the penalty box. [Ref – Stuart Attwell]
8. Correct Non-Penalty For Hull City – Foul happened outside the line of play. No penalty. [Ref – Stuart Attwell]
9. Correct Non-Penalty For Middlesbrough – Both players close together in body contact. No foul contact or force made by Barrangan on Defoe. [Ref – Martin Atkinson]
10. Correct Non-Penalty For Watford – Prodl made no foul on Michy. [Ref – Jon Moss]
11. Correct Non-Penalty For Everton – No foul contact by any Everton player on McAuley or Evans. [Ref – Neil Swarbrick]
12. Correct Non-Penalty For Bournemouth – Foul clearly occurred just outside the penalty box on Tore by Daniels. [Ref – Craig Pawson]
*Note – Decision No.3 and No.6 are highly doubtful and the benefit of the doubt is given to the referee due to it being a potential penalty or not.
So this week we had a total of wrong major decisions of : 19.
But we also had of course some correct major decisions. The total of the correct was : 12
So more misses than correct.
I would like to say that we don’t say that the refs should have made all those calls as correct on the field. As for some it was almost impossible to make them on the field.
BUT if such a thing like video refereeing would exist we sure would make sure that the number of 19 would go down to … well tell me..
I also want to say that 19 decisions that could have been improved by a video referee system is a lot and this shows how important it would be to have it yesterday. Not today, or tomorrow… or in a few years time… No, now is the time to have it.
7: Major Wrong Decisions Made by Referees this week and to date
| Referee | Matchweek 2 | Season to date | |||||||||
| 2nd Yellow | Red | Penalties | Goals | Total | Total Games | 2nd Yellow | Red | Penalties | Goals | Total | |
| Andre Marriner | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Anthony Taylor | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
| Craig Pawson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Jon Moss | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Kevin Friend | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| Lee Mason | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mark Clattenburg | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Martin Atkinson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Michael Oliver | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Mike Dean | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
| Neil Swarbrick | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Robert Madley | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Roger East | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| Stuart Attwell | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Top of the error list over the first two weeks is Mike Dean. Well this isn’t really a surprise for those who have been following Untold in the past. 8 errors so far this season.
And then we have Anthony Taylor. After his misses in the Chelsea match he was at it again in the match of his home town club Manchester United. Shaw tripping himself but Mr. Taylor gave the penalty…. oh dear… Close behind Dean with 7 errors.
In third place in the league table no ref wants to be at the top is Jon Moss with 5 errors so far.
Let us see at the correct decisions by referee.
8: Major Correct Major Decisions Made by Referees
| Referee | Matchweek 2 | Season to Date | |||||||
| 2nd Yellow | Red | Penalties | Total | Total Games | 2nd Yellow | Red | Penalties | Total | |
| Andre Marriner | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Anthony Taylor | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Craig Pawson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Jon Moss | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Kevin Friend | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Lee Mason | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mark Clattenburg | 0 | 0 | 2 + 1 * | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2+1* | 3 |
| Martin Atkinson | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Michael Oliver | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Mike Dean | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Neil Swarbrick | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Robert Madley | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Roger East | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||
| Stuart Attwell | 0 | 0 | 2 + 1 * | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2+1* | 3 |
Note – The *(Asterisk) is used to show a decision of high doubt, with the benefit being given to the referee.
Despite Clattenburg getting a few things wrong he also made some good calls. So after 1 match he is leading the referees on correct major decisions. Together with Stuart Attwell who also has done one match and made also 3 correct calls.
And as Attwell made no errors he is for me the leading ref in this season so far. Well, only two games in it so anything can happen till the end of the season.
Let us now look at the decisions per team:
9 Major Wrong Decisions Against Teams (So far this year)
| Team | Second Yellow Cards | Red Cards | Penalties | Goals | Total |
| Chelsea | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 |
| Arsenal | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Everton | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Manchester City | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Southampton | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| West Ham United | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Hull City | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Stoke City | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| West Bromwich | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Crystal Palace | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Liverpool | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Middlesbrough | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Swansea City | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Watford | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Bournemouth | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Burnley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Leicester City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Manchester United | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sunderland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tottenham | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The team that got most wrong decisions against them is Chelsea so far with 5 major errors. In second place we find a few teams like Arsenal, Everton and Manchester City each with 4 errors against them.
10: Major Wrong Decisions in Favour of Teams (so far this year)
| Team | Second Yellow Cards | Red Cards | Penalties | Goals | Total |
| Leicester City | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| Stoke City | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Chelsea | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Watford | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| West Bromwich | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Crystal Palace | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Manchester City | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Manchester United | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Tottenham | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| West Ham United | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Arsenal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Burnley | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Liverpool | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Bournemouth | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Everton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hull City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Middlesbrough | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Southampton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sunderland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swansea City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
In this table we have a look at the decisions in favour of certain teams. And we see that both Leicester and Stoke City are the most favoured team. Blimey… Stoke… er… yes this was a constant thing during our referee reviews over the years. Somehow there is something in the air at Stoke that makes ref very favourable for anything Stoke does.
As Chelsea had most major errors against them we noticed that they also finish very high in the errors in their favour. So only a difference of 1 major error between the ones in their favour and the ones against them.
What was the influence of all this on the possible points that a team could won. That is in the next table.
11: Possible Change in Points Week-by-Week Due To Wrong Major Decisions
| Team | Week #1 | #2 | Total |
| Arsenal | 0 | +2 | 2 |
| Bournemouth | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Burnley | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chelsea | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Crystal Palace | 0 | +1 | 1 |
| Everton | +2 | 0 | 2 |
| Hull City | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Leicester City | 0 | -1 | -1 |
| Liverpool | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Manchester City | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Manchester United | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Middlesbrough | +2 | 0 | 2 |
| Southampton | +2 | 0 | 2 |
| Stoke City | -1 | 0 | -1 |
| Sunderland | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swansea City | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tottenham | -1 | -2 | -3 |
| Watford | -1 | 0 | -1 |
| West Bromwich | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| West Ham United | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Teams that should have gained points this week: Arsenal+2, Palace+1
Teams that should have lost points this week: Leciester-1, Tottenham-2
It is early days in the league of course but we see that some teams already had a bit of a push in the back by some referee decisions. Tottenham one of the most benficials in this table. A -3 means that they could and should have lost 3 points already.
This table will become much more interesting as the league goes on of course.
12: Official English Premier League Table
| Rank | Team | Points |
| 1 | Manchester City | 6 |
| 2 | Manchester United | 6 |
| 3 | Hull City | 6 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 6 |
| 5 | Everton | 4 |
| 6 | Middlesbrough | 4 |
| 7 | Tottenham | 4 |
| 8 | Burnley | 3 |
| 9 | West Bromwich | 3 |
| 10 | West Ham | 3 |
| 11 | Liverpool | 3 |
| 12 | Swansea City | 3 |
| 13 | Arsenal | 1 |
| 14 | Watford | 1 |
| 15 | Leicester City | 1 |
| 16 | Southampton | 1 |
| 17 | Stoke City | 1 |
| 18 | Sunderland | 0 |
| 19 | Crystal Palace | 0 |
| 20 | Bournemouth | 0 |
And so the Alternative League Table so far looks:
13: English Premier League Table Adjusted to Change in Points due to Major Wrong Decisions.
| Rank | Team | Total Change in Points | Points |
| 1 | Manchester United | 0 | 6 |
| 2 | Chelsea | 0 | 6 |
| 3 | Hull City | 0 | 6 |
| 4 | Manchester City | 0 | 6 |
| 5 | Everton | +2 | 6 |
| 6 | Middlesbrough | +2 | 6 |
| 7 | Liverpool | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | Swansea City | 0 | 3 |
| 9 | West Bromwich | 0 | 3 |
| 10 | Southampton | +2 | 3 |
| 11 | Arsenal | +2 | 3 |
| 12 | Burnley | 0 | 3 |
| 13 | Tottenham | -3 | 1 |
| 14 | Crystal Palace | +1 | 1 |
| 15 | Stoke City | -1 | 0 |
| 16 | Watford | -1 | 0 |
| 17 | Leicester City | -1 | 0 |
| 18 | Sunderland | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | West Ham United | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Bournemouth | 0 | 0 |
OT.
My predicted Ucl group stage draw for Arsenal who are in Pot 2 is as follows:
Arsenal FC
Borussia Dortmund
FC Porto
Bayer Leverkusen.
I am not suffering from the signing-phobia disorders. But has Lucas Perez 27, who is currently being linked with Arsenal for signing by the electronic and print media known as the mass media met all the Boss’s 4 boxes he has said should first be met before he can sign any player on a permanent deal? Or he’s only going to sign him on a loan deal? If Perez was to be a 22-24 year old striker, I wouldn’t have asked these 2 questions which I’ve asked.
I’ve clicked on all the sport media websites that I know as early as 8:30 am today to read what the Boss has said in his press conference which he held at this time last Thursday. But from the look of things, apparently, it will be tomorrow Friday before he holds another one.
Amazing how various media outlets and ex-rival-team-players-turned-shmuck-pundits wouldn’t stop claiming Leicester deserved 2 penalties..
Back on topic:
It was remarkable how the BBC radio plundits vociferously inisisted that the sahw dive was and I quote “a clear pelanty” as they would’ve been watching the replay. Most strange condict, been interesting to hear their thoughts on the Eduardo ‘dive’, and therefore we remark upon it.
I apologise if pointing out the vheating bias of the broadcasters offends anyone. But there it is/was and will be.
UTA.
< cheating bias
Samuel…Two things:
First, each CL group includes one team from each pot. The group i’m hoping for is:
Arsenal,CSKA Moscow, Club Brugge, Rostov
Hopeful “group of death”
Barca,Atletico, the tiny tots, monaco 🙂
On lucas Perez, if wingers criteria are: talent,will they improve the team,age and resale value, then I would say he ticked all 4 boxes.
1. He seems fairly talented similar record to lacazette last year not including penalties, however, achieving this at a worse club in a more challenging league.
2. He would improve the team, he offers something we don’t have in that he is more in the welbeck striker mould. Not as quick, but similar height, and arguably better at passing and shooting.
3. When wenger talks about age, I strongly suspect he doesn’t just mean as young as possible. He wants a players age to fit in with those around him, i.e. not be too similar. We don’t want a man u style situation where we have a rapidly ageing team who are roughly all similar ages. However I think wenger does like having some players in certain positions have a player of a similar age challenging for the starting spot. For instance, elneny, coquelin and xhaka are all similar age, none of us can really say at this point who is notably the better player and they are all at similar stages in their development, this not only enforces competition but means that they will learn each others games over the coming years. Look at koscielny and mert for instance. With this in mind I feel perez does fit the bill, he will be 28 next month and so provide good competition both for giroud, welbeck and sanchez and walcott potentially out wide.
4. With a 17m release clause this will always fit the bill for resale value. This criterion should be thought of more as residual book value, in the sense that, if we buy perez for 20m this year if we assume he has say 4 years of football in him then we will write down his value at 5m a year. He is an asset depreciating in value. If we can be confident we would get about 10m for him if we sold him when he was 30 then this box is ticked.
Lol, I meant wengers criteria, not the criteria for all wide forwards
This is some great work guys. Irrespective of how the table ends up, whether in favour of or against Arsenal, its great to see so much effort being made to draw the right conclusions.
Amazing detail in these.
Wonder who will win this years Eric Dier PGMOL protected species award…..Costa showing some early running
Costa won the Mike Dean sponsored charitable Bells & Whistles trophy for transparent officiating last year (you can even dress it up if you like…), he could go on to win more trophies again!