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Victory Through Harmony
By Walter Broeckx
After my first article on fouls I went a step further and have a look at the yellow cards the teams have received in the EPL this season.
The first thing I did was see how many yellow cards were handed out and made an average for each team on how many cards they get in a game.
| Team | Games played | Yellow cards | Average/game |
| Newcastle | 23 | 48 | 2,09 |
| Aston Villa | 24 | 50 | 2,08 |
| Man City | 24 | 49 | 2,04 |
| Stoke | 23 | 41 | 1,78 |
| Bolton | 24 | 41 | 1,71 |
| Wigan | 24 | 41 | 1,71 |
| West Ham | 24 | 40 | 1,67 |
| Liverpool | 24 | 39 | 1,63 |
| Blackburn | 24 | 39 | 1,63 |
| Arsenal | 23 | 37 | 1,61 |
| Wolverhampton | 23 | 37 | 1,61 |
| Sunderland | 24 | 38 | 1,58 |
| Man Utd | 23 | 36 | 1,57 |
| Birmingham | 22 | 33 | 1,50 |
| Chelsea | 23 | 33 | 1,43 |
| Tottenham | 23 | 33 | 1,43 |
| West Brom | 23 | 32 | 1,39 |
| Blackpool | 23 | 29 | 1,26 |
| Everton | 23 | 27 | 1,17 |
| Fulham | 24 | 28 | 1,17 |
The team that has received most yellow cards this season is Aston Villa with 50 cards in total. And just behind them in second place we have Manchester City with 49 and then Newcastle completes the top 3 with 48. And then we can find some other teams who we can expect high in the list like Stoke, Bolton and Wigan.
Again Arsenal is in a mid table position. Fulham and Everton are the teams who get the lowest cards and end on the same number when it comes to average yellow cards per game.
Now this is all nice but one cannot draw any conclusions from this. But when you add the fouls a team has made you get a more interesting table. So let us have a look at this.
| Team | Games played | Total fouls made | Yellow cards | Fouls/card |
| Newcastle | 23 | 273 | 48 | 5,69 |
| Aston Villa | 24 | 296 | 50 | 5,92 |
| Man City | 24 | 293 | 49 | 5,98 |
| Stoke | 23 | 256 | 41 | 6,24 |
| West Ham | 24 | 259 | 40 | 6,48 |
| Sunderland | 24 | 253 | 38 | 6,66 |
| Man Utd | 23 | 241 | 36 | 6,69 |
| Birmingham | 22 | 221 | 33 | 6,70 |
| Tottenham | 23 | 226 | 33 | 6,85 |
| Wolverhampton | 23 | 260 | 37 | 7,03 |
| Chelsea | 23 | 236 | 33 | 7,15 |
| Arsenal | 23 | 266 | 37 | 7,19 |
| Blackburn | 24 | 283 | 39 | 7,26 |
| West Brom | 23 | 239 | 32 | 7,47 |
| Liverpool | 24 | 292 | 39 | 7,49 |
| Wigan | 24 | 307 | 41 | 7,49 |
| Bolton | 24 | 310 | 41 | 7,56 |
| Blackpool | 23 | 235 | 29 | 8,10 |
| Fulham | 24 | 261 | 28 | 9,32 |
| Everton | 23 | 287 | 27 | 10,63 |
In this table one should be able to see how bad a foul is. As in the first table making a foul like a push is counted in the same way as making a tackle from behind. But in this table one should be able to see if the fouls that has been made are dirtier or not.
And for the first three teams this makes no difference. They commit a lot of fouls, get a lot of yellow cards for them and this could mean that they are playing more dirty. And one can see that some teams end up higher in this table and the higher you end the “dirtier” your fouls are.
And so we can see that Tottenham despite committing not many fouls end up higher in this table. So the fouls they make are considered worse in general than Arsenal. We fall back a bit in this table and this means that we make a mid table number of fouls but they are more little fouls than dirty fouls.
One of the most surprising things is that Everton who ended in 3rd place in the average fouls per game table ends in last place in this table. This could mean that they do make a lot of fouls but that they are small fouls. Or that the refs consider them that way. Let us have a look at this next week I would suggest when we play them. Prepare yourself for a lot of fouls, most of them small ones.
Finally I will give you the red cards table.
| Team | Games played | Red Cards |
| West Brom | 23 | 6 |
| Arsenal | 23 | 5 |
| Man City | 24 | 5 |
| Sunderland | 24 | 4 |
| Bolton | 24 | 4 |
| Wigan | 24 | 4 |
| Everton | 23 | 3 |
| Tottenham | 23 | 2 |
| Stoke | 23 | 2 |
| Wolverhampton | 23 | 2 |
| Liverpool | 24 | 2 |
| Blackburn | 24 | 2 |
| Birmingham | 22 | 1 |
| Man Utd | 23 | 1 |
| Chelsea | 23 | 1 |
| Newcastle | 23 | 1 |
| Blackpool | 23 | 1 |
| Aston Villa | 24 | 1 |
| West Ham | 24 | 1 |
| Fulham | 24 | 0 |
I just left it like that and didn’t count an average per game. As this would be a little bit silly when no team gets more than one red card per game.
But when you look at this table you can see some strange things. West Bromwich ends in first place and this is a bit of a surprise for me. I never considered them a dirty team.
And look at us in second place with the rich boys from City. 5 red cards is a high result. And what a low result for Manchester United. From the games I have seen from them I can add that they should have had Fletcher and Ferdinand sent off against us. A defender should have been send off against Villa when he made a penalty foul on a Villa player who was going through on goal. Dean gave a yellow card. We can remember Neville against WBA who brought a player down in the penalty area who was clear on goal ready to score. The ref gave nothing at all. And maybe I even forgot a few other events of this type.
So if you take just those things in consideration one can see that in fact this table is in the hands of the refs and not down to following the rules like it should be. The refs can have a big influence on the results of games by giving or not giving red cars. And I really don’t mind if one of our players gets a red card when it is deserved but then I would like to see it happen for everyone in the same way.
Maybe I should end this series of articles by taking off my hat for Fulham. Played 24 games, lowest in the yellow cards table, no red cards so far. But maybe they have been extremely lucky with their refs. Or maybe they simply try not to go over the line.
Herbert Chapman at Huddersfield Town
Walter- You have just put the stats there. I dont think you hav made proper analysis of the stats.
Also would like to see more about individual Arsenal player’s position in fouls and cards recieved. For example, Chamakh has 4 yellow cards now, one more yellow card and he’ll have to miss one match. Also Fabregas is the player who has suffered the most fouls in our squad with 37 fouls on him till now. While on the other hand Song is the player who commits the most fouls in our squad with 48 fouls committed till now.
Exactly what I have always suspected. The referees are scared stiff to award Manchester United players a red card and this ultimately earns them lots of undue points.
Please can you do some more findings as regards the number of PK awarded in the EPL for and against each team and the stadia over the past 5 seasons? I believe it’s going to reveal some interesting patterns. Thanks.
Dark prince, I agree with you. The reason is that the numbers alone are not enough to make a deep analysis. When getting these stats I posed myself more questions than I could answer.
This is one of the reasons I am planning to go deeper in this matter next season. In fact I will try to start it this season for the remaining games. Some will say that this will be not enough data to come to any conclusions but for me this will be a try out to see what the best way is to put the numbers together.
And if I do manage to draw any conclusions you will find out at the end of the season.
This is just an attempt to start things up.
Yommex, good idea. I don’t know if I can find it somewhere but I wil be looking for it. It must be out there somewhere…
I think if you have the 2/3 big yellow card players per team listed then there would be some context to the fouls/cards ratios & stats.
Like Toon – Barton & Tiote, Villa – Clark & Warnock, Man City – De Jong & Zabaleta etc
As for West Brom’s Red cards – they are mostly for last ditch tackles due to their defensive naivety.
Dark Prince, I don’t think your comment about Chamakh is right.
Until 2009 players collecting five yellow cards prior to the final day in February were subject to a one-match suspension. After that it was changed so that now only apply if a player reaches five yellow cards before 31 December. Separate dates are set for ten and 15 yellow cards (see below). So anyone lurking on four cards is safe.
I think you may have seen the five card rule on sites like Answers.com – beware of these, the answers to questions they have are lunatic, mostly written by people who are paid 5 American cents for each answer they fill in. it is a method for getting a site up the Google rankings, and these sites are known in my line of business as Article Farms.
Anyway, for what it is worth, here’s the actual regs for the EPL
FTCM means first team competitive matches. Sorry about the line breaks but you can get the idea…
If a Player accumulates five cautions in FTCM between the opening day of the
Playing Season and 31 December (including any FTCM played on that day) in the
same Season, he will be suspended automatically for a period covering: –
One First Team Match
(ii) If a Player accumulates five cautions in FTCM between the opening day of the
Playing Season and the last day of the same Season, he will be: –
“Warned as to his Future Conduct”
(iii) A Player who has already been subject to disciplinary action as a result of receiving
five cautions and then proceeds to receive a further five cautions during the same
Season, will be subject to the following punishments: –
(iv) If a Player accumulates ten cautions in FTCM between the opening day of the
Playing Season and the second Sunday of April in the same Season, he will be
suspended automatically for a period covering:-
Two First Team matches
(v) If a Player accumulates ten cautions in FTCM between the opening day of the
Playing Season and the last day of the same Season, he will be: –
“Severely Censured and Warned as to his future Conduct”
(vi) If a Player accumulates 15 cautions in FTCM between the opening date of
the Playing Season and the last day of the same Season, he will be suspended
automatically for a period covering: –
Three First Team matches
(vii) A Player who has already been subject to disciplinary action as a result of receiving
five, ten and 15 cautions, and who goes on to receive 20 cautions in FTCM in the
same Season, shall be required to attend a meeting of a Regulatory Commission,
within seven days of the date of the last caution. The Members of a Regulatory
Commission will have the power to deal with the Player in such manner as they
deem fit. The same procedure will apply for every further five cautions received by
that Player.
(viii) Any period of suspension arising from cautions will commence forthwith. The
suspension will cover all approved First Team matches until such time as his Club’s
First Team has completed the number of matches appropriate to the punishment
in approved Competitions during the period covered by its opening league match
and ending with the final match in which the Club is playing in an approved domestic Competition.
Dark Prince, I don’t think your comment about Chamakh is right.
Until 2009 players collecting five yellow cards prior to the final day in February were subject to a one-match suspension. After that it was changed so that now only apply if a player reaches five yellow cards before 31 December. Separate dates are set for ten and 15 yellow cards (see below). So anyone lurking on four cards is safe.
I think you may have seen the five card rule on sites like Answers.com – beware of these, the answers to questions they have are lunatic, mostly written by people who are paid 5 American cents for each answer they fill in. it is a method for getting a site up the Google rankings, and these sites are known in my line of business as Article Farms.
Anyway, for what it is worth, here’s the actual regs for the EPL
FTCM means first team competitive matches.
If a Player accumulates five cautions in FTCM between the opening day of the
Playing Season and 31 December (including any FTCM played on that day) in the
same Season, he will be suspended automatically for a period covering: –
One First Team Match
(ii) If a Player accumulates five cautions in FTCM between the opening day of the
Playing Season and the last day of the same Season, he will be: –
“Warned as to his Future Conduct”
(iii) A Player who has already been subject to disciplinary action as a result of receiving
five cautions and then proceeds to receive a further five cautions during the same
Season, will be subject to the following punishments: –
(iv) If a Player accumulates ten cautions in FTCM between the opening day of the
Playing Season and the second Sunday of April in the same Season, he will be
suspended automatically for a period covering:-
Two First Team matches
(v) If a Player accumulates ten cautions in FTCM between the opening day of the
Playing Season and the last day of the same Season, he will be: –
“Severely Censured and Warned as to his future Conduct”
(vi) If a Player accumulates 15 cautions in FTCM between the opening date of
the Playing Season and the last day of the same Season, he will be suspended
automatically for a period covering: –
Three First Team matches
(vii) A Player who has already been subject to disciplinary action as a result of receiving
five, ten and 15 cautions, and who goes on to receive 20 cautions in FTCM in the
same Season, shall be required to attend a meeting of a Regulatory Commission,
within seven days of the date of the last caution. The Members of a Regulatory
Commission will have the power to deal with the Player in such manner as they
deem fit. The same procedure will apply for every further five cautions received by
that Player.
(viii) Any period of suspension arising from cautions will commence forthwith. The
suspension will cover all approved First Team matches until such time as his Club’s
First Team has completed the number of matches appropriate to the punishment
in approved Competitions during the period covered by its opening league match
and ending with the final match in which the Club is playing in an approved domestic Competition.
funny enough irony…arsenal are team of vibrant youth, and one of their blog is run by oldies, in their 100’s…May be u guys don’t care what’s in, what’s boring and what’s pathetic. There’s no way one can go through those numbers. Quality of ur blog is getting alarmingly low due to quantity or may be it’s age.
Sorry, but untold has started to annoy me, i come to dis blog with gr8 expectations but go back really dissapointed. I don’t remember the last tym i read a real gem on untold. U guys don’t have tactical knowledge of game that’s for sure, u guys don’t have writing wit to do costructive criticism of arsenal. U guys just make noises.
Can any1 file a lawsuit on le twat for being dumbest arsenal gloryhunters who can also write? That blog should be banned or atleast should be removed from goonernews page. Is their a law to arrest some1 for spreading the dumbness? I am really ashamed that such ppl call themselves arsenal fan.
@critic Speaking of quality, perhaps you should look for a website that gives tips on remedial English…
I know one shouldn’t feed the trolls, but critic, your incoherent and illiterate ramblings have seriously offended me; they are rude to our hosts, and they pollute the forum, and for nothing. If you don’t like it, just stay away. Better still, start your own blog, and get some real feedback on the value of your wisdom. But do get a grown up to help you with the big words.
For what it is worth I enjoy this website. Nothing is hidden and there is a lot of well thought out articles.
Critic…point taken…you don’t like the website…If you are an Arsenal fan, then Up The Arsenal…if not…meh. In either case, good-bye!
informative comment though…..
@greatnortherngooner
what a lousy name. Perhaps u should realize this is not ur english classroom and iam not ur student. May be u r also one of the oldies in his 200’s.
I praise untold when it deserves and criticize when it should be. I don’t support untold in whatever they do, as simple as that.
Since when sports became slave of statistics??that too which are incomplete and only give a very rough idea.How can walter give same marks to refs for a blatant penalty miss and one that was hard to judge. 3 mistakes by ref and he is down to 60% and one mistake he is up their in 90’s. Usually people say ref had a good game if he remains largely invisible. Stats are for dummies and for economic student. Sports is all about passion,belief and commitment.
Another thing about stats is people can manipulate their inference according to themselves. eg. arsenal were called dirtiest team during start of the season on the basis of stats of cards involved. Was it true??? dirtiest team were and still are birmingham(hopefully their won’t be any leg breaks in final, i can assure u they will try their best.), stoke and wolves. I wud kill to watch them go down. Utd’s neville had escaped 2 red cards. There’s no stat about it. Mr. angry cheaterson manipulates ref’s according to his will, there won’t be any stat on it.
Instead of reading stats it wud be nicer to create stats on how come utd get more big decisions in their favor and arsenal usually don’t. How much that has impacted our title challenge. It’s one thing to compete, it’s another to compete with both ur leg tied.
anyway, nobody commented on my 2nd para??? can we ban le twat?? can anything be done about getting them off from goonernews??? or will they continue to abuse our players and manager in the name of being fans???
hey, oldies thing was tongue in cheek kinda comment, if untold can write such stuff then they shouldn’t have any problem with facing one on them. :p 😀
Critic is a spud or a shit stirrer. Or may be he just got in after a heavy night.
Critic – you may have some good ideas. Why not produce some articles to be put up on Untold. I am sure Tony and Walter would be happy to consider any piece that you submitted. And I am sure they would love to get pieces from younger readers/fans – even if they were not always clear on what you were saying :p
listen dude if u have valid points against my criticism then please share, otherwise suck it up and accept it.
@critic – Walter has already stated that the statistics given aren’t perfect and that he didn’t have enough to make a full analysis. However, I still like to see this amalgamation (sorry critic, that words tricky, try breaking it into individual syllables and see if that helps?) of stats so I can draw my own conclusions.
If you don’t like the content on Untold there are more Arsenal blogs than any other football blogs, so go read another. Your comments are unhelpful and futile. They’re critical with no suggestions of improvements. Criticism can be a very helpful and informative thing for a blogger if it’s constructive and gives suggestions of improvements (read dark princes 1st comment). All you do is whinge and whine. There are many people who like this blog and all your comments have done is irritate these people.
Why don’t you start your own blog? Then if you’re not happy with other blogs you can write your own articles and analysis. Though I do fear this will only serve to humiliate and demoralise you and writing at length may do long term damage to your spell check.