By Bulldog Drummond
Is there anything new that can be learned about Manchester City? We know they are being charged with 115 offences by the Premier League, we know they are suing the Premier League, we know they are top of the Premier League and have the same run of results as they had at the start of last season…. What more can be said?
Well, here is a comparison we haven’t tried before… using details from WhoScored The Rating figure at the end of the chart below isn’t explained by WhoScored – at least I haven’t been able to find it, but I presume it is a statistical analysis taking in all the factors here plus the accuracy of the passing which they also examine.
But the really interesting number is that Arsenal come out on top in terms of ratings when they compare Manchester City at home and Arsenal away this season.
| Team | Goals | Shots pg | Yellows | Possession | Aerials Won | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ManC home | 6 | 16 | 5 | 64.4% | 5.5 | |
| Arsenal away | 3 | 8 | 6 | 48.8% | 11 |
That rather took me by surprise so I went back to last season to see what the final figures were for these two categories- Arsenal away and ManC at home.
We can see that the difference between the two clubs in terms of shots per game has been much greater this season that last….
| Team | Goals | Shots pg | Yellows | Possession% | AerialsWon | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Manchester City | 51 | 19.3 | 22 | 67.2 | 9.5 | |
| 2. Arsenal | 43 | 15.6 | 28 | 58.1 | 13.5 |
This season Manchester City have put in twice the number of shots per game and got fewer yellow cards, as ever. Arsenal’s possession has dropped by around 10% while Manchester C is down by under 2%.
But when it comes to aerials won, Arsenal’s dominance was there last season but is now much greater. However overall the figures from Whoscored suggest that Manchester City at home have improved while Arsenal have declined.
The referee is Mr Oliver, a referee who we saw six times last year, and for both Manchester City and Arsenal this is already the second time each club is having him. If that level of activity continued each club would see him 12 or 13 times in a season. That obviously won’t happen, but the dangers inherent in one referee overseeing the same club regularly in a campaign, are the same as one referee seeing a club twice in five games.
This really is ludicrous, and remember that our campaign has for years been that for safety we ought to have a rule that says no referee should oversee the same club more than once at home and once away each season. (We might also remember at the same moment that PGMO Ltd is currently insolvent, and seeking extra finance from the League – and being insolvent when you are a monopoly supplier is pretty feeble and reflects on the administrative ability of the company. In this case a company whose prime function is men who show…. administrative ability.)
Of course we won’t get the same referee 12 or 13 times this season, but Arsenal did have this self-same referee six times last season. And he’s not the only one – we have also had Attwell twice – and we have only reached the fifth game in the season. So it could be that PGMO are solving their insolvency by using fewer referees more and more. It is in the extreme, a dangerous path. But one that the media of course (presumably under instruction from PGMO since they all do it) ignore.
If we look at last season for referees who oversaw 20+ games in the Premier League taking figures from WhoScored
| Referee | Games | Fouls pg | Fouls/Tackles | Pen pg | Yel pg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Oliver | 24 | 21.17 | 0.58 | 0.25 | 3.96 |
| Robert Jones | 22 | 23.18 | 0.69 | 0.27 | 4.32 |
| Tim Robinson | 21 | 23.05 | 0.70 | 0.29 | 4.24 |
| Anthony Taylor | 27 | 21.26 | 0.60 | 0.52 | 4.81 |
| Andy Madley | 23 | 22.78 | 0.63 | 0.04 | 3.78 |
| Paul Tierney | 25 | 21.80 | 0.64 | 0.20 | 3.52 |
| Variation | 9% | 21% | 1300% | 37% |
As we can see here the variation in the number of fouls called per game between one of these referees and the rest is over 9% – a fairly reasonable level of difference. But when we look at the relationship between tackles and fouls, the variation is 21%. And as for the propensity for referees to see offences in the area as being worthy of a penalty that is utterly off the charts. Last season it took Madley 23 games and awarded one penalty Taylor took 27 games and gave 14 penalties. This really is totally bonkers.
But then this is insolvent PGMO, so it’s sort of normal for them.
