Player errors that lead to a goal; it is not quite what you might expect

By Tony Attwood

You may recall the hatred piled upon David Luiz because of two errors that led to goals.  And the view expressed that it showed how awful Arsenal were not only in taking him on but also playing him.

But if you read English blogs and newspaper columns you might have read that he wasn’t the worst.  In fact if you read several blogs and newspapers you might have read it several times.

As when The Daily Mirror ran the headline “The Premier League’s most gaffe-prone defender – and it’s not David Luiz.”

They noted that “A total of 38 other defenders have made more errors than that, including Manchester City centre backs John Stones (seven) and Nicolás Otamendi (five).

Which was quite interesting because the website Arsenal.news noted that  “A total of 38 other defenders have made more errors than that, including Manchester City centre backs John Stones (seven) and Nicolás Otamendi (five). …

The Daily Star was on the ball as well, because they reported that “A total of 38 other defenders have made more errors than that, including Manchester City centre backs John Stones (seven) and Nicolás Otamendi (five). …

And so we see the problem – the media select a story and go with it, copying each other.  Mostly these stories are anti-Arsenal, sometimes not, but the effect is amplified because of the impression that “everyone is talking about it” making it seem like a bit story, even if it is trivia.

This one however was better than most because it did suggest that taking one player on his own, was not really very helpful.   But of course they could have gone further.    For example with this season’s list of player errors that have led to a goal.  The figures come from the Premier League’s official site…

Rank Player Club Nationality Stat
1. Martin Dubravka Newcastle United
 Slovakia
5
2. Jan Bednarek Southampton
 Poland
3
2. David de Gea Manchester United
 Spain
3
2. Alex McCarthy Southampton
 England
3
2. Jordan Pickford Everton
 England
3
2. Ederson Manchester City
 Brazil
3
7. Fabián Balbuena West Ham United
 Paraguay
2
7. Emiliano Buendía Norwich City
 Argentina
2
7. Conor Coady Wolverhampton Wanderers
 England
2
7. Rui Patrício Wolverhampton Wanderers
 Portugal
2
7. Lukasz Fabianski West Ham United
 Poland
2
7. Roberto Jiménez
 Spain
2
7. N’Golo Kanté Chelsea
 France
2
7. Florian Lejeune Newcastle United
 France
2
7. Bernd Leno Arsenal
 Germany
2
7. Hugo Lloris Tottenham Hotspur
 France
2
7. David Luiz Arsenal
 Brazil
2
7. Ben Mee Burnley
 England
2
7. Benjamin Mendy Manchester City
 France
2
7. Tyrone Mings Aston Villa
 England
2

So there is the Arsenal man, somewhere in the top 20, equal as it happens with the highly praised Bernd Leno.  Below Manchester City’s Ederson.

But I wondered, is this how it has been over time?  Do Arsenal often have players who make errors that lead to a goal.

Well, yes sometimes, but not that often although the player with the second highest rating in the Premier League is Petr Cech, who was, I seem to recall, quite widely liked.   Lakasz Fabianski is in the list as well, although he was less popular.  Otherwise no, we are not prone to picking up players who make more mistakes that lead to goals than others – at least not in the Premier League years.

Rank Player Club Nationality Stat
1. Asmir Begovic
 Bosnia And Herzegovina
27
2. Petr Cech
 Czech Republic
24
3. Robert Green
 England
21
4. Joe Hart Burnley
 England
20
5. Heurelho Gomes Watford
 Brazil
19
6. Hugo Lloris Tottenham Hotspur
 France
18
6. Simon Mignolet Club Brugge
 Belgium
18
6. Mark Schwarzer Leicester City
 Australia
18
9. Ben Foster Watford
 England
17
9. Tim Howard
 United States
17
11. Lukasz Fabianski West Ham United
 Poland
16
12. Tim Krul Norwich City
 Netherlands
15
13. David de Gea Manchester United
 Spain
13
13. Ali Al Habsi West Bromwich Albion
 Oman
13
13. Wayne Hennessey Crystal Palace
 Wales
13
16. Brad Guzan Atlanta United FC
 United States
12
16. Vito Mannone Minnesota United FC
 Italy
12
16. Jordan Pickford Everton
 England
12
16. Paul Robinson Burnley
 England
12
16. John Ruddy Wolverhampton Wanderers
 England
12

I also had a look at players who get dispossessed most often, but we don’t have anyone in the top part of that list.  The club that has to be worried there is Crystal Palace who have Zaha (the most dispossessed player) and Ayew (in second place).  Maybe we were right not to buy Zaha.

But maybe dispossession doesn’t matter too much.  Mohamed Salah is in fifth position, and he plays for Liverpool, a club suddenly universally admired, despite them winning far fewer trophies than Arsenal in the past 30 years.  Raheem Sterling came in at number eight.

So what about other misdemeanours?  Three players have been sent off twice this season, Chrtisian Kabasele of Watford, Fernandinho of Manchester City and David Luiz.  No one has been sent off more than twice.

As for yellow cards – Arsenal don’t have any players in the top 20 this season, which should be a cue for the media to start saying that Arsenal don’t have players who are tough enough for the Premier League.  After that it will be “you don’t win anything with kids.”

What do Arsenal have to do to win the league?

2 Replies to “Player errors that lead to a goal; it is not quite what you might expect”

  1. Thanks for that piece Tony, proving yet again that data does not lie…people, or should I say so called journalists, do by not giving all the data they have. Or maybe they are totally incompetent to the extent they can be fed any BS and publish it as if it were the Pentagon Papers.

  2. Of course, as is the case with a lot of these sorts of things, stats need to be looked at in context. Whilst I have no doubt that in the main the media and blogs will invent a reason to slag us off rather than defend us, all the above is completely meaningless without knowing how many minutes each player was on the pitch. Even then it would still not be a 100% definitive e.g. a mistake by a defensive player is far more likely to lead to a goal than a mistake by an attacker.

    I know this article is about showing the arbitrary nature of the media. I’m not knocking the article, it more than adequately demonstrates the flimsy nature of the media.

    Now if someone were to do a table showing the amount of column inches of ridicule per mistake, I think we’d then be getting somewhere………….

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