By Tony Attwood
There was a most amusing incident in the BT Sport commentary on the Palace v Arsenal game as the commentator began to talk about how nice it was to have a crowd in the ground. For the crowd, he said, could really give the home team a boost, and give them more chance of winning. The conversation lasted for only a moment or two more until the two commentators realised what they were saying, and very, very quickly backed off.
And yes indeed that was dangerous territory – the territory that Untold Arsenal has been exploring for the past 18 months, as research (vigorously suppressed by the UK media but openly discussed in other countries) has shown that indeed it is the crowd that influences the referees and thus influences results.
That of course is really frightening for PGMO because they have always claimed that their referees are 98% accurate. But the research undertaken at LSE by professional referees and academics, shows that this is a long way from the truth. Show two referees the same game with only one having access to the sound of the crowd, and you get very different refereeing decisions.
It’s the killer blow to all of PGMO’s years of propaganda at how the English league system of refereeing – so very different from anything seen elsewhere in Europe – is superior. And it is a story that cannot, and must not, be heard on the TV commentary.
So the chat about the influence of the crowd was quickly cut across, and we were back with the game – which Arsenal won, as you’ll know.
You’ll also probably know that the very Tiny Totts lost just as they were sitting on the edge of qualifying for Europe for the 12th year in succession. Pretty damn good that, 12 years. Not quite as good as 25 years of course, but this is Tottenham and therefore much fuss must be made. Even when their fans are revolting.
And all this because in their last ten games they have won just four times. Not quite the glorious Tottenham revival that the media seemed to be portraying after the wins against the mighty Southampton, Sheffield United and Wolverhampton Wands.
| Date | Game | Res | Score | Competition |
| 14 Mar 2021 | Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur | L | 2-1 | Premier League |
| 21 Mar 2021 | Aston Villa v Tottenham Hotspur | W | 0-2 | Premier League |
| 04 Apr 2021 | Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur | D | 2-2 | Premier League |
| 11 Apr 2021 | Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United | L | 1-3 | Premier League |
| 16 Apr 2021 | Everton v Tottenham Hotspur | D | 2-2 | Premier League |
| 21 Apr 2021 | Tottenham Hotspur v Southampton | W | 2-1 | Premier League |
| 02 May 2021 | Tottenham Hotspur v Sheffield United | W | 4-0 | Premier League |
| 08 May 2021 | Leeds United v Tottenham Hots | L | 3-1 | Premier League |
| 16 May 2021 | Tottenham Hotspur v Wolverhampton W | W | 2-0 | Premier League |
| 19 May 2021 | Tottenham Hotspur v Aston Villa | L | 1-2 | Premier League |
Now if you have been reading Untold of late you’ll know that we have been noting that if the season had started on Christmas Day, we’d be third in the league. It doesn’t of course, so we are not, but it is encouraging. As are the results from our last ten games…
| 14 Mar 2021 | Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur | W | 2-1 | Premier League |
| 21 Mar 2021 | West Ham United v Arsenal | D | 3-3 | Premier League |
| 03 Apr 2021 | Arsenal v Liverpool | L | 0-3 | Premier League |
| 11 Apr 2021 | Sheffield United v Arsenal | W | 0-3 | Premier League |
| 18 Apr 2021 | Arsenal v Fulham | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 23 Apr 2021 | Arsenal v Everton | L | 0-1 | Premier League |
| 02 May 2021 | Newcastle United v Arsenal | W | 0-2 | Premier League |
| 09 May 2021 | Arsenal v West Bromwich Albion | W | 3-1 | Premier League |
| 12 May 2021 | Chelsea v Arsenal | W | 0-1 | Premier League |
| 19 May 2021 | Crystal Palace v Arsenal | W | 1-3 | Premier League |
We’ve won six and lost two which is quite good form by and large.
And just in case you are fascinated by such matters, here is how the league table looks if measured just over the last ten games.
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool! | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 7 | 12 | 23 |
| 2 | Leeds Utd | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 16 | 7 | 9 | 21 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 18 | 11 | 7 | 20 |
| 4 | Manchester Utd | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 18 | 11 | 7 | 20 |
| 5 | Chelsea | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 20 |
| 6 | Manchester City | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 22 | 15 | 7 | 18 |
| 7 | Leicester C | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 20 | 15 | 5 | 16 |
| 8 | Brighton and Hove | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 15 |
| 9 | Newcastle Utd | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 17 | 18 | -1 | 15 |
| 10 | Tottenham Hots | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 18 | 15 | 3 | 14 |
I thought I’d go down to Tottenham because they have been making such a big thing about becoming a top four club and all that – obviously no one has told them that fourth is not a trophy. And tenth is not fourth.
We haven’t won anything, we haven’t qualified for Europe, but some of us, maybe just a few, are uplifted by the way it has gone since Christmas. A toast to Mr Arteta and his remarkable tactics I think.
Gaslighting: how refereeing in the Premier League is manipulated, and why the media never speak about it.
- 1: Are the referees and the media really out to get Arsenal, or am I just imagining it?
- 2: How discussions about refereeing are deliberately stifled by the media
- 3: Referees: the odd statistics that are simply never revealed or discussed
- 4: How we have been utterly misled about football: part 4
- 5: Hiding the problem of refereeing is destroying the credibility of the Premier League
- 6: Revealed: PL referees are not 98% accurate but actually just 75% accurate
Well done for beating those top top teams in the last 10 games, how can anyone get excited by being 3rd best in a set of 10 matches,including “thrashing” Newcastle, WBA, Sheff utd and Palace but losing to Everton at home and drawing with Fulham…..at home
Pathetic article lol
isn’t there an outside chance we might make it to the europa league?
IF:
villa/leicester/liverpool/city … and arsenal, of course win their last (home) game – not a too far-fetched possibility, imo
sunday night the table will be:
1 city 86 2 utd ?? 3 liverpool 69 4 leicester 69 5 chelsea 67 6 wham ?? 7 arsenal 61
then IF
chelsea win the champions’ league (not a too far-fetched possibility, imo), i think england will have 5 teams in that league next season and … arsenal will play the europa league
am i wrong??
What is so interesting “Youknowyourtoilet” is your comprehensive failure to grasp what a very simple article is all about, your failure to grasp any sort of context, and your decision not only to carry on reading, but also to take up your time in doing so.
I mean, why does anyone bother not just to read an article that they think is stupid, but also then to spend time replying to it. Surely if there is a definition of stupidity it is doing that.
But let me try, in simple words, to explain.
Arsenal had a poor start to the season, but through a series of changes made, from Christmas onward, Arsenal have performed as a top four club. Indeed if build a table from Christmas Day onward (25 Dec in case you also don’t quite understand that ) Arsenal are third. That does not mean anything of course, except that the change has been made and the team is doing very well indeed.
Should you wish to look, there may well be people out there who can help you understand these matters.
FARTETA!
I am pretty sure that England only gets 4 places so if Chelsea win the Champs League and finish 5th then the 4th placed team would go into the Europa League. If they finish 3rd or 4th then there would be no change
hi, david, just found this:
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/56787573
…/…
There can be a maximum of five English teams in the Champions League.
…/…
Only 32 teams are in the Europa League group stages from now on, down from 48 in previous years.
England could end up with only one team in the competition if an English team win a European tournament and also qualify for the Europa League through domestic football.
so – should the above-mentioned set of home-wins actually take place, we’d only qualify for that cursed “conference” league and lose the benefit of being able to focus on domestic competitions, and most of all on elaborate training sessions in-between games
might be a good idea to drop tools against brighton, come sunday
Youknowyourtoilet.
I’m guessing you’re an Arsenal fan as alas we seem over subscribed with negative brainless half wits such as you.
@Tony Attwood nice reply to the toilet guy!
I think only the most short-sighted “fans” would not take massive encouragement from the kind of stats you present. Nobody is pretending that we’re 3rd, but looking at the stats since Xmas does tell us something – Arteta is making progress and his methods are starting to take effect.
Keep up the good work mate!
Lars Erik
It is just like the old days when people used to think it was clever or interesting to send out one word replies to 800 words of debate. Good to know these people are still out there.
@Le Gall
Not sure downing tools against Brighton is a good idea.
First, does the winner of this conference league qualify for the Europa league. I’m guessing so.
Second, the argument that no European “distraction.” Converts to improved league performance is not proven.
And third, Europe is an opportunity to give game time to players who otherwise might struggle for it.
So, on balance, I’m hoping results go our way Sunday.
I am not that impressed with qualifying for Europe if it is as far down the ladder as the European Conference is. I would rather our team spend more time on the practice pitch preparing for domestic competitions. I don’t think we should down tools, though because…we could still pass that smug lot up the road.
Good article; we have played better since Christmas. But have to disagree with Arteta having good tactics; hes tactically poor and doesn’t know how to utilize young players properly at this level.
Taylor’s shocking decisions last night reminded me of his performance in the 3-1 home defeat to Aston Villa in 2013. There can only be one explanation for this. Orders from above.
Taylor is going to the Euros. Surely not on the evidence of his refereeing ability.
hi, @dublingooner
i hear you, had thought about this playing time thing myself, but i keep thinking it’d be preferable for us to be out of europe altogether, so as to give MA all the time he needs to work with he boys instead of flying all over europe.
i’m not that enthusiastic about arsenal under him, tbh, but the least he deserves is one season under “normal” circumstances, after a proper pre-season, with time for the lads to get some rest between games, and time for him to implement what he really wants (3-4-3, 4-2-3-1, 4-1-4-1, 4-1-5-0?? i think he’s a brilliant lad, but rarely has a manager puzzled me as much as him)
talking about europe, i’ve just come across that:
Duncan Wright
@dwright75
En réponse à
@MartinLipton
et
@theharricollins
If Chelsea finish outside top four and win CL, their Europa spot goes to sixth. And Leicester’s FA Cup winning Europa spot goes to seventh.
4:25 PM · 20 mai 2021·Twitter Web App
don’t know what it’s worth
COYG
i was a french assistant in dublin (st benildus college, dundrum), i lived in tallaght, and have very, very fond memories (among others) of sundays at johnny fox’s
So Arteta’s tactics have been remarkable.
3 shots on target per game acceptable to you all?
Boring, unimaginative and negative football just for you?
As this site has joined with others in insulting anyone who does not agree with you, I will take my leave of you for the time being.
Good luck everyone
Off-topic – AFTV appear to be having some “political” problems
Off-topic – the newspapers appear to have picked up on the duplicitous nature of FIFA’s position regarding the ESL.
Youknowyourtoilet
“Well done for beating those top top teams in the last 10 games, how can anyone get excited by being 3rd best in a set of 10 matches”
Tony
“Now if you have been reading Untold of late you’ll know that we have been noting that if the season had started on Christmas Day, we’d be third in the league. It doesn’t of course, so we are not, but it is encouraging.
BUT IT IS ENCOURAGING
…..No claim of them being ‘top top teams’ and hardly getting ‘excited’ is it ?
“We’ve won six and lost two which is quite good form by and large”.
WHICH IS QUITE GOOD FORM BY AND LARGE
….Again, hardly getting excited is it ?
“We haven’t won anything, we haven’t qualified for Europe, but some of us, maybe just a few, are uplifted by the way it has gone since Christmas”.
UPLIFTED BY THE WAY IT HAS GONE SINCE CHRISTMAS
….Again, hardly getting excited is it ?
ENCOURAGING. QUITE GOOD FORM. UPLIFTING.
All perfectly reasonable observations given the turn around since Christmas.
Youknowyourtoilet
“….including “thrashing” Newcastle, WBA, Sheff utd and Palace”
……At no point in the article was it suggested that we ‘thrashed’ anyone.
Basically the criticisms have absolutely no relevance at all to the points made in the article.
It’s not that people disagree with what is said, it’s when they quite clearly haven’t grasped the point of the article and then have to exaggerate and make things up in order to raise those criticisms.
But never the less if anyone is offended by me calling them a negative brainless half wit I apologise, well for the brainless half wit bit anyway.
I note that ex-referee Hackett agrees that Benteke should have been sent off for his assault on Elneny
The data that has been presented on UA regarding the accumulated points for Arsenal since Christmas is interesting and can form as a possible predictive basis for future development. Likewise, any continued data regarding the percentage possession of the team along with the number of shots during a game and the number of shots on goal during a game can also be used as a predictive basis for future development perhaps. Arsenal has been poor throughout the season with respect to goals accumulated and chances created, despite much possession. However, defensive improvement does seem to be apparent according to the goals conceded data for this season. Perhaps this defensive improvement could be the reason for the overall points accumulation since christmas, perhaps not! However, the nature of the goals accumulated does suggest that Arsenal has lacked goal scoring opportunities throughout the season. If this is true then what is the reason(s) for this?
I have been critical of the coaching tactics of the Arsenal coaching staff this season. I believe that the players at the club are talented footballers individually, but as an attacking force/team has lacked the creativity to break down certain types of defensive tactics operated by certain teams, Crystal Palace being one example recently. For me It does appear that Arsenal has yet to develop a strategy to combat such defensive tactics effectively. The performance against Villareal really highlighted this fact for me. Such tactics and strategies needed must come from the practice field and from the coaching staff, otherwise, why employ them? Hence my criticism of the coaching staff performance! Likewise, UA has this season questioned the way that the managerial staff has used its management skills to treat certain players. I note the likes of Ozil and Guendouzi especially, along with certain others who appear to have been vilified within the club with little or no further explanations as to what, why and wherefore! So, I am not necessarily in agreement with the final sentence of the article -“A toast to Mr Arteta and his remarkable tactics I think”. Neither do I agree with Jigsol who appears to be very dismissive of UA at present, but I can understand part of his analysis, especially the ‘shots on goal’ aspect. Although I am unaware that UA has ever insulted anyone with an alternative viewpoint to that found within its pages.
With regards to the future success of Arsenal, the jury is still out perhaps. The club has been spoilt by having a legend as its manager. He will never be replaced like for like. One can only hope that the points and winning trend does continue next season and that the management and coaching staff will help develop the team performance and the type of football that we all have come to expect from Arsenal.
Hackett and Halsey seem to regularly question the PGMOL way of doing things, unlike Webb, Gallagher, Walton who never question the official line. Some of the excuses that they come up with are beyond unbelievable.
The defence has certainly improved since Christmas, but even during the period between September and December, it wasn’t terrible.
In my opinion, Arteta has improved the defence when we don’t have the ball. Most teams find it hard to break us down.
Our real defensive problems seem to occur after we have taken possession of the ball, with players giving the ball straight back to the opposition, either by a misplaced pass, or by being dispossessed (often showing a lack of awareness of the opponents’ position). For next season, I hope Arteta can work on the passing accuracy and awareness issues (and not just with the defence).
Something else that has concerned me during the second half of the season is the way our performances stutter when the opposition receives a red card.
I see that Moss will be refereeing the Brighton match on Sunday. Watch out, Granit Xhaka!
AKH & siesmic
Now that’s how to make an argument. Brilliant.
As you say, our defensive play has improved dramatically but our offensive play is at times very poor. The question is, is one at the expense of the other? Is it something that can be addressed going forward?
Are our offensive problems down to coaching or players incapable of implementing the coaching they have been given?
I don’t claim to know. I am no coach.
All I know is it is very early days in Artetas tenure and in my opinion far too early to make proper judgment.
Progress seems to be being made but there are undoubtedly issues to resolve. Is Arteta the man to resolve them?
Personally I think he should be given another year at least and hopefully an unaffected one at that, then a much more rational analysis can be made.
This site consumes a lot of statistics. Yes statistics are a measure of performance but only when it matters. You can have 50 shots in a game but if none goes in, it was all for nothing.
Of course all this talk of improvement post Christmas is meant to reinforce a conservative perspective in the running of the club or offer hope in the future of the club.
But this season has sailed and it has not been a great one. We can’t talk of having turned things around yet Arsenal are 9th in the table. As a matter of fact, that is the one statistic that needs to improve and a Arteta doesn’t have the luxury of time to improve it.
I doubt there will be managerial changes this summer. Arteta needs a strong start in the coming season to convince his doubters. Anything less and it will be hard to silence radical voices.
There are several aspects to be considered when ascessing Arteta’s performance rather than the players performance.
In my view, Arteta has been excellent. He has altered aspects of the teams play slowly but without disrupting the quality. He has been bright in his dealing with the media nad with the officials. He does not lose his temper but demonstrates control and works the media. He has been very diplomatic with his peers and also with his comments on players mistakes.
I am not happy with the playing out from the back but it is what many coaches train their teams to do. Possession of the ball is the best defence.
The team have performed well but needs improvement in many areas. The crisp accurate passing short and long that occassionally happens needs more regularity. The attack needs to be more aware of shooting from distance, because a block might rebound and start a counter attack with our defence out of position. Our approach play has been stifled because our opponents park the bus. We do get to the byline and pass back or cross but do not get a shot on target. Shots at goal are not the coaches fault but the players decisions.
The tackling has now reduced as our approach has been to intercept rather than contact, as contact draws yellow cards or worse from our friendly PGMOL representatives.
This officiating lark is probably the biggest impact on our league position. Oh! here goes Menace into the conspiracy against Arsenal. It is not a conspiracy. It is an obvious factual set of incidents that the PGMOL have seen and made into a farce.
Arsenal and Arteta are on a good road and only the disbandment of the FA and its bent PGMOL can realise football as it should be – a beautiful game.