Chelsea v Arsenal: a ray of hope in the recent home and away figures

By Bulldog Drummond The home and away figures of Arsenal and Chelsea return us to a sense of reality after the wild assertions that Refs give yellow cards because of the quality of the fouls committed which according to our correspondent “everyone knows” but which the figures show is completely untrue. Pos Team P W …

The Super League is still alive and kicking and here’s why

By Tony Attwood La Liga president Javier Tebas, president of La Liga, got rather annoyed with the Super League clubs accusing them of “lying more than Putin.” This was just about the time Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli told an audience at the Financial Times’ “Business of Football Summit” in London last month. “Twelve clubs signed …

Do refs give yellow cards because of the quality or quantity of the fouls committed?

By Tony Attwood The correspondent known as “Ukp” recently wrote to Untold, commenting on our use of the “tackle/foul/card stats” noting that this is “where you analyse numbers of fouls Vs number of cards and deduce ref bias, when everybody knows cards are a product of quality and not quantity of fouls.” I am not …

The 58 players Arsenal tipped to sign this summer with over 130 days to go

What happened to the 134 players said to be coming to Arsenal last summer? Last summer the journalists’ failure rate in predicting transfers was 96%.  And what made this even more staggering than the size of that number is that this was their most successful window since we started tracking transfer rumours around ten years …

If Fifa won’t ban Russian officials from its gatherings, we should get out of Fifa

By Tony Attwood They are pretty much pariahs around the world – Russian athletes and teams are banned from participating in any form of world sport, as a protest against the invasion of Ukraine. Except in football, where Russian officials are still welcomed with open arms.  So when the Fifa Congress opened in Qatar, there …

For some Arsenal fans improvement isn’t enough; but this is not the time to change again

By Tony Attwood Reading the game: why do journalists always know more than managers? Obviously, we all want Arsenal to improve.  Probably the only time no one talked about improvement was after the Unbeaten Season.   But the rest of the time we want each season to be better. And the media tells us day after …

Reading the game: why do journalists always know more than managers?

By Tony Attwood Arsenal: another defeat. What has gone so wrong after last year’s triumph? Arsenal are of course not the only team that has had an upset of late.   Bayern Munich were knocked out of the Champions League by Villareal managed by… well since you ask, Unai Emery, so recently removed from Arsenal. Now …

Arsenal: another defeat. What has gone so wrong after last year’s triumph?

By Tony Attwood Nitram’s comments after the game yesterday told us a lot of what has gone wrong.  He quoted the average statistics from our last 3 matches: Arsenal Possession = 70% Opponent Possession = 30% Arsenal Shots = 55 Opponent Shots = 23 Arsenal Shots On Target = 13 Opponent Shots On Target = …

Southampton v Arsenal: the sequences and the Arsenal team

By Bulldog Drummond Update: Tottenham lost at home to Brighton.  Top of the table now reads… Team P W D L F A GD Pts 1 Manchester City 31 23 5 3 72 20 52 74 2 Liverpool 31 22 7 2 79 22 57 73 3 Chelsea 30 18 8 4 64 23 41 …

Arsenal and the “big chances” myth ahead of the Southampton game

By Bulldog Drummond Arsenal’s salvation: After 30 games we always improve The Guardian has come out with one of its famous statements: “if Arsenal show up and play with an ounce of positivity then Ralph Hasenhüttl’s usual forward-thinking approach should allow for plenty of chances. Chances have so often gone unfinished this season, however.” So …

Arsenal and Southampton injuries; the strange case of the keeper and Southampton’s record

By Bulldog Drummond Southampton v Arsenal: how the refs treat each team, how the managers have done Arsenal’s salvation: After 30 games we always improve The continuing strange tale of how PL referees punish tackles There has been some commentary concerning the injury list and how we are being decimated by injuries.  We are in …

Southampton v Arsenal: how the refs treat each team, how the managers have done

By Bulldog Drummond As we saw yesterday there are huge variations in the ways that referees treat different teams in the Premier League when it comes to tackles, fouls and yellow cards.  Now it is time to focus just on this weekend’s opponents, Southampton, and their differences from Arsenal. Those differences are modest but are …

The continuing strange tale of how PL referees punish tackles

By Bulldog Drummond We have often noted the great change that came over Arsenal last season as the club worked to eliminate tackles from their playing style.    And in fact this has worked as Arsenal are now 19th in the tackles league for the Premier League this season; only Manchester City undertake fewer tackles.  …

Why do rich men want to buy football clubs?

By Tony Attwood Corruption in football; the story spreads: Juve boss threatened with prison Changes to the financial controls of clubs in Europe looked doomed to failure In one sense it seems a crazy thing to do – to buy a big football club where the fans have expectations of success.  After all most clubs …

Corruption in football; the story spreads: Juve boss threatened with prison

PREVIOUSLY: Changes to the financial controls of clubs in Europe looked doomed to failure By Tony Attwood The argument that I am trying to make is that there is a huge amount going on in football which is beneath the surface and is not being covered by the English media because journalists are afraid that …

Changes to the financial controls of clubs in Europe looked doomed to failure

  8 more players coming to Arsenal making total of 52 incoming players this summer By Tony Attwood It is always interesting to see the treatment that clubs and their managers are given by the media.   Unai Emery, while at Arsenal was portrayed as inept, and lacking in insight but now he is seen as …

8 more players coming to Arsenal making total of 52 incoming players this summer

By Tony Attwood Football journalists can be called many things including lazy and bonkers, but little of their daily activity is quite so bizarre as the range of players that they cite each season as coming to Arsenal in the summer. Normally the number reaches over 100, and generally about two of those tipped actually …

Further allegations of Manchester City corruption emerge in Europe

By Tony Attwood One of the great problems of football and the way it is covered by the media is that the notion that underneath it all there is wholesale rule-breaking, not to say corruption, is either not considered at all, or is considered just in passing, and not with any serious thought.  (One of …

There is no end to the way the media will manipulate Arsenal’s position

By Tony Attwood There is no end to the knocking of Arsenal that the media will do and certainly no end to the abuse and misuse of statistics (including simply making them up) that they will indulge in. Consider for a moment, if you have the time, the headline from the Mirror which reads “Arsenal …

How well are Arsenal doing in Arteta’s second season, compared with previous managers?

Fifa considers changing football rules again: as ever it is to enhance its income Are Arsenal in a Position to Hold onto Saka, Or Should They Sell to Improve the Squad? By Tony Attwood We have in the past looked at how Arsenal are doing this season compared with the same point (in terms of …

Fifa considers changing football rules again: as ever it is to enhance its income

By Tony Attwood Recently, the notion of a biennial World Cup, supported by Fifa under the guidance of its Supreme Leader, Gianni Infantino, aroused what one might call a certain wave of opposition. Faced with this, the Italian-Swiss overseer now resident with his family in Qatar for legal reasons, said last week, “Let me be …

Are Arsenal in a Position to Hold onto Saka, Or Should They Sell to Improve the Squad?

We’re breaking down Saka’s position in Arsenal and what the consequences of trading him out could be. Arsenal is currently licking its wounds from an embarrassing defeat on Monday, made worse by the fact that the game should have been a slam dunk, to mix metaphors. The game was supposed to be an easy one …

Arsenal need a new… psychologist

By Tony Attwood Have Arsenal really been led into chaos by a ludicrous transfer policy? Why beating the Little 14 is more important than beating the rest of the Big 6 Before the game there was nervousness in and around the crowd   A lot of that came from repeating the mantras of the media that …

Arsenal v Brighton – the Arsenal team and horrific media bias.

By Bulldog Drummond Arsenal v Brighton the form guide from when Brighton were 9 places above AFC. The BBC is showing itself to be at its worst in its preview of this game saying, “Arsenal kind of reverted to type in their defeat by Crystal Palace on Monday because they didn’t just lose, they got …