By: Shotta, @shotta_gooner
Sports journalism is renowned for clichés that are repeated ad hominem by its practitioners as a substitute for substantive analysis. It is my observation that that these rhetorical tricks are successfully used because they contain an element of truth which is undeniable. But, more times than not, the assorted hacks and pundits who are supposedly sharing with us these self-evident “truths” are also trying to conceal a lie.
Take Tony Gale, for example, who was doing color commentary on Sunday for my tv feed; just prior to Theo scoring his hat-trick, he was complaining the game showed how much AFC needed to go into the transfer market for world class players, while Walcott and Wilshere, who had just returned from injury, were ripping WBA to shreds in a world-class performance. Yes, every team could do with a world class players but Tony Gale failed to tell the truth, i.e. Arsenal had very little need to go to the transfer market. On Sunday the lie was immediately exposed, but unfortunately most times it is left unchallenged, leading many to form the wrong conclusions and ultimately to choose a self-defeating course of action
Notwithstanding the instant rebuff of Tony Gale, with the League just ended, I now expect the hacks and their fellow travelers, to use our standing in the league table to form a narrative that Arsenal needs three or four world class transfers. This was famously previewed three-weeks ago by our own Titi Henry from his well remunerated perch on Sky Sports, conveniently reversing his prognostication two weeks earlier. But Henry is not alone in phalanx of famous ex-gunners with the same mantra. In the run-up to Sunday’s last game of the season, Ray Parlour said the very same while on Talk Sport alongside Adrian Durham, the latter having made a media career by trolling Arsenal supporters. By the way, Durham’s current windup is that Arsenal did not improve over the past season.
According to the hacks, Arsenal, by finishing 3rd in the table, made no significant improvement over last year when they finished 4thwith 79 points (troll-time on Talk Sport). Chelsea supposedly made much more progress by adding 8 points to last year’s total to win the league. Ergo, the solution is to follow in Chelsea’s footsteps by signing a “world class” forward, midfielder and goal-keeper.
|
Pos |
Team |
Pld |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
Pts |
|
1 |
Chelsea |
38 |
26 |
9 |
3 |
73 |
32 |
41 |
87 |
|
2 |
Man City |
38 |
24 |
7 |
7 |
83 |
38 |
45 |
79 |
|
3 |
Arsenal |
38 |
22 |
9 |
7 |
71 |
36 |
35 |
75 |
|
4 |
Man Utd |
38 |
20 |
10 |
8 |
62 |
37 |
25 |
70 |
|
5 |
Spurs |
38 |
19 |
7 |
12 |
58 |
53 |
5 |
64 |
|
6 |
Liverpool |
38 |
18 |
8 |
12 |
52 |
48 |
4 |
62 |
In my day, one of the earliest lessons in high school mathematics was “how to lie with statistics”. Actually it is how to lie with data. By conducting the most elementary analysis, i.e. by comparing the changes in league position of the top 6 of 2014 with that of 2015, unearthed some very revealing information. Take a gander below.
|
Manchester City |
||||||||
|
Yr |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
Pts |
Pos* |
|
2014 |
27 |
5 |
6 |
102 |
37 |
65 |
86 |
1 |
|
2015 |
24 |
7 |
7 |
83 |
38 |
45 |
79 |
2 |
|
Difference |
-3 |
2 |
1 |
-19 |
1 |
-20 |
-7 |
-1 |
|
% Change |
-11% |
40% |
17% |
-19% |
3% |
-31% |
-8% |
-5% |
|
Liverpool |
||||||||
|
2014 |
26 |
6 |
6 |
101 |
50 |
51 |
84 |
2 |
|
2015 |
18 |
8 |
12 |
52 |
48 |
4 |
62 |
6 |
|
Difference |
-8 |
2 |
6 |
-49 |
-2 |
-47 |
-22 |
-4 |
|
% Change |
-30% |
40% |
100% |
-48% |
-5% |
-72% |
-26% |
-20% |
|
Chelsea |
||||||||
|
2014 |
24 |
7 |
7 |
68 |
41 |
27 |
79 |
3 |
|
2015 |
26 |
9 |
3 |
73 |
32 |
41 |
87 |
1 |
|
Difference |
2 |
2 |
-4 |
5 |
-9 |
14 |
8 |
2 |
|
% Change |
8% |
33% |
-67% |
5% |
-18% |
27% |
10% |
10% |
|
Arsenal |
||||||||
|
2014 |
24 |
7 |
7 |
68 |
41 |
27 |
79 |
4 |
|
2015 |
22 |
9 |
7 |
71 |
36 |
35 |
75 |
3 |
|
Difference |
-2 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
-5 |
8 |
-4 |
1 |
|
% Change |
-8% |
29% |
0% |
4% |
-12% |
30% |
-5% |
5% |
|
Everton |
||||||||
|
2014 |
21 |
9 |
8 |
61 |
39 |
22 |
72 |
5 |
|
2015 |
12 |
11 |
15 |
48 |
50 |
-2 |
47 |
11 |
|
Difference |
-9 |
2 |
7 |
-13 |
11 |
-24 |
-25 |
-6 |
|
% Change |
-38% |
29% |
100% |
-19% |
27% |
-89% |
-32% |
-30% |
|
Tottenham |
||||||||
|
2014 |
21 |
6 |
11 |
55 |
51 |
4 |
69 |
6 |
|
2015 |
19 |
7 |
12 |
58 |
53 |
5 |
64 |
5 |
|
Difference |
-2 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
-5 |
1 |
|
% Change |
-10% |
11% |
13% |
5% |
5% |
5% |
-7% |
5% |
|
Manchester United |
||||||||
|
2014 |
19 |
7 |
12 |
64 |
43 |
21 |
64 |
7 |
|
2015 |
20 |
10 |
8 |
62 |
37 |
25 |
70 |
4 |
|
Difference |
1 |
3 |
-4 |
-2 |
-6 |
4 |
6 |
3 |
|
% Change |
5% |
50% |
-36% |
-4% |
-12% |
100% |
9% |
15% |
Chelsea achieved a 10% improvement in points by realizing 2 more wins (8% gain). A 67% reduction in losses was split between 2 draws and 2 wins. Yet according to the pundits they smashed the League.
Arsenal in contrast had a similar reduction in wins vs Chelsea’s gain but the reduction in losses only showed up in the draw column. We all know the points-allocation in football prioritizes wins. As for the suggestion that the defense is horrible and the goalkeeping porous, there were 9 or 18% less goals conceded over the prior year. The goal difference improved 30% second only, percentage-wise, to United.
City ‘s demise from 1st to 2nd was due to 11% less wins. The raw numbers would suggest a marginal change of two losses and one draw but the numbers identify the key deficit was in goal-scoring which declined by 19% and their goal difference down by 31%.
The most alarming change in fortunes was on Merseyside. Liverpool is the headliner. To the acclaim of a raft of pundits, many with connection to the club, they splashed the Suarez cash on an array of transfer targets hyped by the media, most notably Mario Balotelli whom they are now quick to disown. A 30% reduction in wins, 100% increase in losses, 48% reduction in goals scored led to a 26% reduction in points, second-only to Everton. The latter club’s demise was just as catastrophic with 38% less wins and 100% more losses, leaking more and scoring less goals. Yet Roberto Martinez was tagged by the end-of-an-eraists as a Wenger successor.
Finally Manchester United, who won the 2014 transfer sweepstakes, spending £170million on the likes of Falcao, DiMaria (remember him?), Blind, Rojo and Herrera, but only improved by a single more win over the Moyes era. At least they had 36% less losses but turned 3 out of 4 into draws. The end result was a gain of 3 positions in the table. Maybe another £170 million will get them to 1st, failing which they might do a Liverpool.
There is a lot more one could do with this data but I leave that to the readers of PA. Already there is a barrage of mischief and misinformation at large by those trying to discredit the current squad (Giroud, and Ospina seem the favorite targets) and the progress being made by them and Wenger to become truly able to challenge for the title. With rare exceptions the pundits fail to acknowledge that we were handicapped by injuries at the start of the 14-15 season and not by a lack of talent.
But as one other cliché put it: figures never lie, liars figure.
Positively Arsenal 
but in fairness….i think youre smart enough to know exactly what i refer to with the use of the word ‘character’ so i dont really get these references to thugs and useless footballers……
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It’s true. There can be no doubt at all
Viera had/has exhibited a much better temperament throughout his career when compared with, say, I don’t know, how about David Luiz? I can’t remember seeing Viera run about like he ha the runs during the biggest games of his life.
Oooops. Crumbs. I think I’ve stepped into the doodoo there.
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I can think of someone else who has exhibited a poor temperament in public. Humiliating themselves in the process.
And it’s not Ozil!
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im still trying to figure out youre 1:38 …. what with your cryptography….
and in your 1:40 …who ? what? are you referring to?
you seem to have taken this ozil thing very personal…lol….. so you see in him a lion winner…tha player who will boss chelsea and the rest… ok dude…im happy for you.
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Have you been listening to The Archers H ?!!
Give me the player who gets on with the job, who has the courage to carry on with his work quietly and thoroughly when all around people are losing their heads. And has a bit of talent.
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you see finsbury, the small problem i have with some of you is that you always think you know everything aboutwenger or all about football. if wenger can according to you admited that he paid £10m more for ozil, an amout almost the price of our best centre striker. if it wasnt because of pressure from fans, i dont know what it is. but like you alwaysknow all, its because he just like to help madrid offset some of the money wasted on bale.ridiculous. arsene that i know would rather wait till next window to get ozil rather than pay more than he is worth had it not been for a reason almost beyond his control.
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Hilarious antics in Zurich this early morning – I wonder what those FIFA sponsors responsible for $billions of revenue paid into FIFA are thinking this afternoon, most are US corporations.
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sorry, do you have something against luiz because you dont like him as a footballer or because i praise him as a better defender and braver footballer than johan djourou ? just need to see what motivates you …no hard feelings…
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anicoll5
May 27, 2015 at 2:02 pm
the archers? no im afraid not..
yes obviously strong characters dont lose their heads in the heat of panic but the important thing is to …get the job done …
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anicoll5
May 27, 2015 at 2:05 pm
heh..the epl is no better opening the gates to criminals to ‘invest’ in epl clubs….. arsenal is suffering from it big time…
i wonder how fergie and the rock of gibraltar are doing .
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The one’s I feel sorry for are the Qataris
They paid the bribe as specified and now it is all going to shit
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eeeh its ok..they have the grand prix
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hunter
matersaker without koscielny = wreck ? i’ll rather say it the other way round if i have to. unlike some people believe, per is the most important player in our defence. wenger hadly do without him. and i know that he knows a little bit about defenders. it is true that our best pairing is per and kos, but i’m more at home with per/gabriel than kos/gabriel as i was more relaxed with per/vermaelen than kos/vermealen. there is something about per that made him ever at home with any of our pairings.
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important in what terms ? he is slow to react and we cant press high up nor can we leave him on his own to defend.. the dm and the rb and the cb need to be around him.
i accept hsi intelligence to read and his positioning and to a certain extent the calmness he brings ot the squad. he is royalty. regal. plays with a tuxedo.
but this calmness sometimes backfires and makes him hide and not vocal enough and if he is having a bad day its a disaster waiting to happen as he gets bullied of the ball or afraid to committ into challenges
i also understand why wenger would need a calm head there at the back but without koscielny we saw the results.
koscielny might look like an erratic mad-dog on speed but he will save you another 20 times in the game..plus he can move forward with ball..something that if mert does we take out the cameras and film the awkardness
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He is also bloody huge
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yes he is huge but he is too gentle…
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hunter, you cant pair two koscielnys in our defence. just as you cant have two pers in our defence. but with the defenders we have in our rank at the moment, non can really function properly without per beside them while per can do a good job with any of them. but taking each player based on ability, then kos has the edge. he is good at what he does when he has the right person beside him.
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Layksite
The only arrogance exhibited above is that which assumes that AFC would choose to a small group of bleating idiots. When the historical pattern is the opposite. Never mind the manager.
That is quite simple and easy to understand.
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< choose to listen
–
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News castle under the fleecer?
It would be a possibility that they would be so reactive to appease the sheeple.
This lot at AFC? Pull the other one!
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if you are as tall as per you will be slow. we concede less goals from set pieces these days because of the per’s hieght advantage. i ‘m still gutted about the goal we conceded against spud when i dont expect kane to beat kos in the air.but kos isnt as tall as per to head the ball away. you see? should i crucify him for not being tall?
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ayksite
May 27, 2015 at 2:37 pm
yes thats kind of true … but id still play with 11 koscielnys if i could..
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layksite
May 27, 2015 at 2:45 pm
i can excuse kos missing a header when he is running like mad left right and centre to save everyone’s arses… but say per getting beaten like that from mitrovic against anderlecht or scrtl at anfield…or how he shies away from ball as not to get hurt(??) …very weird..
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I had the best cat in the world, he was great at being a cat. He was rubbish at guarding the house. Perhaps I shouldn’t have expected him to behave like a guard dog. What with him being a cat and all?
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finsbury, i’ll agree with you if you dont agree with me. but no one can be absolutely sure why wenger overpaid for mesut. but all i was trying to say is that the price tag was the reason for the high expectation. if we had got him at the right price of 30m, do you think the expectation will be this high? considering the fact that lallana almost cost that same amount. or if we had got alexis for 50m, do you think he will enjoy the goodwill from fans for scoring 24goals in over 50 games? or if ospina costs 20m do you think the croud will still be shouting his name?
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and realistically speaking per isnt the problem or ozil…all players have strong and weaker points. its people/fans/opinions that make them look like the unbeatable and greatest footballers of the universe of all times that makes me pull my hair out.
like you try to keep a small basket ( keep a reservation) and wait and see but NO..if you dont accept at once their supremacy it means youre a shit fan who dont know football. how is that logical?
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Hunter, what’s got into you?
I remember you used to spend time fighting everyone in defence of the club, players and manager. These days you are doing all you can to talk up Mourinho of all people and other Chelsea players like Fabregas.
Everything ok hun?
Personally, I don’t see anything wrong with wanting the squad improved or hoping that we get stronger the following season, whether that be by natural progression from the players we have or new players. That is down to the manager and that is what happens in football, no escaping that but I don’t see the need to have to put a knife in the back of our current players (Giroud, Özil, Mert etc)
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pedantic george
May 27, 2015 at 2:59 pm
well we buy footballers ..not pets …and we buy them so they win games and humiliate opponents instead of humiliating wenger in his 1000th game, monaco, stoke, etc etc
so when you buy a defender you are usually aiming him to defend
midifielders to block, distribute tackle pass etc
wingers to cross and score and assist
strikers to score goals bring others into play etc etc
also best advised not to bring a waterpistol when the others are aiming at you with nuclear rockets
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hey mean lean i still do …i just dont appreciate people with limited authority on football telling me what to think about player x y or z.
talk up mourinho? lol …like where ?
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im glad you dont see anything wrong in getting players that can improve us ..but here we wouldnt have suarez or petr cech cause we have better players obviously…. and if you think otherwise you dont undersatnd sports mate… heh…
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Footballers eh – always “humiliating” some poor manager, Arsene, Jose, Pep, Pellegrini, Carlo, Brenda, LvG – and who is the bloke at the Camp Nou this year ? He is next.
Is that how football works ?
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well the knives of wenger’s 1000th and monaco stoke etc hurt a lot more than calling whoever a bit of a pansy…dont you think? …
i was thinking that especially after the 1000th game…and especially when wenger said no to cesc to show faith in the current midfielders …that our players would make things right. they didnt and i have put them all in a naughty corner waiting for the assasination squad with the rifles…..
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thats the issue hunter, he doesnt have to run left and center like mad. can you imagine the chaos in our defence if per is equally runing left right and center? that was always the case when we paired kos with verm. i can still remember our game with norwich when kos and verm went for the same ball in the air. they both missed it but collided with each other. the ball fell to their big striker with both of our center defenders on the floor. well the rest is history.
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does pique run around like mad? colide with mascherano? or puyol previously? do you hold mertesaker better than pique?
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im sure you can see per’s limitations….that he makes up for it with intelligence is ok for us for now..but if we want to beat the best we need better players. unless ok we go with hope of the one season wonder and a firework…..i prefer domination and leaving no doubt to our supremacy
yes history is full of examples of dudeks and biscans winnignn big trophies without being big players in any way shape or form BUT they played for liverpool …a club we might mock now but a club with 5 european titles…big ones.
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“do you hold mertesaker better than pique?”
Now if you’d said Koscielny
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Who are the other total centre back washouts at these BIG clubs you are keen on H ?
Pepe – better than Per ? No chance, as stupid as he is ugly, not to mention vicious
Dante ? Dreadful – league 2 standard
Tommy V ? Hmm – no I’ll go with Per thanks
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“but if we want to beat the best we need better players”
And that would be David Luiz?
Okeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey
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did i ask for him george? show me please …heh
the only thing ive said on luiz is that he is better than pink mohican djourou …. a crime of biblical proportions apparently…
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Good job Per is German and they have no decent players. Otherwise he would never have been capped 104 times by age 30.
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why havent those clubs come for him then anicoll? are they stupid ?
george, when their manager wanted to win the world cup he put him in the bench…..why?
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you talk as if we called mertesaker worse than dawson…lol…chill …
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going back to the fifa arrests ! revenge for maradona !! they kicked him out of football those bastards…
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Every Summer I wonder that about Kosc H, PSG, Real, Bayern and Barca must be mad.
And didn’t the French national squad play Sakho in Brazil rather than Laurent ? Mon dieu !
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mamadou ? yes he was touted as the next best thing….. went to liverpool and well ..they have rodgers there so…… where would we be without koscielny …thats what i ask myself everytime i see us play
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Regards the FIFA arrests (not whether those arrested are guilty of something – rather the timing and underlying motives).
2015 – currently US and the EU have sanctions against Russia
2017 – Confederations Cup
2018 – Football World Cup, largest sporting competition in the world
….
A few days before the FIFA presidential election:
The US led and directed campaign was unveiled just before the FIFA presidential election.
Two US senators, Mccain and Menendez, have already apparently called for Russia to be stripped of the 2018 world cup.
Apparently the English FA has said the FIFA election in a few days should be postponed.
….
My undestand of the situation is that this is one more aspect of the ongoing propaganda war with Russia. Imagine if Russia hosts a successful World Cup like Brazil did? What happens to all the PR funding? (refer to John Kerry hearings with one of their select committees on propaganda – public record)
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hunter
arsenal is my club but ifthere is any otherclub i follow religiously, it is barca. i can tell you that ifthere is any on their match i missed (on tv) this season, maybe on or two. dont even compere him to per. heis not even as good as pepe to start with. dante won ucl with beyarn last season. he is not even a defender. but he rode on the back of ribery and roben. but this season he’sbeen exposed due to the fact that bayern has to defend sometimes, something they didnt do last season.
same with pique. the best defendr in barca by some distance ismacherano andhe is not even a defender but a defensive midfielder. this is only posible because barca hardly do anything like defending. their goalkeeper has kept 24 clean sheet in 38 this season. is he tha best in the world? that macherano is betterthan him says a lot.
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wow you getting mighty serious there sav …… the u.s after putin via soccer… i like it ! not sure how vladimir reacts though…he is no kitten…..
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layksite
May 27, 2015 at 5:16 pm
if i get this right…. you dont rate pique ? i will agree he is not the same since he married shakira….(who would ?) …but what that kid did in that 3-4 year period where they won 3 cls whatever ….well… never seen mert play like that. not only was he a powerhouse in blocking and marking but also very gifted in using the ball. and ok with hercules puyol next to him he grew tougher every year..until shakira of course..
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mascherano is one of the best in the world ever..criminally underrated and especially when here at liverpool …..listening to sky pundits saying he aint ‘clever with the ball’ and too hot headed…lol…lol.lol….
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