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 
will you rather rely on mirror than marca to report what happen in madrid? even in spain, most people listen to marca when it comes to matter concerning real madrid.
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rope? dope? wait let me google it so were on the same page
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Lol cash…QE one way…crypto currency the other way…zero percent interest rates…if only if only…if they let us have zero percent interest rates I’d buy Arsenal lol…
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ehhm i was directed to a blog about hammocks…. im guessing thats not it.
i have now found urban dictionary that says :
rope-a-dope
Popularized by Muhammed Ali, a tactic of proctecting one’s self during combat while an opponent wears himself out, and then unexpectedly lashing out.
Damn, that fool wasted all his ammo when I picked up all of those shields. I did the ol’ rope-a-dope and destroyed him in under a minute
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This book: http://www.orbooks.com/catalog/trade-war/
Its focus is Africa but you get an idea of how it works amongst the BRICS, etc.
I tend to be of the school of thought that at the end of the day, the finances in football are related to the finances in everything…
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ok now i see…used to reach similar books as a student..depressed me too much
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by all means…good stuff to know so you dont fall victim of propaganda of media and the elite running things but ultimately pointless unless youre talking world revolution which will send us back a couple millenia…..
times of the beasts
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Lesley Stahl on U.S. sanctions against Iraq: We have heard that a half million children have died. I mean, that’s more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright: I think this is a very hard choice, but the price–we think the price is worth it.
blatter you evil evil man………
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fuck you sav…just reading TTIP..i didnt need this in my life.. dealing with ozil was enough ..hahaaa
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Lol Hunter – its TTIP and TPP. Fun times. Nobody knows what we are getting.
I wouldn’t say no to more jobs in Sydney but I’m not holding my breath…
Or you can bet on China…
http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175903/tomgram%3A_pepe_escobar%2C_new_silk_roads_and_an_alternate_eurasian_century
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fun times indeed…..i give humanity another decade maybe two ..tops…after that we need matthew mackonaheu to get us in that 5d tesseract pronto.
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still that gives us time for the treble at least.
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Sav, On the plus side at least you’re allowed to read about such things…unlike others!
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since the trouble with the brazilian economy there are no more BRICs just RICs
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Hunter reality is depressing which is why more intellectuals suffer with depression and why football is even more important as a distraction
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very true aob….subconsciously its perhaps the main reason for this obsession/addiction with wenger’s arsenal. until a persian cat came along and gave me allergies and respiratory problems….lol…fucking cat….i hate cats…always been a dog person..more honest, man’s best friend. fetch alexis fetch!!!!
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“So long as they (the Proles) continued to work and breed, their other activities were without importance. Left to themselves, like cattle turned loose upon the plains of Argentina, they had reverted to a style of life that appeared to be natural to them, a sort of ancestral pattern…Heavy physical work, the care of home and children, petty quarrels with neighbors, films, football, beer and above all, gambling* filled up the horizon of their minds. To keep them in control was not difficult.”
George Orwell, 1984
You could sub in £50M for Luiz or £30M for Carroll for “gambling” if you like. it’d make no difference.
You don’t have to be smart to work at newscorp but if you know your history you’re laughing.
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please dont quote that traitor communist bastard…for all we know he gave them the blueprint of how to do it….the fucking spy….
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I dunno about the defeatistisms but let Bob preach it…this was one of the protest songs in the Apartheid days and it still has relevance for all of us…unless we’re Roman lol…or the Barclay Bros…
….don’t give up the fight…
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The point about transfer fees and players is that for example, suarez at whatever price is a better player than balotelli and that ought to be the basis of judging rahter than how much they cost
Kos is a better player than mangala and has nothing much to do with how much they cost either!
I don’t think Le coq can be said to be better than matic but by stats he certainly holds his own beside the Chelsea man… their price tags are more far apart than that.
Point is a player can be overpriced especially English player based on hype!
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Firstly…George sorry for the posting of these songs but these guys seemed depressed…I did not know another way to get the positivity across..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm7muPjevik
Number one protest anthem of the struggle in South Africa. ‘Could you be loved’. I didn’t believe it myself but my father was adamant and he was in it so who am I to argue. If that doesn’t tell you someting about people then I don’t know what will…
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yeah ok , i was thinking that if someone is crazy enough to pay 30 for mangala then i can understand that there can be an even crazier one to pay 50 for luiz.
then again luiz is the better player of the two. if it was a maldini or a nesta ayala montero who was sold for 30 and a luiz sold for 50 then id be with fins all the way
the real jokes start when carrol is sold for 35 …adebayor 26?27? lol…
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What’s price, got to do, got to do with it?
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if you buy two players like mangala for 30m and boyata for 3m who you think the fans will expect more from? no one is talking about boyata in city now even though he is almost same age, same height and frame as mangala. i’m sure not many talk about nastasic when he was at city as they talk about mangala today. just as no one talk about alex being a flop at psg as they talk about david luis despite luis doing much better than alex. so the price tag will subconciously make one to expect and demand more.
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It may be like wine Layks
You pay a vast sum of money for a bottle, not only do you expect it to be delightful, and it usually is, but even if it is slightly disappointing you persuade yourself that it is better than it really is. You’ve invested, you want the dividend.
A cheap bottle of wine, the boot is on the other foot. A modest price tag will make even the seasoned drunk cautious even if his palate is transported to paradise by a cheeky Grenache.
Enjoyment, the perception of quality, twisted by a knowledge of the price
Blind tastings demonstrate the phenomena
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Happy the host who serves decanted Bulgarian red.
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The acquisition of Ozil for 40 mil was followed by Sanchez for 30 mil (and Debuchy, Chambers, Welbeck, Ospina in same window), both for far more money than previous signings. That shows a pattern, the implementation of a new strategy that was planned 10 years ago, that’s possible now due to new financial conditions.
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wowow we have so many nice subjects to talk about
1. fifa/ blatter and the indignation of cameron and samuel
2. per admitting he was a bit shit beginning of the season. brave per. brave. good man
3. do we humiliate aston villa from 1st minute or play with them a bit and give them a 2-0 lead?
4. wenger for fifa president? or the u.n ? wto?
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ha…and this ..subject 5. for the big players in the playground :
ospina or woijech for the final ?
( runs and hides…)
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Item 1. I am sure we are all behind ‘Prince Ali’ ( who ?)
Item 2. Good man Per – professional
Item 3. Give Villa a lead, it makes it more exciting
Item 4. Give the man a break, after his retirement Arsene should become licensee of a pub on the Caledonian Road #oldskool and see out his days listening to mature drunks like me dribbling on about the good old days every lunchtime while he polishes glasses and serves up Shepherds pie.
Item 5. Szcz – no question.
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@ Hunter what gave u the impression you were crazy concerning Per at beginning of season? Thought everyone was quite sure he wasn’t ready even AW…
Of all that was thought that the squad needed, with TV5 leaving, a defender coming in was thiught key by me.. Alas Gabriel did not arrive till January through reasons we will never know all about
Likely Debuchy out injured disrupted Chambers lending more of a hand.. Chambers and Bellerin as 2 new defenders in the back 4?
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what happened to figo and co for FIFA? Only prince Ali remaining?
Blatter ought to go but can the opposition muster enough and can he actually cange things… its hardly just about blatter
Please early goal from Theo so villa have to come out then the game will be more interesting.
AW for chairman of arsenal after a 2 year leave… what fun it will be when the chairman tell the coach how to manage a game? LOL
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With that most diplomatic of approaches to their calling H I can see why you have the bureaucrats of LBH eating out of your hand.
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Smoother than snake’s codpiece
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We are having a ” it’s quiet, too damn quiet” sort of day – edgy, fidgeting, disrupted concentration, too damn long to kick off
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https://www.facebook.com/wojciechszczesny1.official
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Excellent effort from the Dortmund fans at their lat home game of the season fans as Jurgen faces his final match tomorrow in charge;
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And yes they won 3-2
For any who are still in the mood and sober enough tomorrow evening the German Cup final between Dortmund and Wolfsburg kicks off in Berlin at 7 – second half only an option for Arsenal fans therefore
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Hunter is getting wacky now. That Orwell jab is hilarious. And Paul McCartney died in 66 and was replaced by a body double too right? Tupac still alive and in Cuba while were at it?
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And great piece shotta. Goes without saying my friend.
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And Osama is in a cave somewhere reading Chomsky right?
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Or on the phone to Haringey Council to get his parking permit sorted out
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its this sort of crap form his dad that has made our disrespectful young goalie speak out
Szczesny’s father “Wenger claims there is a cigarette ash on his suit jacket whereas in fact it’s his own dandruff” more @TimesSport
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The Scarf Baggers have an idea for Arsene’s farewell;
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“We are having a ” it’s quiet, too damn quiet” sort of day – edgy, fidgeting, disrupted concentration, too damn long to kick off”
Doesn’t help when a good thread has been hijacked. I guess we all deal with our nervous tension in different ways!
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edu, if szczesny senior actuallysaid that, then i dont blame woj for his post on facebook. his father is not just embarassing him among his teammates but destroying his career by antagonising his manager who has done so much for him. how many big clubs willwant to buy a player whose father is a loose cannon. little wonder his son has refused to speak with him for over two years. i think there is something wrong with their relashionship we dont know about.
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Too funny, anicoll. TGIF. Dunno if I would have mad it if I had read these comments on a Monday. Poor children that have to grow up in this world.
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oh come on passenal bury the hatchet…we can do with some humour. ..not snide remarks… the ship has been steadied last two days with my elegant manouvring …like schummacher i drive it…. i fall on my knees and beg you : victoria concordia crescit….
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dont you realise that it is only an idiot who would make statements capable of destroying his son’s career? who should be more matured? woj or his dad?
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Happy F.A. cup eve everyone
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