Penalties: comparing MU and Arsenal « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News. Supporting the Lord Wenger; coach of the decade

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By Walter Broeckx

With United players falling down like apples from an apple tree in the harvest season and most of all refs very willingly to blow the penalties even before the players hit the ground I thought it would be interesting to have a closer look at the penalty statistics and compare the ones between Arsenal and Manchester United.

So first of all I thought I would take the numbers starting from the 1999/2000 season and compare both teams until the current season. And then I get these totals:

	Club	For	Against		Club	For	Against
TOTAL 13 SEASONS	MU	64	28		Arsenal	63	42
Total average/season		4,92	2,15			4,85	3,23

So at first sight there is not much between both teams if we take a look at the last 13 seasons. Manchester United has only got 1 penalty more than Arsenal.

In a way one could say this is almost a normal number. Both teams have been at the top in that period and so it is rather normal that both teams get the same amount of penalties. Because when you attack a lot you are more in the other teams penalty area and so the chance of them committing a foul is bigger and so you should get the same number of penalties.

So what are we moaning?

Well we could moan about the penalties we got against us. Refs have given about 50% more penalties for the teams playing against Arsenal than they did for teams playing against United. But one penalty more against us on average in each season; we sure must be able to overcome this.

So will we join the media and declare all is right and well and there is nothing to see, move on, move on, don’t block the road? Well this is Untold – the place where we try to look behind the headlines, behind the numbers, behind the rubbish bin, and behind the locked door.

Which is what we will do here.

I was curious about whether we could find some point in history when something has changed. And I wondered…. What has happened with the penalties since Mike Riley became head of the PGMOL? Is there anything to see?

So I took the 10 seasons I have covered before Mike Riley became the head of the “probably best referees in the world” gang.   And in those 10 years we have these numbers:

	Club	For	Against		Club	For	Against
TOTAL 10 season	MU	40	17		Arsenal	49	23
1999-2009
Average/season		4	1,7			4,9	2,3

And look at that. In those 10 pre-Riley years Arsenal had on average even 1 penalty more than United. So what are we complaining about?

By the way I like the number 49 penalties for Arsenal to be honest. The only negative thing is that we did tend to get more penalties against us compared to United. But well not that much to talk about. So no reason to moan or to complain. And then I  took the numbers in the Riley years and this is what I found:

	Club	For	Against		Club	For	Against
TOTAL	MU	24	11		Arsenal	14	19
3 seasons
Average/season Riley		8	3,67			4,67	6,33

And now we are starting to see some strange patterns. Because suddenly United has doubled the penalties in their favour. Before Riley they got 4 penalties on average and now they have 8 in their favour and for this season we are still counting them (11 for the moment or has Young fallen again since I started writing this?)  and the way they are been given it could still rise a bit. But we must admit that they also have doubled the penalties going against them. So does it even out?

But remember in the 10 seasons before Riley the penalty record for Arsenal and Manchester United was almost the same. So in the Riley years does it still is the same for Arsenal and Manchester United?

Manchester United penalties have doubled and well the numbers for Arsenal have gone down. We surely didn’t keep up with the pace set by Manchester United and doubled our tally. Au contraire, my friends we got fewer penalties since Riley is…instructing the refs.

And if we look at the penalties against us we see an even more strange thing. Yes the penalties given against United have doubled. But for us it has multiplied by 3.

So for 10 years the numbers have been almost the same between United and Arsenal. And suddenly United doubles their numbers in their favour and ours  go down. And when we look at the penalties against we also suddenly get a rather high number of decisions against us.

And all this since a certain Mike Riley became head of the referees. And if I remember right wasn’t Mike Riley the record holder in giving penalties in favour of one team in his ref career? Wasn’t Riley the one who managed to give in 8 consecutive games he did at Old Trafford to always give a penalty for the home team? I could be wrong on this last number as I get it from the back of my head.

Maybe Mike Riley can give an answer to that question when he comes to see the Arsenal fans. He has visited fans from other teams like Everton and Manchester City already. So I wonder Mike, what are you waiting for?

Maybe we could put together some questions for Mike in the comment sections? Questions we like him to answer when he comes to meet the Arsenal fans. If he comes to meet us that is…