How far back have you gone, Sangria? Is there any pattern over the past 5 years?
As I'm doing this during a few 'quiet' spells while working from home, I've looked at this season in isolation, Tubbs
I had a peer at last year's stats and in short terms, we're getting given less than we were last year, despite the fact that we still weren't probably getting what we should this year. It's been noticeably awful this season. When I have more time this weekend I'll do a deep dive on WhyScout and FootChart and can see if there's any consistent pattern. One thing it's worth adding to an earlier post I did about refereeing selections, is that only two refs can be described as having given 'favourable' decisions to us this season that we've benefited from. They've reffed 3 of our games total. Refs who have given 'unfavourable' decisions have reffed 21. We've played 25 matches.
Thanks for pulling this together DS. Really interesting and thought provoking.
One question I had is the influence of individuals on the team stats. You've highlighted Grealish here. I think Zaha is another player who is fouled a huge amount of times compared to, what might be considered better players. How much do the fouls on those 2 players, who are the key threats in their respective teams, influence the overall team numbers?
In the context if Liverpool, I think Mane is one of the most fouled players in the league. On the flip side, and where I think there is some negative bias that might affect the numbers you have pulled together, is Salah's numbers. For the top scorer in the league, who has possession of the ball in the final 3rd a fair bit and has numerous attempts at dribbling past opponents, to be deemed to be fouled so little looks odd. Personally whilst I've argued that I don't think there's widespread bias against Liverpool as a team, and more poor refereeing, I do think there is bias from referees against Salah. It's clear that he does go to ground too easily on occasions. But more often than not he's man handled game after game and yet can't seem to buy a free kick on occasions.
How much of Salah being an outlier do you think dictates Liverpool being an outlier in the stats you shared?
Good pick there - noticing about Zaha and Grealish because what you've inferred, to my interpretation, is absolutely bang on, some players have a disproportionate percentage of their teams total fouls. I've looked at the most fouled players and how this correlates with the areas these players take up, how prolific they are, and the amount of duels they contest.
15% of all fouls against Aston Villa are on Jack Grealish. 8% of all of Palace's are Zaha (last season he was fouled a lot more, oddly James McCarthur is now their most fouled, 13% of the time). Most team's most fouled player seems to generally suffer around 9% - 11% of their teams total fouls. Sadio Mane is our most fouled, with 13.73% - he has the ball in the final third more than any player other than Mo (tied with Robbo).
Laughably, hilariously, Mo Salah is our 8th most fouled player - level with Nat Phillips, a player with 5 apps this season to Mo's 31. A player who has literally touched the ball over 1,000 times less than Mo. So yes, overwhelmingly, mind-bogglingly, there's a bias against Salah. Mo Salah, the player with 4th most shots in the league, the most goals, the most touches inside the box, 4 assists, top 5 for touches in the final third - he has apparently only been fouled 12 times - 4.7% (keeping in mind we probably have around 100 - 150 less fouls total than we statistically should at this point and that are total is very low to begin with).
In every league in Europe, the Top Scorer is also in the top 10 most fouled. They're also always in the Top 5 most fouled in the final third. Mo Salah isn't even in the top 100 most fouled Premier League players. Rhian Brewster has been fouled more than Mo Apparently. As has Branislav Ivanovic, he of 8 appearances and less than 700 minutes. How about attacking, 7 apps dynamo Christian Fuchs? Or 35 year old fourth choice striker with 3 starts, Billy Sharp. They've all been fouled more times than Mo Salah.
Wow. Draw your own conclusions.