Chelsea Thread

It is true what they say about United, but what people doesn't mention in the same breath is that United isn't alone.

A few Norwegian journalists researched Premier League last year, and they went back 10 years. During that time, City has gotten more overtime goals and goals that should have been disallowed but United came second. This also taken into account that City had spent fewer seasons in PL than United. Chelsea were also quite lucky with referee decisions as well as Liverpool. The clear losers in that regard among the top teams were Arsenal and Tottenham (other teams were mentioned), which had a stunning amount of disallowed goals as well as wrongly allowed goals against.

There were also indications that United players didn't get a second yellow when players from other teams were treated more harshly in similar situations. This was regardless of referee, and there was no claim of United bias. There were done similar research on Real Madrid and Barcelona for comparison and it seems like those three were generally treated more lenient compared to other top teams in the relevant leagues.

There were also taken psychology into account, and long explanations which I don't remember were pointed out. An example from Nordic Ski Jumping were given, where the referees are supposed to give each jumper a set deduction of points from 20.0. A famous jumper like schlierenzauer gets consistently better style points than a Japanese recruit jumper for an entire season, but if you look at every jump they made in split screen, everybody sees that the Jap jumped nicer but shorter. The referees were in fact dead wrong for an entire season...

The point is that the human mind is incapable of being unbiased, because there are so many factors to take into account. Fame, respect, rumors, angle of view (independent incident), linesmen, influence from players for or against, earlier situations and so on. The referee's is actually doing an impossible job, and high stature teams with managers that use media smart will always have a slight advantage even if the referee believes he is 100% unbiased and fair.
 
Last edited:
I hope for Benitez' sake that he does not go to Real Madrid, it would be yet another ex-Mourinho place.
Even more so if Real win the CL this season, that would be suicide for Rafa to go to Real. The only positive is that he is a lot more respected in Spain.

As someone else said, it would be better for him to try the teams that are just outside the top bracket.
 
Mehtab said:
Well, it's good for everyone if I don't post the stats of Man Utd with referees. It will probably be a one full page.
Click to expand...

Please please please please do this. PLLLEEEEAAASSSEE.

You can see amazing things, like how United were top 'sufferers' on the 'debatable decisions' table last season. Or how our record when we have Howard Webb is actually worse than average. Or how we've already had 3 offside goals incorrectly ruled out this season alone. Or that we've faced premier league opposition in about 13 of our last domestic cup 'random draws'.

Go. Research. Would love to see what you come up with. I assume it'll start with that monumental call of Carrick's penalty at WHL some 5 seasons ago. Or maybe Pedro Mendes from what, 8 years ago?

Because the only way anyone can believe that United in the past decade get all the decisions is if they don't bother to actually research anything. Ignorance is the only answer, and from my experience certain fans embrace it more than others.
 
Sabatasso said:
It is true what they say about United, but what people doesn't mention in the same breath is that United isn't alone.
Click to expand...

This. There was an article earlier this year that got lots of press from the ABUs that statistically showed United get marginally more decisions their way at home than the premier league average. But it of course didn't mention that United's stat was actually just above average, behind almost all of the other top clubs.

As for scoring more goals in added time, how is that a sign of favourabiltiy to United?
 
beachryan said:
As for scoring more goals in added time, how is that a sign of favourabiltiy to United?
Click to expand...

There are some that say that a football match is ~90 minutes, but on Old Trafford it is 90 minutes or until United score a winner. You usually see 3-4 minutes added time, but I've seen 5-9 minutes added when some higher profile clubs are involved and in need of a goal, United included.

When Spurs beat them at Trafford this season, I believe we played 11 minutes over time... 4-5 minutes would be sufficient.

I blame it on the same psychological issue I mentioned above, underdogs will always fight uphill, and ref's are usually making the hill steeper without even meaning to. They are influenced one way or another, and research support the theory that it in most cases go in favor of the most profiled team. This is unless there are other influences that override it, such as Suarez' diving issue which makes ref's not blow the whistle even when he should get a penalty.

The point is, we can't really change it and the theories doesn't suggest referee's are purposely biased. It is the human mind, we are simply incapable of being completely unbiased. We're designed not to be in fact.
 
Last edited:
Excellent posts Saba, and I think it is a fair way of putting things in perspective.
The "woe is me" mindset happens throughout every topic of conversation in our lives. As a fan of the Dutch national team as well, I have more than my fair share of woes and conspiracy theories, but had they e.g. beaten Spain in S Africa and taken the WC I would have probably forgotten about all those frustrations. Live is great when things go well, and it sucks when they don't.
 
dplane said:
Excellent posts Saba, and I think it is a fair way of putting things in perspective.
The "woe is me" mindset happens throughout every topic of conversation in our lives. As a fan of the Dutch national team as well, I have more than my fair share of woes and conspiracy theories, but had they e.g. beaten Spain in S Africa and taken the WC I would have probably forgotten about all those frustrations. Live is great when things go well, and it sucks when they don't.
Click to expand...

Fair post.
About Man Utd an decisions going their way, could well be that statiscally seen they are not more advantaged than the other big clubs (which means that they are still advantaged compared to the other clubs, i'm only reacting to beachryan's post) but because they have the most manipulative manager around, one still has the impression that something isn't just.

I've said this countless times: that is the reason why i stopped supporting them and at the time i was very biased in favour of them, if even i had that impression...
 
gerd said:
Fair post.
About Man Utd an decisions going their way, could well be that statiscally seen they are not more advantaged than the other big clubs (which means that they are still advantaged compared to the other clubs, i'm only reacting to beachryan's post) but because they have the most manipulative manager around, one still has the impression that something isn't just.

I've said this countless times: that is the reason why i stopped supporting them and at the time i was very biased in favour of them, if even i had that impression...
Click to expand...

Won't argue with what you said about SAF Gerd, but folks are often too quick to look past flaws in their own counter arguments. Look at Mancini complaining about luck and injuries this season, yet Utd almost won the league with way, and I stress..WAY more injuries than any other epl team last season (look it up..it's quite staggering to know we still finished second with that), and winning by the league by a 1 goal difference takes a bit of luck on City's side. Let's also not forget the great number of injury time goals City scored themselves. When you're the biggest dog in town everybody who doesn't support you, wants to see you fall.

(btw Godo..I didn't mean to single out City, but merely used it to illustrate a point I was trying to make)

edit: here is the link to the injury stats of last year:
http://injuryleague.com/2012/05/man-united-top-final-injury-league-table-of-the-season/
 
Last edited:
The facts, as if any football fan cares, is that United don't get more decisions, don't get more penalties than they deserve, don't get more 50/50 calls and don't get more added time.

People only remember when Michael Owen scored in the 96th minute against City because it fits the narrative. They don't remember that it was entirely right to have played that much time, or all the matches where United didn't score and time was called up early.

It's because football fans - more than any other sport imo - are so biased that they just see what they want to see.
 
beachryan said:
The facts, as if any football fan cares, is that United don't get more decisions, don't get more penalties than they deserve, don't get more 50/50 calls and don't get more added time.

People only remember when Michael Owen scored in the 96th minute against City because it fits the narrative. They don't remember that it was entirely right to have played that much time, or all the matches where United didn't score and time was called up early.

It's because football fans - more than any other sport imo - are so biased that they just see what they want to see.
Click to expand...

BS


Sabatasso said:
It is true what they say about United, but what people doesn't mention in the same breath is that United isn't alone.

A few Norwegian journalists researched Premier League last year, and they went back 10 years. During that time, City has gotten more overtime goals and goals that should have been disallowed but United came second. This also taken into account that City had spent fewer seasons in PL than United. Chelsea were also quite lucky with referee decisions as well as Liverpool. The clear losers in that regard among the top teams were Arsenal and Tottenham (other teams were mentioned), which had a stunning amount of disallowed goals as well as wrongly allowed goals against.

There were also indications that United players didn't get a second yellow when players from other teams were treated more harshly in similar situations. This was regardless of referee, and there was no claim of United bias. There were done similar research on Real Madrid and Barcelona for comparison and it seems like those three were generally treated more lenient compared to other top teams in the relevant leagues.

There were also taken psychology into account, and long explanations which I don't remember were pointed out. An example from Nordic Ski Jumping were given, where the referees are supposed to give each jumper a set deduction of points from 20.0. A famous jumper like schlierenzauer gets consistently better style points than a Japanese recruit jumper for an entire season, but if you look at every jump they made in split screen, everybody sees that the Jap jumped nicer but shorter. The referees were in fact dead wrong for an entire season...

The point is that the human mind is incapable of being unbiased, because there are so many factors to take into account. Fame, respect, rumors, angle of view (independent incident), linesmen, influence from players for or against, earlier situations and so on. The referee's is actually doing an impossible job, and high stature teams with managers that use media smart will always have a slight advantage even if the referee believes he is 100% unbiased and fair.
Click to expand...

I smell more BS
 
Last edited:
But let's be clear: Man Utd haven't stolen a single one of their EPL titles. After 38 matches the best team always wins.
You also got to deserve a preferential treatment...as much as i dislike Ferguson, he singlehandedly made Manchester United one of the biggest clubs in the wordl (again). He deserves some credit for that...
 
gerd said:
Until now the referee had nothing to do with both Man Utd goals...it's stupid to think refs are against your team.
Click to expand...

The match hasn't ended yet.

Can anyone please sign the RAFA Out petition please? Terry can manage the team better.
 
Entertaining 2nd half. We need to start passing better we've been playing like shite today. Hazard is our boogyman this season IMHO. Great goals by Chelski.
 
Great performance from Chelsea. Would never have guessed you were the ones who played on Thurday.

United looked leggy after 25 minutes. Ferguson completely bottled it by not bringing on a new midfielder, Cleverley's display might be the worst I've seen from a United player since Bebe at Watford.

Neither team wanted a replay though. Would rather it ended today, personally.

De Gea's save from Mata is absolutely mind blowing.
 
Scariest thing about De Gea is if not for a weird bounce, he would have saved Ramires' shot too. He actually got a finger on it, but the ball bounced higher than it looked like it was going to and he couldn't keep it out.

Possibly already the best shot stopper in world football. But has a fair way to go on claiming crosses, organising his defence and keeping them in a higher line.

All that said, imagine if he'd conceded the second goal. The media would be all over the 'De Gea is crap on crosses' line. But Cech does it and no word.
 
That'd be the Rio that was banned just 2 seasons ago retrospectively for a very marginal tussle with Karl Henry? Or the Rio that has served the longest ban I know of for missing a drugs test? Or the Rio that has been shunted out by the FA for England so they can stick with Brave John Terry?

Which Rio is it that gets a good deal from the FA?

(he'll probably get banned, anytime something like this happens iwth a United player it's Sky Sports leading news and shown ad infintum).
 
Since that was nothing more than a little nudge on the back (not that it's allowed but still...), what about Luiz's continuous dirty play in the last 3 or 4 games against United? Remember how he deliberately kicked Rooney (?) through the legs when the ball wasn't around? Well yeah, neither a red card nor a ban from the FA.
 
amineken22 said:
Are you kidding? When was that? How come i didn't see that? (no, i'm no being sarcastic, i'm genuinely wondering)
Click to expand...
Exacty.

I'm not sure if it was Rooney, but it was a nasty, dirty kick which remained unseen by the ref and by the FA as well. Your post proves my point, you don't remember it.
 
And I'd love to find some footage, but the fact that I can't right now also proves my point, absolutely no attention was paid on that incident... Hope somebody else remembers it so he could back me up here. :D

Anyway, let's not drift away too much now. Hopefully a better game at the Bridge, the Liverpool vs Tottenham match up was way more interesting to watch today...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom