Excuse my diversion from Arsenal attacker month to talk about something that made me scratch my head as Johnson makes the bizarre claim that Andy Roberston should not have gotten a red card vs Fulham
Interesting post—it highlights something I’ve been saying for a couple of years now: referees and the media often allow player reputations to influence their decisions on big calls.
Dale’s argument here essentially boils down to: “Van Dijk is a top-class defender, so he would have recovered in time.” But would Dale make the same argument if it were any other defender? I doubt it.
It reminds me of an incident last season involving Alisson, where he received a very favourable decision after making an error that led to a Manchester City goal. The on-field official incorrectly ruled the goal out, deeming the attacking player to have fouled the Liverpool keeper. Once again, reputation played a significant role, as the referee seemingly decided Alisson was too good a goalkeeper to make such a mistake and gave him the benefit of the doubt.
Without looking closely at the data, I would say players with such reputations in your team are worth at least a couple of points each season.
That's a good point. Van Dijk is a class defender and that has given him a massive edge in a benefit of the doubt here, even if it would take super human effort to get close to the ball
Dale is not consistent and he enjoys winding fans up. It’s disappointing for a column that should be interesting. Using it for anything other than understanding what message the PGMOL want to propagate is destined to be an exercise in frustration.
Interesting post—it highlights something I’ve been saying for a couple of years now: referees and the media often allow player reputations to influence their decisions on big calls.
Dale’s argument here essentially boils down to: “Van Dijk is a top-class defender, so he would have recovered in time.” But would Dale make the same argument if it were any other defender? I doubt it.
It reminds me of an incident last season involving Alisson, where he received a very favourable decision after making an error that led to a Manchester City goal. The on-field official incorrectly ruled the goal out, deeming the attacking player to have fouled the Liverpool keeper. Once again, reputation played a significant role, as the referee seemingly decided Alisson was too good a goalkeeper to make such a mistake and gave him the benefit of the doubt.
Without looking closely at the data, I would say players with such reputations in your team are worth at least a couple of points each season.
That's a good point. Van Dijk is a class defender and that has given him a massive edge in a benefit of the doubt here, even if it would take super human effort to get close to the ball
Dale is not consistent and he enjoys winding fans up. It’s disappointing for a column that should be interesting. Using it for anything other than understanding what message the PGMOL want to propagate is destined to be an exercise in frustration.
The "message the PGMOL want to propagate" is really the only value he brings these days.