Comments on: Arsenal v Manchester United: Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics

By: Ahmed Bilal

Ahmed Bilal — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:15:38 +0000

Brian,

Even when we are on their side they don’t want to listen

By: karl

karl — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:23:54 +0000

IMO, the only statistic that matters is the scoreline. In this case it read Arsenal 2 – United 1

I believe that football is too emotional a game to be decided/deciphered by statistics. When I watch a game, I do not check how many times Ronaldo had shots on/off target… I don’t judge our performance by what percentage posession we had… or count how many shots were taken from the left side of the field…
I base my perception of how good or bad we played by the way the team makes me feel whilst playing (whehter frustrating, or happy).

Mixing mathematics and emotions is the same as trying to use logic with your wife during an argument.

In the Arsenal game, we (United) had more possession, more shots, etc than Arsenal, but imo, we played SHIT. To me, other than the score-line, that is the only other ‘statistic’ that matters.

By: BD Condell

BD Condell — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:50:03 +0000

Unfortunately, this was meant to be a debate about stats in general and what weight people give to them. Instead its turned into an Arsenal v Utd sniping contest but I guess I set myself up for this.
I can only reiterate that, as a Utd fan, in both the examples given involving Arsenal I express a PRO Arsenal view regarding the stats v the performance/result. They were meant to be examples of where the stats DON’T give the true story.
Ho Hum!

By: alex!

alex! — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:38:06 +0000

yeh get over it.. only statistic worth reading Arsenal 2 – Man utd 1.. pow

By: Luke Smith

Luke Smith — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:22:19 +0000

Touche Scott the Red!

By: metallicarun

metallicarun — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 03:07:16 +0000

1.we did lose to villa-so no tall claims like we ll win the title….
2.arsenal were very dominant in the manutd game….whatever statistics u can pull up….just see the game n analyse the absolutely crappy finishing in front of goal by utd frontline and nick bendtner….i thought we should ve won by an even better margin….and we were missing a lot of players……

By: Hardik

Hardik — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 18:44:29 +0000

Hey, I think he’s referring to the Arsenal Aston Villa match in which Clichy conceded an OG if I’m not mistaken. And about the Arsenal ManU match, Arsenal definitely deserved it, because they won it.. Not to mention the string of last minute lucky goals which ManU pulled out last season to win all thanks to refereeing mistakes etc. Let’s face it, Arsenal were top of Fair Play Table last yr, and are still on top this year I guess. So the beautiful football does work people.. it’s just that the others are not able to keep up with it..
Thanks and Regards..

By: BD Condell

BD Condell — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 10:02:00 +0000

iqnadirshah, do you actually read the articles before you comment??
Did you miss the piece where I said “for my money Arsenal were good value for their win”?
I used the stats to illustrate that they don’t always indicate the better side.

As for: “What a bias against own goals.”
I’ve no idea what this is referring to.
Try harder to keep up with the rest of us!

By: iqnadirshah

iqnadirshah — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 01:57:16 +0000

1. We lost again today, but that was acceptable. The title looks certainly out of reach now.
2. As many figures as you can rack up, we still beat you. What a bias against own goals. Typical BD Condell crap…….

By: captain

captain — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 21:35:52 +0000

United fans are right to say they SHOULD have won. The key word is SHOULD because of the loads of chances they ( Man. Utd) squandered.

Arsenal took their chances and got the maximum points, one can’t say much because like you said at the end of the day the maximum points is what matters.