Maybe but I think the sides that struggle more are those with poor discipline. It is not always an indicator but look at Preston. The way they set about us was appalling. So no surprise that the biting incident involved one of their players. Then there is Man United with all their problems. Fernandes gets a red rescinded but the ref in Porto sends him off. Next up they play Villa and there is just no excuse for not sending off Rashford. They had 5 yellow cards that day.
I think there are a couple of bits we need to tighten up on. The biggest one for me is the uncontested drop ball. Couple of times I have seen the ref stop play for an injury when we have been in possession with 30 yards of open space to run into. When the game has restarted we are finding the opposition is more organised, has everyone behind the ball but more significantly the nearest player is only 10 or 12 yards away and we have lost that advantage. The flip side is that when this has happened to the opposition we may have reorganised ourselves but we have allowed far more uncontested space. Maybe we need to be a bit more savvy within the rules here.
I would not like to have players treading a tightrope with officials by picking up cheap bookings. Referees are human and if you are excessively remonstrating with officials and fouling players then you are going to incur their wrath.
The way we play appears to be based on a togetherness with being very disciplined and that filters through from the behaviour and conduct of the manager to that of the players. Such a team will pick up less yellow and red cards.
If you want an example of a manager and team that got their act together then look at Arsenal. There was a stage when they had about 18 or 20 red cards over 3 seasons. Last two seasons they have been playing on the edge of fairness at times but in general know where the limit is.
For us I can only think of somebody taking one for the team v Coventry away in the last minute. But we didn't and I genuinely believe you get a lot of respect from officials for not lowering yourself to the certain straight red card.
According to fbref, we have committed easily the least fouls in the division so far - 76 - with West Brom next best on 84. (We've been fouled 116 times, which is 6th highest.)
Last season we committed the second least fouls in league one (behind Posh), so it's not a barrier to success. I'm quite proud of this aspect of our play tbh.
According to fbref, we have committed easily the least fouls in the division so far - 76 - with West Brom next best on 84. (We've been fouled 116 times, which is 6th highest.)
Last season we committed the second least fouls in league one (behind Posh), so it's not a barrier to success. I'm quite proud of this aspect of our play tbh.
There are so many clubs basing play and tactics on stats these days. And of course you can interpret stats any way you like but
those figures you quote on fouls and being fouled reflect on the all round good discipline we are currently seeing
The number of fouls we are conceding goes hand in hand with our standing in the number of yellow cards we have incurred. This makes me think that we are set up so efficiently that we do not have to make fouls in games
The number of times we have been fouled would indicate we are causing teams enough trouble through exceptional play to make them foul us. The red cards for Preston and Luton highlight that even more.
Interesting to see WBA are the next lowest fouled team. Now having briefly given my summary watch the match next Saturday finish 10 v 9.