Premier League 2007/2008 - Interesting Stats and Records
The Author
Hey, my name is Liam, and I first published 'Premier League 2007/2008 - Interesting Stats and Records' on 13th May, 2008, within the English Premier League section.
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Winners
Manchester United
The best team won.
It was tight, and Manchester United required the assistance of a 12th man to stumble over the line, yet, undeniably, they are worthy champions. It is no fluke that they have more points than any other team in the league; they have scored more goals than any of their rivals, won more games, conceded less goals and boast a vastly superior goal difference to all of their competitors. Arsenal and Liverpool
And it is in that context that the ‘failure’ of Arsenal and Liverpool - not to mention Chelsea - should be considered.
Winning the Premier League has never been so difficult. Rafa Benitez is frequently berated as reserving his best work for Europe, yet is that so surprising given the domestic opposition? There’s plenty of reason to suppose - especially after their 4-0 head-to-head Champions League victory over Inter Milan, the team most likely to win Serie A this term - that Liverpool would triumph in any other European league barring the Premier League and, closer still, La Liga.
So, too, Arsenal. Written off nine months ago, their season should be regarded in terms of a positive overachievement rather than as a collapse. Finishing within four points of the champions will prompt plenty of ‘if only’ musings but it is nonetheless laudable. According to Arsene Wenger, “this is the best team I have had.” Considering that it wasn’t so long ago that one of his team finished a domestic season unbeaten, that is heady praise - and, inadvertently, further tribute to the teams above the Gunners in the final reckoning.
Fulham
Self-survival and the looming threat of a swingeing wage cut is the ultimate motivator. From the brink, Fulham have somehow clung on to Premier League life and the monetary rewards that status guarantees. With four wins from their final five matches, the Cottagers remain in the top flight at Reading’s expense by the narrowest of margins - a three-goal disparity in their goal difference. It is the second year in succession that a team has survived on such terms - a consequence in part of the shortage of points available once the Big Four, winning more points than ever before, have feasted on the mediocrity below.
Whereas just a single defeat can throw the title race into new perspective, a single victory can prove decisive at the bottom. While Fulham’s recovery at Manchester City will be depicted as the turning point, they ultimately survived at Reading’s expense due to their victory at the Madejski on April 12. Surviving on scraps, so much depends on so little for the Premier League’s also-rans. Birmingham’s revolting supporters may have revolted against the board following their own demise but had Brum collected just one solitary point more over 38 games then they would have been feted as heroes. It was ascloseasthat.
Bolton Wanderers
The (alleged) party-goers turned party-poopers, Bolton have only been beaten once in their last four league trips to Stamford Bridge.
Losers
Steve Bennett
2007/08 will be remembered as Cristiano Ronaldo’s season. But if the match at Wigan is recalled, it will be for the appalling work of Steve Bennett. Make no mistake, his mistakes were uncomfortably critical to the final-day outcome. Would United have won the championship without them? Debatable. Certainly it is inconceivable that Chelsea would have decelerated to walking pace in the final ten minutes had the game at JJB not been effectively over, enabling Bolton to snatch their injury-time equaliser.
Perhaps United would have recovered from the concession of a penalty had Rio Ferdinand been penalised for leaning into Jason Koumas’ shot and deflecting the ball away with the top of his arm. But it would have been difficult. And the second half would have been difficult in the extreme were the leaders at a numerical disadvantage.
The decision not to penalise Ferdinand was a judgement call. Yet having judged Scholes to have deliberately impeded Marcus Bent with a straight-arm block, Bennett’s decision was made. A yellow card, Scholes’ second after earlier committing a typically horrendous tackle, was mandatory. He had to go. He didn’t.
“You should ask the referee about his integrity,” complained Steve Bruce. “Had it been any other day it was another yellow card and he should have been off” - which is the polite way of saying exactly what Andy Gray said in commentary: Bennett bottled it.
The point will be made, with tedious regularity, that Scholes should have been awarded a penalty in the second half. This, it will be said, is evidence ‘that these things even themselves out’. That, too, is a lie. The truth is that Scholes shouldn’t have been awarded a penalty because he shouldn’t have been on the pitch for the second half.
The incident damned Bennett in a further respect; far from being biased towards the champions, his refusal to point to the spot simply confirmed his mistakes were the product of straightforward incompetence.
Chelsea
United will argue they won the title courtesy of their late goals at Tottenham and Blackburn. Chelsea, on the other hand, will rue their last-minute concessions against Tottenham, Wigan, Everton and Aston Villa.
But why is it that Manchester United - and Arsenal - are so prone to scoring late goals and Chelsea so liable to concede them? One possibility is that the pass-and-pass-again style of United and Arsenal has the beneficial effect of wearying their opponents, requiring them to run and run in a forlorn chase and causing tired legs to be vulnerable in the closing stages. Chelsea’s passing, by contrast, is generally direct and literally straightforward. It cannot tax opponents in the way that ManYoo and Arsenal’s favoured method does and thus may explain why they have managed to retain enough energy to make last-gasp assaults on the Chelsea rearguard.
Steve Coppell
It should not be a question of whether he will walk out of Reading following their relegation but whether he will be kicked out. By refusing to spend in the summer, and accepting responsibility for what would follow, he alone is culpable for their demotion.
Midlands Football
At a rough count, Birmingham’s demise means that, taking Aston Villa out of the equation, the Midlands’ contribution to the Premiership since 2002 has been five relegations from a total of eight campaigns.
Tottenham Hotspur
The team that was supposed to breaking into the Big Four’s closed shop spent the entire season stuck in the bottom half of the league table.
West Ham
A definition of mid-table mediocrity: being tenth in the league table for the final five months of the campaign. Since the seventh game of 2007/08, the Hammers have neither been higher than ninth in the table nor fallen below eleventh.
Portsmouth
Since defeating West Brom in the FA Cup semi-final, Pompey have won just once in six games. In contrast, their Wembley opponents have lost just once. To repeat a line from a few weeks ago: ‘If a study of FA Cup shocks was undertaken it would probably discover that they tend to occur when a side either struggling for form or in the wrong half of their league table takes on opponents who, although in a lower-ranking league, are riding high.’
Total No of Goals Scored (by all clubs) - 1002
Top 10 Individual Goal Scorers
Player Team Goals
Cristiano Ronaldo ManUtd 31
Emmanuel Adebayor Arsenal 24
Fernando Torres Liverpool 24
Roque Santa Cruz Blackburn 19
Dimitar Berbatov Tottenham 15
Robbie Keane Tottenham 15
Benjani Mwaruwari Man City 15
Yakubu Everton 15
Tevez Man Utd 14
Carew Aston Villa 13
Defoe Portsmouth 12
Rooney Man Utd 12
Agbonlahor Aston Villa 11
Anelka Chelsea 11
Gerrard Liverpool 11
Total Number of Matches: 380
Number of Home Wins: 176 (46.3%)
Number of Away Wins: 104 (27.3%)
Number of Scoring Draws: 74 (19.4%)
Number of No-Score Draws: 26 (6.8%)
Most Goals, Both Teams: 11
(29-Sep-07 Portsmouth 7-4 Reading)
Most Goals, One Team: 8
(11-May-08 Middlesbrough 8-1 Manchester City)
Biggest Home Victory: 7
(11-May-08 Middlesbrough 8-1 Manchester City)
Biggest Away Victory: 6
(12-Apr-08 Derby County 0-6 Aston Villa)
Portsmouth, and David James, did not know what hit them when Ronaldo scored twice in the space of three minutes at Old Trafford, but it was a breathtaking free-kick that lived long in the memory and remains a strong contender for goal of the season.
Watch it here: http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=7082033532232023059&q=Ronaldo+free+kick+Portsmouth+&ei=PDMkSMqRFIGEjQK83vWiDA&hl=en
The Argentina forward made a handsome habit of scoring at critical times and few goals were as important as his stoppage time one against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane. The goal earned United a 1-1 draw and vital point.
Watch it here: http://www.indavideo.hu/video/Tottenham_Vs_Man_Utd_-_Tevez_1-1
It was the young goalkeeper’s debut for United but did he seem fazed? Not one bit, producing a string of fine saves to keep a surprisingly impressive Derby team at bay, but Ronaldo scored the decisive goal.
Ronaldo equalled and then surpassed George Best’s record of 32 goals in a season for a winger with a brace in the 2-0 win against Bolton Wanderers at Old Trafford in March. A new legend was born.
Watch it here: http://www.indavideo.hu/video/Man_Utd_Vs_Bolton_-_Ronaldo_2-0
United trailed 2-1 to Middlesbrough when, with 16 minutes remaining, Wayne Rooney added to Ronaldo’s opener to earn a precious point.
Watch it here: http://videos.sapo.pt/MAIFuO6dMAAQmwUuHluz
Just when Avram Grant looked like he had got away with his dodgy team selection, Heskey stepped up to score a dramatic equaliser in the fifth minute of stoppage time. The two points dropped handed United the initiative and would be essential in the final reckoning.
Watch it here: http://videos.sapo.pt/MPHjykIKnozaDZ4ZLfy4
Of all the decisive late goals Tevez has scored this season, none was probably as important as his 88th minute strike against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park. In many respects it was the goal that won United the title.
Watch it here: http://www.indavideo.hu/video/Tevez_vs_Blackburn
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