Stats Analysis: Foul Play - The Lucky and Not So Lucky
.jpg "Stats Analysis: Foul Play - The Lucky and Not So Lucky")
With tough tackling being clamped down on and perhaps even stamped out to some extent (not by Mario Balotelli), players are going into the referee's little black book more often and do well to avoid cautions.
Gone are the days when a footballer could go through an entire career without picking up a booking in the top-flight of English football - as Gary Lineker, and Bobby Charlton before him, managed - though there are some players who have perhaps been a little fortunate not to get cautioned this season.
WhoScored investigates the Premier League players to have committed the most fouls without getting a booking up to now and those who have committed the most fouls per booking of players to receive at least 1 yellow card. In contrast, we look at all players to have picked up at least 5 yellows this season to scrutinise the less fortunate among them in terms of fewest fouls per card - but we start with their colleagues with an immaculate disciplinary record thus far.
Most Fouls Without Being Booked
When it comes to the usual suspects in terms of foul play, Norwich's Bradley Johnson seems to have been a lucky boy not to go into the book so far. The midfielder was recently subject of a somewhat controversial sending off for QPR bad-boy Joey Barton and wasn't carded for his part in a fairly even spat with the Hoops skipper. In total the 24-year-old has committed 25 fouls without receiving a yellow thus far having committed 1.3 per game.
Next up is Man City and England international Joleon Lescott, who himself escaped punishment for raising his forearm into the jugular of Younes Kaboul last weekend. The centre-back has committed 20 fouls without caution, which is just one less than defensive partner Vincent Kompany who has been booked 3 times and sent off once in comparison.
A far more surprising inclusion in the top 5 for this regard is David Silva, who's 17 fouls have gone unpunished in a campaign which has been dominated by sheer brilliance rather than brutality by the Spaniard. Interestingly, Wayne Rooney ranks joint 4th - with Newcastle's star man Demba Ba - attempting to dispel the theory that his game is still somewhat tarnished by his natural aggression. With just 12 fouls without a booking the duo have committed half as many as Johnson, though Rooney famously called for the dismissal of an opponent in a recent low-key fixture!
Most Fouls per Yellow Card (Minimum of 1)
Of all players to be booked this season West Brom striker Shane Long has committed the most fouls per yellow card having been cautioned just once, like the entire top 5 in this regard. The Irishman has committed 33 fouls this season, with only 8 more players giving away more in the league thus far, making Long's solitary booking extremely favourable.
Another Norwich player is next up in striker Steve Morison who, along with Grant Holt, is somewhat of a battering ram against opposition defences and an extremely effective one at that. The Wales international has committed 25 fouls, just ahead of Wigan's Ben Watson on 24, while Man United's Nani - like Silva in the previous category - is a somewhat rare flair player near the top of the pile with 22. The only other player to have committed over 20 fouls and picked up a single booking is Tottenham's Kyle Walker (21).
Fewest Fouls per Card (Minimum of 5)
Though the yellow card slate is wiped clean in the New Year, all of our top 5 in terms of fewest fouls per card picked up at least 5 bookings beforehand and have subsequently faced suspensions. Perhaps the unluckiest to have done so is Wolves midfielder Jamie O'Hara, who has committed just 9 fouls all season and remarkably only not been booked for 4 of them, equating to just 1.8 fouls per card.
Blackburn's young full-back Jason Lowe ranks second having picked up 5 yellow cards in his first 8 games this season and two since. The 20-year-old has only committed 15 fouls, meaning he is booked for every 2.14 that he commits on average.
The third Norwich player in this article - Kyle Naughton - separates Chelsea's current centre-back partnership of David Luiz and John Terry who, on first inspection, appear to have been dealt with somewhat heavy-handedly this term. While the England captain has committed 18 fouls thus far and been booked 7 times already (2.57 per card) Luiz has only conceded 11 in the league and is therefore cautioned with every 2.2 fouls he commits on average having picked up 5 yellows this season.
With previous bookings having now been discounted the rate in which yellow cards are handed out could again be on the rise as players are a little less cautious having been handed a near clean slate in terms of their disciplinary record. With games becoming more intense, with all to play for towards the end of the season, it will be interesting to see whether those players who have escaped bookings thus far can do so until the end of the campaign.
But then again, you also have John Terry in the same category... I agree that Luiz shoudl probably be and attacking midfielder the way he plays! But, sometimes the stats can be misleading, as said before, maybe terry is picking up the slack and having to put more last ditch challenges in? Whereas Luiz just likes to give away penaltys!
Jot surprising to see David Luiz in the 'Fewest Fouls Per Card' category. The guy really can't tackle! How is he playing for a top english team at centre back!?
Whether or not a player has a 'reputation' for fouling or breaking the rules of the game, shouldnt come into consideration when a referee makes a decision. They are there to be unbias and make sure the game is fair and safe, not pass judgement on players, no matter who they are.
And how did Kompany get away without a booking?? I think if Howard Webb had seen it happen in game time it could have been a Red... Or maybe he didn't want to give 2 City players a suspension..?!
How Johnson got away without a booking against QPR is beyond me. I suppose its Bartons fault for getting himself a reputation over the years, so refs will give the opposing players the benefit of the doubt
Now we have the leagues best tackler, Paul Scholes, playing again, i think we can expect to see him in the same category as Jamie O'Hara come the end of the season!
Shane Long's been a lucky boy hasn't he? persistant fouling is a common bookable offence and he clearly gives away a few fouls in a game!
It's not very surprising to see three attacking players getting away with fouls and not getting booked, you see a lot less 'strikers tackles' nowadays and more nudges and leaning when challenging for headers for ezample, not outright bookable offences
Or, alternatively, he's not picking up the slack and letting Kompany do all the hard tackling! (and leaving the fouls to Savic...)
It's surprising to see Lescott in the Most Fouls Without Being Booked category, with him being a centre back and all, you'd expect him to be putting in some serious challenges and last ditch tackles, but maybe that just shows the quality of City at the moment