“Anarchy” in England

A few weeks were separated between the end of last season and the start of the new season in the English Premier League, in the context of the repercussions of the Corona virus outbreak and its impact on various sectors. The new virus cost club coffers a lot of money when football activity was suspended for a few months, making the early resumption of the season a necessity to avoid club bankruptcy. In the absence of a vaccine available to treat the virus so far, the leaders of the English Premier League decided to follow a specific protocol to ensure the resumption of football activity with the safety of those on the field. One of the measures of the protocol is to prevent the masses from attending, which may have reversed the balance in English football and greatly changed its characteristics.

Seven months have passed since the last time fans were allowed to attend a Premier League match. While some leagues have allowed a small number of fans to return to the stadiums, such as Germany and France, the Premier League is still played behind closed doors. The lack of fans not only reduced the income of the clubs from the stadiums, but also prevented an advantage for the owners of the field, which is supported by most of the statistics published by “OPTA”.
Opta calculated the numbers for all the English Premier League results up to June 2020, and compared them to all the results when English football was resumed from June, so the research is based on a comparison between 130 and 10,794 matches.
The results show that, on average, there has been a drop in home team wins since June, but not significant, from 46.2% to 45.4%. However, the biggest change has to do with the extraterrestrial victories. Games that involve fans on the field account for an average of 27.6 percent of wins off the field, but without spectators, the figure was 36.9 percent, almost 10 percent more than before. This percentage changed with the change in the tie percentage, which went from 26.1% to 17.7%, because visiting teams benefit from the approach without the distraction or pressure of the fans from the owners of the field.

‘Threat and fear’
In terms of goals, its ravages reflect the previous round, which was played last Sunday, when Aston Villa scored seven goals against Liverpool, while Tottenham beat Manchester United and won 6-1.
In just 4 rounds, 144 Premier League goals were scored, a number 40 goals more than those scored in the same period last season. In total, there is an average of 3.79 goals per game this season, the highest in the Premier League since (1930-1931), (3.95 goals per game). Eleven of 38 games this season saw at least five goals (29%), the highest rate since 1960-1961
What was also notable was that the referees were generally tougher on minor fouls away from the pressure of the crowd, as the yellow card average increased from 1.3 per game to 1.5, despite the decrease in red cards. on average. The number of penalty kicks has also increased exponentially, with a 22% increase over last season, due to new handball laws.

Seven months have passed since fans were last allowed to attend a Premier League match

The impressive statistics prompted soccer midfield to give various reasons for the exceptional start to the Premier League, and in response to the BBC’s question whether it was due to a lack of fans in stadiums, Everton defender Michael Kane said it was “a combination of several factors, including the urgency of the players.” To the isolation by Corona ». “Players don’t get the same amount of training,” he added. I think not having fans on the pitch could make a difference. This can give attackers more freedom to try things they might not do if they felt there is more pressure from the crowd. As a defense it was no longer the same as before, since we forgot about clean nets and we did not want them.
Braga coach Carlos Carvalhall, former Sheffield Wednesday manager and former Swansea president, said: “The absence of fans in high-pressure clubs reduces the concentration of players. Usually big club fans also have an obvious influence on opponents because they feel more pressure. Without them, the equation becomes 11 against 11 with ball and referee. Everything is balanced. This statement was also confirmed by sports psychologist Michael Caulfield when he said that “football is a game based on threat and fear, two factors that do not exist today with the absence of fans on the field.”
On the other hand, former Premier League striker Chris Sutton did not agree that the absence of the fans explained the number of prolific goals, but instead blamed it on the low defensive level of the Premier League with the presence of guards below average.
Thus, the football community differed on the causes of the exceptional numbers this season in England, as the possibilities included absence of fans, fatigue, individual errors, lack of preparation and video technology. The truth is that the striking numbers will give another dimension to the Premier League, which can end the season with surprises on several levels.

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