Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is winning his mind games with referees



A look at the statistics for the season would tend to indicate that Arsene Wenger is winning his psychological battle with referees.

Arsenal’s opponents have been shown red cards four times in just nine games, resulting in the Gunners facing just 10 men for 215 minutes — more than a quarter of the time they have been on the pitch.

Your're going off, son: Mark Clattenburg sends off Dedryck Boyata on Sunday

And it is not just the red card statistics which favour Wenger’s team. They have already been awarded nine penalty kicks, five more than any other Premier League team!

HAPPY NOW, ARSENE?

Arsenal fans have seen plenty of penalties and red cards this season:

PENALTIES AWARDED

Arsenal: 9

Tottenham: 4

Chelsea: 4

Sunderland: 3

West Ham: 3

OPPONENTS' RED CARDS

(minutes missed)

Arsenal: 4 (215)

Wigan: 3 (148)

Birmingham: 3 (101)

Sunderland: 2 (80)

Liverpool: 2 (4)

OWN RED CARDS

(minutes missed)

Arsenal: 3 (35)

Bolton: 3 (80)

Sunderland: 2 (115)

Wolves: 2 (80)



Three teams have had no penalties while 14 teams have had two or fewer against the nine for Arsenal.

So what has happened, and is it all a coincidence?

Wenger has certainly raised referees’ awareness of the physical side of the game. Having watched Mark Clattenburg referee Arsenal’s latest game at the weekend, I was intrigued at the high number of decisions he had to make, both for and against Wenger’s men.

Six yellow cards and a penalty kick — all correct — but highly unusual in a season where referees have tended to try to manage situations rather than issue cards.

Wenger’s approach seems to have led to a greater intensity in Arsenal games, which have seen an incredible seven red cards out of a total of 16 in all Premier League matches; 44 per cent of dismissals in only 10 per cent of the fixtures.

There have been 12 penalties in Gunners’ games out of a total of 42, 29 per cent of all spot-kicks.



His players react to challenges in two ways: they expect the referee to act strongly, and they react

themselves. This led to four yellow cards in the first half on Sunday.

So despite Wenger often being derided for his calls for protection for his players, it would appear he is finally getting his wish for stronger refereeing — for and against his team.