Premier League Analysis - Lists with twists

After my colleague Tom took it upon himself to declare it ‘List Week’ here at YTM HQ, I thought I’d contribute a few of my own.

Hopefully these will be useful in guiding your team selection, but to spice things up I have thrown some more trivial lists into the catalogue of data.

First up is the top 10 players who have been kicked out of the most teams…

You’d be forgiven for thinking this was a list for the most popular players at the start of the season.

Most Transferred Out Players

1. Robin van Persie (Arsenal) - Transferred out 8,816 times.

2. Daniel Agger (Liverpool) - 7,345.

3. Wayne Rooney (Man Utd) - 6,255.

4. Didier Drogba (Chelsea) - 5,516. 

5. Fernando Torres (Liverpool) - 5,093.

6. Michael Chopra (Sunderland) - 4,992.

7. Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea) - 4,800.

8. Frank Lampard (Chelsea) - 4,598.

9. John Terry (Chelsea) - 4,434.

10. Linvoy Primus (Portsmouth) - 4,118.

Notes: Liverpool (2) and Chelsea (4) players make up more than half the list, reflecting their indifferent starts to the campaign but also their injury problems. Drogba is expected to shoot up the list considerably in January when the African Nations kicks off - Chelsea could toil without him.    

The Bad Boys

Most Yellow Cards (Appearances are in brackets)

1. Sean Davis (Portsmouth) - 6 (12)

2. Lee Bowyer (West Ham) - 5 (10)

3. Nicky Butt (Newcastle) - 5 (11)

4. Alan Smith* (Newcastle) - 5 (11)

5. Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham) - 5 (12)

6. Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal) - 5 (12)

7= Ridgewell, Carragher, Hunt, Ingimarsson, Samba, Reo-Coker, Diop, Brown, Etuhu, Essien, Hamann, Boateng, Diouf, Chopra (All have 4 yellow cards each)

Notes: Fabregas is conveniently suspended for Arsenal’s next match - which happens to be the visit of Wigan. His petulant fifth booking at Reading raised a few eyebrows and the conspiracy theorists look like they hit the nail on the head. Sean Davis may be out clear on his own, but further down the list perennial bad boy Michael Brown has received 4 yellow cards from just 7 starts.

Oldest Players

1. Gary Speed (Bolton) 38 years, 2 months

2. Jens Lehmann (Arsenal) 38 years, 0 months

3. Kasey Keller (Fulham) 37 years, 11 months

4. David James (Portsmouth) 37 years, 3 months

5. Tugay (Blackburn) 37 years, 2 months

6. Edwin van der Sar (Man Utd) 37 years, 0 months

7. Brad Friedel (Blackburn) 36 years, 6 months

8. Maik Taylor (Birmingham) 36 years, 2 months

9. Alan Stubbs (Everton) 36 years, 1 month

10. Dwight Yorke (Sunderland) 36 years, 0 months.

Notes: None of these come close the the Premier League’s oldest player and legend John “Budgie” Burridge - who played for Manchester City in the top flight at the ripe old age of 43 years, 4 months and 26 days.  Ryan Giggs is only 15th in the current list - he’s still only 33 years and 11 months old.

Just For Fun

Slowest Premier League Players

1. Sami Hyypia (Liverpool)

2. Andy Todd (Derby)

3. Peter Crouch (Liverpool)

4. Dejan Stefanovic (Fulham)

5. Claude Makelele (Chelsea)

6. Ivan Campo (Bolton)

7. David Dunn (Blackburn)

8. Darren Moore (Derby)

9. John Carew (Aston Villa)

10. Mark Viduka (Newcastle)

Notes: Feel free to add comments on who should have made the list, although I’m reluctant to remove Sami “turn like a tank” Hyypia from the top of the pile.

Dodgy Defenders

1. Anyone who plays for Derby

2. Titus Bramble (Wigan)

3. Liam Ridgewell (Birmingham)

4. Anyone who plays for Fulham

5. Michael Duberry (Reading)

6. Greg Halford (Sunderland)

7. Pascal Chimbonda (Tottenham)

8. Claudio Cacapa (Newcastle)

9. Javier Garrido (Man City)

10. Michael Dawson (Tottenham) 

If you have any recommendations for the above lists, or any lists you’d like to see - get in touch via the comment form and we’ll look into them!

Cheers,

Matt H @ YTM