Tag Archives: Chelsea

How many Twitter followers does your club have?

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In November 2013, I did a little analysis to see who was the most followed football club on twitter. Arsenal came out on top, but what was surprising was that, at the time, Mesut Ozil had more followers than any Premier League football club.

As it is quite at work in my industry with the lead up to Christmas, I have decided to review the blog and update the figures.

To get a proper provisional analysis, the above is a list of teams who were in the Premier League in 2013, and are in it now.

The first interesting analysis is just how much Twitter has grown over the last 4 years. On average, Premier League sides have increased their following by 552%.

Secondly, Manchester United, who in 2013 were the 4th most followed side in the Premier League, are now topping the table.

In 2013, I noted that I was surprised to see Man U in 4th place as they are easily the most supported club in the UK, and one of the most supported in the world. It shows how poor their media team probably were back in 2013.

The growth of Manchester United aside, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool have shown a similar growth pattern.

With regards to Liverpool and Arsenal, it shows how strong and historic the clubs are, that they have been able to continue to grow their support without league titles at a quicker rate than the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea who have won league titles. It shows success is not everything.

Saying that, Spurs now languish a long way behind Manchester City. I wonder how many of those fans that follow City had heard of the club when Twitter was first launched back in 2006?

City’s growth over Spurs does highlight that success is very important, especially when it comes to gaining new fans, and foreign fans.

Spurs have not much bigger a following than Everton, an equally unsuccessful side over the last 20 years. It perhaps shows that Spurs fans claim that there has been a power shift, and that they are a massive club, are false.

In terms of Twitter following, Spurs are the 6th most followed in England. They are probably also the 6th biggest club in the country.

It probably also shows the brand of the Premier League that the biggest growers (bar Manchester United) were smaller clubs, lower down the table. I feel a lot of their followers are general fans of the Premier League, rather than fans of the clubs they follow.

The second table is the clubs who were not in the Premier League in 2013, so I have no original data on them. What is interesting is Leicester City.

At 1.1million followers, they would be placed just behind Newcastle. It would have been interesting to see their 2013 data in comparison. I imagine it would have been not too much higher than Southampton. Leicester’s does show just how much success can increase support.

Like success has boasted Leicester, relegation is also clearly damaging.

Those clubs who went down have still grown their twitter following, but at a slower rate than those who stayed in the Premier League.

The 6 teams who are no longer in the Premier League have increased their Twitter following by, on average, 398%. The bottom 6 teams in the Premier League by followers have increased by 557%.

And finally we come on to how the Premier League sides compare to the rest of the world

The first observation is that Real Madrid have overtaken Barcelona since 2013. Although by the time you include alternative languages for both, Barcelona are still ahead.

One interesting thing to note is the Spanish version of Real Madrid’s twitter is followed by more than the English version, but the English version of Barcelona is followed by more than the Spanish version.

Perhaps this indicates that Real Madrid are more popular in Spain, whilst Barcelona are followed more by foreign fans. I know what I would prefer.

Another interesting thing to note is once you remove the English sides, the rest of the world has only grown by 293%. That against the Premier League’s growth of 522%. It shows that in terms of leagues, the Premier League is still the most popular in the world, even if Barcelona and Real Madrid are streaks ahead in terms of individual club.

The last thing to note is how small Celtic are.

With just 551,000 followers, they are not much bigger than Norwich City, and are well behind the likes of Crystal Palace, WBA and Swansea. They might be a big side in Scotland, but it certainly shows they are a big fish in a small pond. And if they ever did join the Premier League, they would be a very small fish in a big pond.

Until next time

Keenos

Arsenal sleep walk into League Cup semi final

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And just like that, Arsenal are into the semi final of the Copacabana Cup.

Without even trying, putting in zero effort, Arsenal are still on course for a visit to Wembley in early 2018 and a chance of a first bit of silverware for the season.

Having already beaten Doncaster Rovers 1-0 without breaking a sweat, Arsenal fans got a little bit of excitement with the late Eddie Nketiah equaliser and subsequent extra time winner. The 1-0 win over West Ham was back to boring boring Arsenal in the League Cup.

1-0, muted celebrations at the end, fans barely bothered to turn up, even less staying till the end, and even less celebrating making a semi final of a domestic competition.

The fact that Arsenal have made the semi final without putting any effort in is testament to our current status as the premier cup kings of English football.

Whilst the likes of Liverpool and Tottenham failed in the competition, ensuring a continuation of their trophy droughts, Arsenal made the semi final in 1st gear.

Contrast the muted celebrations of Arsenal to that of Manchester City.

The Premier League runaway leaders celebrated making the semi final like it was a World Cup quarter final that they had just one.

Yes, they had the excitement of penalties, which always raises the adrenaline, but seeing their fans and celebrate like mad, and Pep Guardiola fist pump and sing along to his own song, well it was a little cringe. Although in hindsight, making any semi final is something to celebrate for a small club like Manchester City.

The League Cup is the only trophy they have won in the last 3 years and Guardiola is still searching for his first piece of silverware in England, despite spending half a billion quid.

The players City used to beat Leicester cost them over £250m. When you take into account this was their B team, it shows how much they have invested. It was only a little less than what Arsenal’s entire squad cost.

With City through, and Chelsea and Manchester United with fairly routine ties, it could make for 2 gigantic match ups in the semi finals.

It will be interesting to see who sticks and who twists in terms of squads.

League Cup semi finals, and progression into the 4th round of the FA Cup, will make it 8 games in January. A heavy work load. I have already expressed my opinion that Arsenal should prioritise the cups over the league, putting our resources into competitions we can win rather than a competition that is impossible to win this season,

Do that and we might have a final to look forward to. A trophy to lift at Wembley. A 4th trophy in 4 years.

Not bad for a team in crisis.

Keenos

 

Which Premier League sides lack the cojones?

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Last weekend, a big fuss was made over Arsenal losing to Watford. Convicted thug, Troy Deeney, went straight to the nearest television studio, in his best court suit, to declare that Arsenal simply did not have the cojones.

7 days on, and Watford let go a 1 goal lead to lose 4-2 to Watford. Deeney, who does not have the fitness to play 90 minutes, was taken off with 10 minutes to go and the scores at 2-2.

Did Deeney stand there in the changing room, lamenting his team mates, telling them how they had let themselves down, their family down, the bumblebee mascot down, and how they did not have the cojones? Probably not. He probably drove straight to Birmingham for a few beers with his mates before stamping on the head of a defenceless student.

Troy found out how quickly the earth spins round. It is easy boasting about how you smash an opponent as soon as you come on the field when you win, but how about all them times you lose Troy?

The weekend showed just how tough the Premier League is. Manchester City apart, every other top team as showed a lack of cojones at some point.

On Saturday, Manchester United lost against the then favourites-to-be-relegated Huddersfield. The Huddersfield players showed a lot more class than Troy Deeney, as none went on TV abusing their opponents. It was Manchester United’s first defeat of the season. But an unexpected one.

There was also tears in Liverpool as the Scourers lost away to Spurs.

It was not just losing, but it was the manor of the defeat. 4-1.

Liverpool remind me of Arsenal, when they lose against a top side, they lose heavily, 4 against Spurs, 5 against Manchester City.

They have also dropped points against Watford, Newcastle and Burnley, and sit 9th in the league. Jurgen Klopp’s crown has slipped with a drifting win percentage. Now under 50% with a worse record than the likes of Brendan Rodgers.

No mention of their players lacking the cojones though.

Then we have Chelsea. The current Champions.

They showed some cojones on Saturday to come back from 2-1 down to beat Watford. But then the weekend before they played Crystal Palace, with 0 goals and 0 points this season. They lost 2-1. Having already lost at home to Manchester City, and that opening day defeat to Burnley, they sit with an identical record to Arsenal.

Do their players lack the cojones? Or does it just show that bar Manchester City, every other side is a little bit average.

We then come to Arsenal, We know about Watford and Stoke, and that defeat to Liverpool. Lots made about the club in crisis, but we are level with Chelsea and ahead of Liverpool. A long way behind Manchester City though – and that is what is important.

Spurs got a good win against Liverpool to go level on points against Manchester United. But it was not too long ago that they were struggling to win at home – draws against Swansea and Burnley. They are in fine form at the minute, yet still they are closer to Arsenal 94 points ahead) then they are to Manchester City (5 points behind).

Very little talk about cojones when they failed to beat Burnley or Swansea.

Manchester City look awesome. But then Leyton Orient would look awesome if they spent over £500m in 3 summers, on top of the billion pounds they spent in the 6 or 7 years previous.

With what they have spent recently, Manchester City should be winning titles every year. There last success in the league was 4 years ago. And they have just a single League Cup since.

None of this justifies Arsenal’s predicament. No title in 12 years is not good enough. Not using your finances to their full capability is not good enough.

We are not giving ourselves the best chance of success. At least if you try, then fail, at least you have tried. In recent transfer windows, we have not tried.

This season, every side will drop points against teams they really should beat. It happens every season. It is why the bookies are rich and the punters poor.

The only side that looks infallible so far is Manchester City. But then we are only 9 games in.

An early prediction, Manchester City will further ahead of second, than second is ahead of 6th. The other 5 sides are all a similar level of averageness – even if the press like to paint one club in crisis and the other as brilliant.

It will be a rollercoaster of a season.

Keenos