It`s a well-known fact (if you support Chelsea) that, as a club, certain sections of the media have a bias against our football team. I`m a supporter, of course I`m going to be biased. The job of the media is surely, to report the facts, not to have their own agenda A quick trawl through Google comes up with an infinite number of reasons why this is the case, from ‘being classless` to ‘having heaters` in sections of Stamford Bridge.`
One incident that personifies this bias occurred a couple of seasons ago. In the EFL Cup semi-final against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge, Diego Costa received a retrospective ban from the FA for, allegedly, stamping on Emre Can`s ankle. On TV, Sky played the occurrence on a loop, both after the game and during consequent days, via their Sports News outlet.
Fast forward two months, and Liverpool player Martin Skrtel, whilst chasing a ball into the penalty area, makes exactly the same movement on Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea. The resulting analysis on Sky barely touched upon it. Both incidents, it could be argued, were simply a case of the player`s foot hitting its natural landing spot. It just happened to be an opponent`s ankle.
Both players were given 3 match bans by the FA following the games, at least there was parity there. Put into Google search Diego Costa stamp and it returns 453,000 results. By comparison Martin Skrtel stamp gives just 29,100 results.
Maybe it`s just the Diego Costa effect, or to put it Jose Mourinho`s way, it`s all about ‘Diego crimes`. They are both combative characters, who, appear on the pitch, to have a similar nature. The coverage, through my biased eye, of both incidents was stacked against Chelsea.
Whilst researching this bias, I came across an article that was written on Vital Chelsea by Stan Wenners back in the summer of 2016. I`m new here, as are quite a few, so I think it`s worth a revisit. Using the same title that I have, the article looks at the anti-Chelsea stuff from a more historical view-point, and makes for an interesting read as do the comments.
That is indeed what we are, according to a huge annual survey by the Mirror.
Man United, Liverpool, Man City, Arsenal, Tottenham, Stoke follow, in that order.
The survey has teeth because not only was the sample size vast by research standards – 10,000 fans – but it was equally divided between club supporters.
By far the most important question this survey raises is, ‘Who cares?!’ Certainly not me nor I suspect most Blue diehards.
In fact nothing pleases me more than the idea that we are using up so much of opposing fans` nervous energy – long may it continue!
That`s reality dealt with.
You can find the whole article in the link below. The Mirror survey that is used in the the article can be found here.
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