Arsenal: Why the Gunners Should Be in 5th Place in the Premier League

The debate for goal-line technology may have reached its raucous peak following the England-Germany World Cup Round of 16 match, when Frank Lampard's first-half shot was incorrectly assessed not to have crossed the goal line.

In reality, Lampard's drive ricocheted off the post and landed at least a foot behind keeper Manuel Neuer's line.

That decision would prove to matter little in the end, as England went on to lose 4-1, but the principle endured.

If Lampard—and to a greater extent, England—is awarded that goal, perhaps the match takes on an entirely new dimension. Maybe England isn't forced to throw all hands on deck in their vain search of goals during the second half, a downpour of attacking intent that left the Three Lions susceptible to Germany's lightning-quick and deadly-accurate counterattacks.

Food for thought.

UEFA, and to a greater extent FIFA, while slow to embrace any form of video technology, did institute goal-line referees beginning in the 2010-11 Champions League campaign. But UEFA chief Michel Platini has voiced his fears that video technology would make a veritable mockery of the game's spectacle, as reported by Mirror Football.

Still, the Champions League experiment is a start—although just what those additional referees bring to the game is lost on me for the majority of the occasions.

Instead of the customary three (referee, two linemen), anyone watching a CL tie witnesses two added officials in their picture—one on either endline, each equipped with a buzzer that they are to press when they view something that merits the referee's intervention.

Following that vein of thought, a friend from college sent me a link early Thursday morning. Wiping the sleep from my eyes, I had to do a double take when I saw my favorite club, Arsenal, standing not in dreary 10th place (their current position after eight Premier League matches), but in fifth.

The folks at Debatable Decisions blog lay claim to ownership of the Real Premier League table. That is, through relatively straightforward and unencumbered calculation, they assess each Premiership match in its entirety, going through all the questionable decisions by referee and line judge alike. It makes for fascinating reading—a true conspiracy theorist's delight.

Their main example is theoretical Arsenal-Blackpool match. If Arsenal were leading 1-0, say, and were incorrectly given a corner at the end of the match, from which they scored to make it 2-0, Debatable Decisions would rescind that goal. There should have been no corner given, thus there would be no goal. The logic stands up to the light.

Thus, still 1-0 to the Gunners. But then Blackpool have a goal incorrectly denied for a false ruling of offside. DD makes it 1-1. Next, Blackpool have a player cut down in the penalty area, an act replays show to be a surefire penalty.

The referee isn't convinced and keeps his whistle holstered. But DD grants the penalty and assumes Blackpool will convert (if they still had Charlie Adam, they just might have).

End result: 2-1 to Blackpool. The Tangerines grab all three points, at Arsenal's expense.

You can see how this sort of nitpicking could change around the Premier League table.

While many would argue—and rightfully so—that Debatable Decisions doesn't take into account all potential game-changing events during a match (e.g., yellow cards—even straight reds—that should or should not have been given, like Jack Rodwell against Liverpool in the Merseyside Derby two weeks ago) and are a bit presumptuous to assume that all penalties will be converted, the site nevertheless raises an interesting question.

In their altered (i.e., perfect world) PL table, Arsenal sit fifth, having conceded three fewer and scored two more goals than in the actual 2011-12 season.

Their real-life goal difference of minus-five is mopped up to 0 in the prospective standings. Remember that Blackburn goal at Ewood Park in September, where Yakubu came back from an offside position to score? Negated. Perhaps Arsenal draw that match 3-3. That's a point right there.

It is perhaps most telling that in Debatable Decisions' "Decisions Table" (say that five times fast), Arsenal are far and away the most hard-done by side in the league, with only two decisions "for" and six "against," good for a minus-four clip, worst in the league.

Arsene Wenger might just enjoy taking a gander at this site.

For all his staunch claims that Arsenal will forge on undeterred and all the stronger because of their middling start to the season, he might just allow himself some smidgen of self-indulgent pity while perusing these tables.

According to Debatable Decisions, he'd have every right to do just that.