2026-05-17, 01:18 PM - Word count:
I like to look into obscure things when it comes to looking at statistics. So the logical thing for my first ever deep dive in the SSL, wasn't to look at goal scorers, or the ball wizards who come up with the passes who rack up the assists, but instead, we're going to look at the career leaders of Cards Issued and how this season is currently shaping up for these violations.
Going into the index, I see that the top 20 players for both Yellow and Red cards are listed. It was easy to see that there was one player who seemed to get penalized for their aggressive play the most, Marco Tentacles. Marco has the most career cards with 74 Yellow Cards in 252 appearances. That averages out to just under every three and a half matches, Tentacles would earn themselves a card. That's quite the average!
While that in itself is rather impressive, something that I found quite interesting and surprising was that Marco Tentacles does not appear on the Red Card list at all. Minor aggressions, but nothing beyond that, it seems. I was expecting, honestly, that the lists might mirror each other somewhat, but with each list being the top 20, I was surprised to see that there were only a few people who were repeat offenders on both lists. Four, in fact. Ben Harrison with 60 yellow, 2 red, Erik Beermann with 54 and 3, Tamanna Whittington with 54 and 2, and then Alex Stain with 47 yellow and 2 red.
I was also quite surprised (though this might be a limitation of the sim itself, I'm not familiar enough to know), in the sheer lack of Red Cards over the history of the SSL. When your all-time leader, Nifemi Anjorin, only has four to their name, it seems like it's a rare enough occurrence that players don't really have to worry about it that much.
Looking at the current season, it seems like there's been a lot of players keeping themselves in check. The current leader in Yellow Cards is Roberto Chávez with 4 in their 9 appearances so far. That could end up being even higher by the time 14 matches roll around. So far in Season 25, there's only been one Red Card: Victoria Falls RWB, Alex Peña. That would currently tie him for the bottom of the all-time top 20 in league history. Okay, fine, that might not be saying much considering the top is 4, but that means he's a quarter there!
Cards are definitely something to avoid, though they're not always avoidable. I also like to remind people that it doesn't necessarily mean someone is a dirty player to get these cards. Oftentimes, it's just that they're aggressive in their pursuit of the ball and get a bit more of the other player than the ball. It's very rare for these to be intentional incidents; most of the time, the play is honestly completely innocent. Of course, looking at a stat sheet, it's hard to see the context in these violations, but I like to give people the benefit of the doubt.
Even you, Marco Tentacles.
Going into the index, I see that the top 20 players for both Yellow and Red cards are listed. It was easy to see that there was one player who seemed to get penalized for their aggressive play the most, Marco Tentacles. Marco has the most career cards with 74 Yellow Cards in 252 appearances. That averages out to just under every three and a half matches, Tentacles would earn themselves a card. That's quite the average!
While that in itself is rather impressive, something that I found quite interesting and surprising was that Marco Tentacles does not appear on the Red Card list at all. Minor aggressions, but nothing beyond that, it seems. I was expecting, honestly, that the lists might mirror each other somewhat, but with each list being the top 20, I was surprised to see that there were only a few people who were repeat offenders on both lists. Four, in fact. Ben Harrison with 60 yellow, 2 red, Erik Beermann with 54 and 3, Tamanna Whittington with 54 and 2, and then Alex Stain with 47 yellow and 2 red.
I was also quite surprised (though this might be a limitation of the sim itself, I'm not familiar enough to know), in the sheer lack of Red Cards over the history of the SSL. When your all-time leader, Nifemi Anjorin, only has four to their name, it seems like it's a rare enough occurrence that players don't really have to worry about it that much.
Looking at the current season, it seems like there's been a lot of players keeping themselves in check. The current leader in Yellow Cards is Roberto Chávez with 4 in their 9 appearances so far. That could end up being even higher by the time 14 matches roll around. So far in Season 25, there's only been one Red Card: Victoria Falls RWB, Alex Peña. That would currently tie him for the bottom of the all-time top 20 in league history. Okay, fine, that might not be saying much considering the top is 4, but that means he's a quarter there!
Cards are definitely something to avoid, though they're not always avoidable. I also like to remind people that it doesn't necessarily mean someone is a dirty player to get these cards. Oftentimes, it's just that they're aggressive in their pursuit of the ball and get a bit more of the other player than the ball. It's very rare for these to be intentional incidents; most of the time, the play is honestly completely innocent. Of course, looking at a stat sheet, it's hard to see the context in these violations, but I like to give people the benefit of the doubt.
Even you, Marco Tentacles.
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Word Count: 528 Words