The English Premier League tightens in an exciting conflict environment

The danger of nostalgia is that it fools you into believing that there is a right way for things to happen, rather than just one. Milk must be in bottles. Children should stare at the TV screen with their mouths open, not at YouTube. The FA Cup should mean something.

So we shouldn’t fall into that trap of asking if there are too many penalties in football. The raw truth of the matter is simple: There are more penalties than there used to be. During the first decade of the Premier League, between 60 and 70 penalties were awarded each season.

Since 2006, that number has drifted in an overall upward trend: in the 80s, 90s, and then last season, up to 124. That’s a significant change: Now it’s close to like twice as much as before; or, to put it in context, a penalty is now awarded about every three games, instead of six at a time.

Whether it is good, bad or indifferent, really, depends on taste. Certainly 60 penalties per season is not necessarily the right number. For the younger audience, it seemed too little. For those much older, it probably seemed too much. In fact, there is no Goldilocks number, no sweet spot, no objective truth.

What we can say for sure is that such a drastic increase in the number of penalties means that the game itself is now different. The frequency with which penalties are taken means that the players have changed the way they behave in the box. Teams attack in such a way that they are more likely to take a penalty. Defenders find themselves limited in how they can do their job. All of these changes, needless to say, benefit the attacking teams the most.

The deception of nostalgia means that it is difficult to say, with any certainty, that something must be done about increasing the punishment. Maybe the game is better this way, not worse. But it seems that, at least in some cases, the punishment is no longer appropriate for the crime.