Official Football Thread

national acrobat said:
But let's be honest, that was a certain penalty at the end that they were denied.
Click to expand...

Nope. Not at all.
Clearly Chelsea didn't know what to do, besides trying to get a penalty. Thankfully there was a good ref, entirely not intimidated by the immense status of his fellow countryman Torres.
 
Forostar said:
Nope. Not at all.
It was clearly that Chelsea didn't know what to do, besides trying to get a penalty. Thankfully there was a good ref, entirely not intimidated by the immense status of his fellow countryman Torres.
Click to expand...

To clarify, I'm talking about Evra's scissor challenge on Ramires, not the one Torres was booked for diving. How did you see that one?
 
Albie said:
Just like that match. What was it, 2003?
Click to expand...

Correct.

Albie said:
He is family - and he's converted my sister, nephew, etc to Chelsea! :D
Click to expand...

Then shame on him, for spreading the disease.

Okay, this match actually was pretty similar to the recent league match. United the better team in the first half and clearing a big Chelsea chance off the line before half time. Then Chelsea taking over and being the better side after half time - although not as impressive as in the league match. Torres's dive for a penalty was typical of him, and should silence every Chelsea fan complaining about the penalty they should've had (I'll admit, that last one should definitely have been given, for Evra's clumsy challenge on Ramires - let's call it payback for the very soft penalty Chelsea got against United a few weeks ago).

It looks good now.
 
Here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jvi5hnoKMBE

I saw that they made contact indeed. But a certain penalty, I wouldn't say so.
Evra comes from the side and Ramires is, -even after he's hit- still heading forward in the same pace. He hardly had extra difficulty from it.

I think it's also possible that Ramires falls because he gets himself out of balance after pushing Evra. Watch Ramires' right arm going... it happens a fraction before the scissor comes. The ref could even have whistled vs him.

I wouldn't call it an intentional scissor, because Evra clearly tries to hit the ball with his right foot. He fails, because of Ramires' push.

At least as important: You can see that Ramires' legs are already bending before the scissor hits him.

The ref could have given one, though. But I am not sure if he should have.
 
national acrobat said:
Bonus point if you can name the last player before Ronaldo to score a hat-trick at Old Trafford for the away team.
Click to expand...

I can only remember one other hat-trick against United in the years I've been following them, and that was Egil Østenstad (of all people!) in Southampton's 6-3 win early in the 1996-97 season (one week after United lost 5-0 to Newcastle ...). However, that was at The Dell, not Old Trafford.

So for your bonus question I have to say pass.
 
national acrobat said:
But let's be honest, that was a certain penalty at the end that they were denied.
Click to expand...
Again, the goal line touch judge (and I use the word judge grudgingly) did not even motion when he looked directly at it. "Chocolate teapots", Chilles called them - and I agree with him.

national acrobat said:
Maybe the ref would have been more sympathetic if Torres and Dogbreath hadn't spent half the match collapsing to the ground like the proverbial sack of spuds.
Click to expand...
Agreed. Though Chelsea should not really complain too much as they got a penalty to beat Man U around a month ago that should not have been given.
 
Those goal line ref assistants should be replaced by some flowers. Flowers are more decorative, cost less and do just as much for the game.
 
Albie said:
Agreed. Though Chelsea should not really complain too much as they got a penalty to beat Man U around a month ago that should not have been given.
Click to expand...

Which also shows why Ferguson shouldn't have a go at officials after matches: because these things generally even themselves out. (Though I'm not suggesting they shouldn't attempt to eradicate all mistakes from officiating)
 
national acrobat said:
Which also shows why Ferguson shouldn't have a go at officials after matches: because these things generally even themselves out. (Though I'm not suggesting they shouldn't attempt to eradicate all mistakes from officiating)
Click to expand...
Wenger, Fergie - both should hold their tongue sometimes. Yes, passions can run high, etc, but unless they have some sort of video evidence, these ref mistakes will keep happening. They're only human.

I will repeat what I've said before - give each team the right to appeal (like in cricket, tennis, etc.) say two per half. The game should stop at the time of appeal (not when the ball goes dead) and review the evidence. Simple really. Whilst I understand FIFA's notion behind why they don't want this - I just don't agree with them.
I need to find a link, but I just saw something on the news about a new piece of kit that will allow ref's to determine quite categorically whether a players has dived or not. To put it simply, there will be a sensor on the shin-pad that will be activated by when contact is made by an opposing players boot. If activated, a load shrill will be heard and the ref can award a penalty/free kick. If it doesn't go off, the player dived.
Found one: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... -dive.html
 
Albie said:
Wenger, Fergie - both should hold their tongue sometimes. Yes, passions can run high, etc, but unless they have some sort of video evidence, these ref mistakes will keep happening. They're only human.
Click to expand...

No matter how much I admire Sir Alex - I agree with you on this. He, like Wenger and a few others, should keep more of that criticism away from public. For example, that rant against Atkinson after the Chelsea match was harsh (although I said worse things during the match, mind you!). However, I think a five-match ban was far over the top. Invoking the suspended ban from last year (two matches) would have made the point. Considering the fact that Redknapp and Martinez have been allowed to go unpunished this winter, I can understand why some of my fellow United fans feel hard done by.

If one takes a step back and tries to put on the neutral glasses, one will see refereeing decisions going both for and against - I have no trouble listing plenty of situations since Christmas where referees have given poor decisions both for and against United.
 
'Kinell, Fredrikstad just got the first away win against Brann since 19-fuckin'-72! Okay, for half of those seasons one of the teams has been out of the top flight, so we haven't had that many chances. But in the 2000s, we have got one point in six matches ..

United's win against Fulham just adds to the joy. What a great Saturday..

Below are the results between Brann and Fredrikstad on Brann's home ground since 1972:

1972: 0 - 1
1973: 5 - 0
1974: Fredrikstad in div 2
1975: 1 - 1
1976: 2 - 0
1977: Fredrikstad in div 2
1978: Fredrikstad in div 2
1979: Fredrikstad in div 2
1980: Brann in div 2
1981: 1 - 1
1982: Brann in div 2
1983: Fredrikstad in div 2
1984: Brann in div 2
1985-2003: Fredrikstad out of div 1 (I grew up with failed promotion races ...)
2004: 4 - 2
2005: 4 - 0
2006: 3 - 1
2007: 2 - 2
2008: 4 - 2
2009: 2 - 1
2010: Fredrikstad in "div 2" (it's been named div. 1 since 1992, though)
2011: 0 - 1 !!!
 
Galatasaray is playing with Trabzonspor tonight. Very critical match because Trabzonspor has to win the game to stay in the championship race. (Fenerbahçe has 64 points and is the leader, Trabzonspor has 63 points) Here is the surprise, Galatasaray is 14th (33 points) and if they lost this game, they will be at 15th place. There are 18 teams in the league so..
 
Extremely doubtful offside on the first United goal. Apart from that and the other goal, the most notable thing about the first half is probably Petr Cech's fashion sense. Rafael Nadal would have been proud.

I wonder what the gambling companies' odds for Shakhtar winning are right now. ;)
 
NightProwler666 said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzjF7bLyvc4
A song about Torres' "goals" for Chelsea :)
Click to expand...

Torres outright sucked yesterday as well. Drogba must feel gutted that he's not starting - and speaking as a United fan, I'm glad he didn't. He caused so much more trouble than Torres.

The sending-off of Ramires was harsh, I think. The offense he got his second yellow for, shouldn't have been a yellow in my opinion. On the other hand, Chelsea got away with several bookable offenses earlier, so all in all they can't complain.

Now bring on Schalke. United need to break this German semi-final complex once and for all.
 
Portuguese dominance in the Europa League!

Braga see out Dynamo Kiev on away goals after 0-0 at home, but Porto - seen as favourites by many - completely smashed Spartak Moscow, 10-3 on aggregate. Since Benfica also managed to send PSV out, the only non-Portuguese team in the semis is Villarreal.

That means the Iberian peninsula has got 4 out of 4 semi-finalists in the EL, and 2 out of 4 semi-finalists in the CL ...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top