[Tiste Simeon]

Every time I have seen Anderson I have been quite impressed with him. True, he doesn't score much but he has a lot of energy and isn't afraid to take chances. Admittedly, there are people here who will know more about him, as they watch it more than I.

[polishgenius]

I like Anderson. One of the best ball-carriers around, because he's strong and a good dribbler, and although his passing is sometimes hesistant he's getting better and his tackling could yet be improved his sheer physical presence unsettles teams which works well when partnered with Carrick who's good at taking advantage.
Can't shoot though.

[Tiste Simeon]

WHAT??? 2-0 to Tottenham?? This sucks...

[polishgenius]

4-2... What is it with comebacks v spurs?

[Tiste Simeon]

*jaw drops* apparently I spoke too soon...

[Impirion]

Anderson a poor passer?!?! He's the best passer in the United team bar possibly Scholes, and probably on a par with Carrick. Ronaldo and Rooney were brilliant today when the comeback started.

[Macros]

what the fuck happen spurs?
did they just walk of the pitch?

We didnt hsve coverage, just sky sports goal flash.
twenty most depressing minutes of the year, fuck me~!

[Thelomen Toblerone]

How the fuck Man U keep getting the most ridiculously favourable penalty decisions week in week out at OT is beyond me. Dont get me wrong, I hate spurs so Im amused, but this was a ridiculous decision that turned the game, the spuds were all over you lot til then.

[Macros]

didnt see, aparently ronaldo got caught by a light gust of wind and it broke his leg.
for a whole 30 seconds

[Cougar]

Macros, on Apr 26 2009, 08:16 AM, said:

didnt see, aparently ronaldo got caught by a light gust of wind and it broke his leg.
for a whole 30 seconds

Well not in this game, if it was a general coment errr...thanks?. It was Carrick who got the penalty, very unfortunate decision for Spurs. Whilst I can see the point that it chaged the game trying to explain away the other 4 goals by saying "the penalty changed the momentum" is ridiculous and part of the half-thought out cliches that infect comment on football. If Spurs were even half competent then they would have reset and thought "we've had a bad decision against us, we are still winning and Utd aren't defending well" instead they go to pieces, regardless of how unjust the penalty was Spurs still went to pieces.

Liverpool were also the beneficiaries of some extremely poor reffing decisions today, it's an unfortunate fact of football that the better team tends to get the benefit of the doubt, it's bias, but an unconcious bias towards teams who are regarded as superior. To put it mildly it's a thought process that says in any 50/50 situation the ref is far more likely to give the benefit of the doubt to a good player than to a poor one as he believes that it was more likely Torres or Ronaldo got the ball before the defender or converesely that they are so good the inferior player would have to have fouled them to win the ball. It's inevitable. Add the influence of a roaring/baying home drow to this and it's just unavoidable that the best teams will get home decisions. I love it when people start pedalling out "Man Utd have had 10 penalties at home etc" so? The best team in the world™ at home are always going to get awarded a few penalties as they are going to spend more time in the box and create more situations which might lead to penalties, only a total cretin would fail to see this.

I was watching the game on Setanta and I have to say that in common with Andy Gray, Craig Burley's punditry was shocking. Reffing soccer is really really hard, it's very quick and there is a lot going on and the ref can't see everything nor be everywhere at once. If you watch Rugby a basic precondition of the game is that you accept that the refs are human and don't complain. In 20 years of watching Rugby I can only think of 2 or 3 decisions that have been really poor and/or have illicited complaints from pundits or team coaches. The point is the likes of Burley and Gray add nothing to the game by constantly whining about refs. There were quite a few instances in the Utd game where Burley made statements like "the ref has to see that" well he obviously didn't did he you fucking tim prick. What is Burley suggesting; the ref is consciously biased?(no chance) is he blaming the opticians? or is he just rattling on about fuck all without thinking about it. Pundits who constantly seek to blame refs are the problem, there is no ideal solution and constantly criticising refs for mistakes disseminates into the wider game, one day we will struggle to get people to ref junior games and it will be the fault of these twats.

What makes it even worse is that quite often the likes of Gray offer solutions which are totally inconsistent with the rules of the game. When the Arse played Barca in the ECL final 2 years ago Lehman was sent off for a blatant foul on Eto'o, following the foul the ball ran on and Guily scored, but theref disallowed it as he had already blown up. Grey stated "The ref has ruined the game there, this is the champions league final and he has to remember what a big game it is, he should have played advantage and let the goal stand, then he wouldn't have had to send Lehman off". This demonstrates thelack of knowledge Gray has and he is typical of the standard of punditry. Lehman committed a proffesional foul denying a goal socring opportunity, automatic red, I agree the ref should have played the advantage and let the goal stand, but it doesn't mean he doesn't have to send of Lehman, he absolutely has to and rightly did. What Gray was advocating was making up some rules on the spot based on Karmic balance which is exactly the opposite of what a ref shoud do. Moreover, the ref has no duty what-so-ever to make sure the game is good, his only duty is to apply the rules as written and as guided by FIFA/UEFA etc.

[Macros]

I've no idea who got the penalty, I was still a little drunk, didn't even watch the game

What decisions were dubious in the hull game (honestly, I'm not poking or trying to troll, I thought the ref was pretty spot on for the most)
You dont kick a player when hes going down, even if he HAS been obstructing you.
You don't come in and clean the player 2 minutes later for "getting your man sent off"

I agree reffing is a tough job, and I think a GREAT rule to bring in is that any player who approaches the ref who is not the captain or a player involved in the foul should be warned, then yellowed on the second offence, it might get masher to sit down and shut up for once!

ETA: One absolutely shocking bit of reffing that still sticks out in my mind was riena red for "punching" ajen robben.
Robben should have been reded for simulation and fined 13 years pay for being such an unprofessional cheat.

This post has been edited by Macros: 26 April 2009 - 02:46 PM

[Thelomen Toblerone]

Macros, on Apr 26 2009, 03:45 PM, said:

What decisions were dubious in the hull game (honestly, I'm not poking or trying to troll, I thought the ref was pretty spot on for the most)
You dont kick a player when hes going down, even if he HAS been obstructing you.
You don't come in and clean the player 2 minutes later for "getting your man sent off"

Those werent the issue, it was the handball to control the ball and get it to Kuyt for the 2nd goal, and the obvious dive by Mascherano to win the freekick for the first goal that come to mind as bad decisions in that game.

I'd be mindful of asking for retroactive punishment for simulation, Gerrard would get a ban every week

[Macros]

hahaha, yes, for a big lad gerrard does tumble easily, but look at that big nonce drogba.
and the ever graceful ronaldo.
It was ball to hand, lucas knew nothing about it till it hit him.

[polishgenius]

Impirion, on Apr 25 2009, 08:42 PM, said:

Anderson a poor passer?!?! He's the best passer in the United team bar possibly Scholes, and probably on a par with Carrick. Ronaldo and Rooney were brilliant today when the comeback started.

Hesitant, not poor - he's got a great pass in him but he won't run a game like Carrick or Scholes and he'll sometimes linger on the ball a little too long.

[Thelomen Toblerone]

Evra has just gone down like he's been shot, rolled around in agony, then as soon as the yellow card was produced for Stephen Ireland, jumped right up to his feet without a hint of delay or anything bothering him. Charming.

EDIT: Sigh. Arsenal make me weep. Halftime, dominated the game, 2-0 down. Im sure Silvestre hasnt actually been told he's playing, he's DREADFUL. And Diaby wont mark, cant control the ball, passes it to the opposition, and gives away free kicks everytime he tries to tackle. Abysmal.

Oh, and Drogba is a diving bastard, in case anyone didnt know.

This post has been edited by Thelomen Toblerone: 10 May 2009 - 04:00 PM

[Tiste Simeon]

HAHAHAHA!!! TAKE THAT CITY SCUM!!!

...Sorry...

[Thelomen Toblerone]

As bad as Arsenal were, Chelsea's 4th was miles offside, the first came from a dive, the third was a ludicrous unpressured owngoal. The second was just pure shit defending so no excuses there. But again, poor officiating on display today, and the gap was much smaller than the scoreline suggests.

At least it's given Arsene a kick up the jacksie and he's admitted he needs to buy.

In other news, Ledley King arrested for assault. I hope he goes down, that'd be hilarious. Although I cant believe he managed ot beat anyone up, everybody knows he's got a dodgy knee, one kick and he'd be down!

I've been to that club (Pop) a few times, it was probably just seeing the prices of the drinks that sent him into a rage. £3.50 for a 250ml bottle of shitty lager when I was there. Ended up so I didnt need to drink much, the shock alone made me feel quite giddy when I bought a round.

[Macros]

hah, try £2.80 for a bottle of beer in EVERY bar in my home town, £3 for a bloody pint
Didn't see any games today, city let me down as usual, assholes

[Cougar]

Pah, £3.50, I had an €11 bottle of beer in Venice!

In other news I was at Old Trafford today for the game, it was a good atmosphere, better than the usual standard, but you'd expect that. Always satisfying to beat citeh

[Thelomen Toblerone]

They were slagging the atmosphere off on the radio. I dont know what these radio commentators expect, they sit and whinge their arses off about the standard of a game, and then complain about the fans not being loud enough. So what, are they supposed to cheer at a continual volume through shit play and good? I dont car ehwo you are, watch paint dry and you're less inspired to make noise, it's common sense.

Some italian saw you coming Cougar, I paid way less than that everywhere I went in Rome!