European midweek games.
- Thread starter Spaghetti Legs
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Oh yeah. (Must do better)
You coined the phrase and I''m afraid I'm overusing it, both on the internet and in real life. Its wasted on real life Arsenal fans as most of them have to look up the word effete.
I have a good impression of Arsenal fans. I get a good view of the visiting fans from my seat in the Main Stand. The Arsenal fans get on with the business of supporting their team. They don't resort to the cheap stuff about Scousers on the dole or living in slums - unlike, say, Newcastle fans who only seem interested in mocking the Scousers, and start drifting out of the ground when the game is going against them. They don't resort to pathetic stuff like singing "Your support is fucking shit" after the 4th goal went in, as the Evertonians did.
After little Michael stole the FA Cup from under their noses in 2001, Vlad's Quiff and I dropped in at various Cardiff hostelries after the game, and all the Gooners we spoke to were very generous about the result. "You took your chances and we didn't" was a sentiment we heard several times.
After little Michael stole the FA Cup from under their noses in 2001, Vlad's Quiff and I dropped in at various Cardiff hostelries after the game, and all the Gooners we spoke to were very generous about the result. "You took your chances and we didn't" was a sentiment we heard several times.
This from the Guardian echoes what I've thought for ages about 'professional fouls' committed inside the penalty area. It's probably the worst law in the game.
Why football should scrap the 'triple punishment' rule over penalties
Manchester City and Arsenal had to defend penalties with 10 men after their players mistimed tackles in the box. Is punishing a foul with a penalty, a red card and a suspension too harsh?
Arjen Robben gets to the ball first and changes the complexion of the last-16 tie between Arsenal and Bayern Munich. Photograph: Ian Kington/AFP/Getty Images
You spend two months waiting for some Champions League football, then the laws of the game ruin two matches in as many days. AfterManchester City lost 2-0 to Barcelona on Tuesday night, Samir Nasri said City could still go through but, as Roy Keane might put it, he doesn't know what he's talking about. The game was up for Nasri, his team-mates and everyone watching as soon as the referee pointed to the spot and waved a red card at Martín Demichelis.
These matches are won and lost by finest of margins but a law that reduces a team to 10 men and then makes them face a penalty is extremely harsh. The punishment doesn't fit the crime. Demichelis made an error of judgement and mistimed a tackle on the edge of the box. He didn't endanger his opponent's safety; he just tripped Lionel Messi, who was able to pick himself up, walk a few yards closer to the goal, place the ball on the spot and kick it past Joe Hart to give Barcelona a crucial away goal.
That should have been enough punishment for City but the laws dictate that Demichelis had to be sent off for denying Messi a goalscoring opportunity. The penalty was a just reward for the foul but the red card altered the whole spirit of the tie.
Manuel Pellegrini was forced to make a double substitution and reorganise his players into a solid defensive block for the rest of the game. A match that had been genuinely exciting in the buildup and opening stages became a battle of attack versus defence. City's only consolation is that this triple punishment rule has a final layer of judgement: Demichelis will be suspended for the return leg.
Arsenal suffered a similar fate against Bayern Munich on Wednesday night. David Alaba may have sent his penalty off the post and wide but the referee's decision to send off Arsenal's keeper robbed us of Santi Cazorla and a decent contest between two teams aspiring to win the match.
What started as a fascinating, end-to-end Champions League encounter became a slog for spectators. Arsenal had 12% of the possession in the second half, completing only 62 passes to Bayern's 508. The game looked more like a Sunday League walkover than a high-end meeting in Europe's premier club competition. It was nearly enough to make viewers turn over and watch the Brits.
There must be a way to fix this. How about limiting the punishment for players who concede penalties to yellow cards (unless they're guilty of violent conduct)? Perhaps the defending team should be given the choice of losing the guilty player or conceding a penalty goal. Anything that would stop games from becoming unwatchably one-sided would be welcome. What do you think: are the laws fair and could they be improved?
Why football should scrap the 'triple punishment' rule over penalties
Manchester City and Arsenal had to defend penalties with 10 men after their players mistimed tackles in the box. Is punishing a foul with a penalty, a red card and a suspension too harsh?
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Arjen Robben gets to the ball first and changes the complexion of the last-16 tie between Arsenal and Bayern Munich. Photograph: Ian Kington/AFP/Getty Images
You spend two months waiting for some Champions League football, then the laws of the game ruin two matches in as many days. AfterManchester City lost 2-0 to Barcelona on Tuesday night, Samir Nasri said City could still go through but, as Roy Keane might put it, he doesn't know what he's talking about. The game was up for Nasri, his team-mates and everyone watching as soon as the referee pointed to the spot and waved a red card at Martín Demichelis.
These matches are won and lost by finest of margins but a law that reduces a team to 10 men and then makes them face a penalty is extremely harsh. The punishment doesn't fit the crime. Demichelis made an error of judgement and mistimed a tackle on the edge of the box. He didn't endanger his opponent's safety; he just tripped Lionel Messi, who was able to pick himself up, walk a few yards closer to the goal, place the ball on the spot and kick it past Joe Hart to give Barcelona a crucial away goal.
That should have been enough punishment for City but the laws dictate that Demichelis had to be sent off for denying Messi a goalscoring opportunity. The penalty was a just reward for the foul but the red card altered the whole spirit of the tie.
Manuel Pellegrini was forced to make a double substitution and reorganise his players into a solid defensive block for the rest of the game. A match that had been genuinely exciting in the buildup and opening stages became a battle of attack versus defence. City's only consolation is that this triple punishment rule has a final layer of judgement: Demichelis will be suspended for the return leg.
Arsenal suffered a similar fate against Bayern Munich on Wednesday night. David Alaba may have sent his penalty off the post and wide but the referee's decision to send off Arsenal's keeper robbed us of Santi Cazorla and a decent contest between two teams aspiring to win the match.
What started as a fascinating, end-to-end Champions League encounter became a slog for spectators. Arsenal had 12% of the possession in the second half, completing only 62 passes to Bayern's 508. The game looked more like a Sunday League walkover than a high-end meeting in Europe's premier club competition. It was nearly enough to make viewers turn over and watch the Brits.
There must be a way to fix this. How about limiting the punishment for players who concede penalties to yellow cards (unless they're guilty of violent conduct)? Perhaps the defending team should be given the choice of losing the guilty player or conceding a penalty goal. Anything that would stop games from becoming unwatchably one-sided would be welcome. What do you think: are the laws fair and could they be improved?
That would be better, definitely. Personally I'd prefer a yellow card and a penalty in both scenarios.
*Passes out with shock*
Maybe you see the polite metrosexual posse who block-book via some special offer in Grazia, but I only hear the ones who never, ever, sing about their own club because they're far too busy chanting non-stop about the opposing team, whether it's 'Hoof the ball", "where's yer famous atmosphere?" or the absolutely hilarious "sign on" song. It defines them for me. They're so ill-informed about the game whilst wrapping up their nasty needy egos in the unexpectedly acquired drapery of 'cultivated football' that they can't really be bothered in watching the stuff on the pitch and prefer instead to try to get a rise out of the other team's fans. They're the Colin Hunts of football, the veritable office jokers of the game, the kind of boneheaded, humourless, ill-advisedly cocky twerps who mistake wearing colourful socks and joke ties for real wit, and can't understand why other people want to hit them over the head with an iron bar instead of make them their best friends. A more smug, snide, loathesome bunch of gobby poltroons has yet to be witnessed anywhere on the planet.
Come now, tell us what you really think.
This man, he knows....
You can't just give a yellow card though, people will happily take a yellow to deny a clear goal and hope their keeper saves it.
If we are moving away from a red card as a punishment in this situation, then a sin bin is the only solution I can see.
If we are moving away from a red card as a punishment in this situation, then a sin bin is the only solution I can see.
But I'd say most goalscoring opportunities in open play are less certain to lead to goals than penalties, in which case there's no incentive to swap one for another.
Despite the rule saying there must be "intent" I doubt many players deliberately foul someone in the penalty area to stop a goal scoring chance while thinking "it may not be given or they miss the pen". I am sure 90% of pens are caused by the defender making a tackle he thinks he can make and mistiming it or getting caught out by the attackers agility.
As Hyena says, Suarez handball is one exception that proves the rule
As Hyena says, Suarez handball is one exception that proves the rule
Not sure I've mentioned this before on here. Fuck Arsenal, fuck their ridiculous 'fans', their atmosphere free corporate bowl, their ludicrous 'hoof' shout. In fact fuck every single tiny thing about them. Utter, utter twats.
It's been a little while since I've watched a game where we are not involved.
My god other teams are boring to watch.
My god other teams are boring to watch.
It's primarily because United are shit rather than anything else
Commentator : One or two signs now that Utd are beginning to find some rhythm ....
So finally one or two Utd fans start singing a song. Great...
So finally one or two Utd fans start singing a song. Great...
Fuck this for a bowl of quinoa - I'm off to watch University Challenge on iplayer. I'll watch UC again later and impress an unsuspecting Mrs Astaire with my general knowledge skills.... 😎
You're proper hardcore you are.
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