16 Jan 2021 03:50:49
So with Rashford coming out and saying that Jose taught them how to win penalties. Will that not influence referees going forward? This has become something that united go into a game looking for. There are cheats all over the game. I know how we try and cheat with corners with placing the ball almost outside the area, we steal a few yards in a throw or a free kick.
But a penalty influences a game, should this not be addressed that teams are actually looking to win games in this manner.

What are we teaching the current generation of footballing hopefuls coming through the ranks?

{Ed0666's Note - cheating is cheating wether it’s placing the ball outside the legal zone at corners or gamesmanship in the box. If you murder 10 people or 1 person you’re still a murderer. No room for cheating regardless of the offense


1.) 16 Jan 2021
16 Jan 2021 08:12:28
I rekon if a player gets touched int he box and they throw themselves to the ground then that isn't teaching. if they dive with no contact then to me that is cheating.


2.) 16 Jan 2021
16 Jan 2021 09:43:05
To me its still cheating Faithinworks. It just seems its acceptable these days.


3.) 16 Jan 2021
16 Jan 2021 10:40:18
I’m not condoning any of it but there’s lots of cheating that goes on in sports especially football. Cheating is a form of lying and even something as little as claiming every ball that goes out for a throw in or corner is theirs when they blatantly know it’s not is a form of cheating.


4.) 16 Jan 2021
16 Jan 2021 10:40:29
Isn’t this what VAR is for? Problem is certain refs seem to be more keen to give pens and once given VAR rarely wants to change them.


5.) 16 Jan 2021
16 Jan 2021 10:50:28
Problem is if there is contact and its given is very difficult to overturn.

Also Rashford blaming mourinho seems a bit of deflection, he has had three times as many pens awarded under ole then he did under mourinho with a similar amount of games for each if I remember the stat correctly.


6.) 16 Jan 2021
16 Jan 2021 10:53:06
The penalty awarded at Brighton set the precedent that any contact in the area, if appealed for, should result in a penalty.
Wrongly, in my opinion but, any player now contacted in the box should highlight that penalty award to the referee, on the basis of consistency.
Can you tell that, of all the bad refereeing decisions this season, this one really bugs me? It was always the case that football was a contact sport and, yes, Robbo made contact with Welbeck, but the impact and effect on Welbeck was less than of they had jumped together to head a ball.
Klopp should fight fire with fire, citing the penalty against us at Brighton, and tell the players to fall to the floor on contact and then argue for them to check the monitor as per the officials did v Brighton.
This isn't how I want the game to be but this is what VAR, or the application of it, has led the game to become.


7.) 16 Jan 2021
16 Jan 2021 12:57:00
BobbyF, isn’t that the very problem of inconsistency within the VAR system itself that many of us are screaming about?

The Brighton one peeved me off cos they said as long as there is contact then the ref has to give it regardless of whatever happens even if the player falls down 3 hrs later or if the players did not appeal it. But when Mane gets chopped down vs Saints, the same standard is not applied and worse VAR didn’t even check it, meaning the standards keep changing depending what game is on. Other teams are being affected too cos some of the other decisions have been shambolic cos there are NO set ref standards.

To make matters worse, Michael Oliver said that he should have sent Pickford off but at the same time, said LFC players should have appealed for the rev card as that is another reason he didn’t give it which is a nonsensical cop out and victim blaming. So he was expecting the LFC players to do his job for him, yeah?

But hang on, Brighton players did not appeal for their fake pen and got it BUT LFC players should have appealed for the red card? See where we are going with this?

IMO, there are no refereeing standards cos they keep making it up as they go along so why should players comply with standards that don’t exist?


8.) 16 Jan 2021
16 Jan 2021 14:50:18
Football is a contact sport and has become so sanitised its unreal. We as fans have bought into commentators, analysts etc saying " there is the contact" and accepting it as a foul then. Every supporter now uses "contact" as a barometer for a foul which is sad really.


9.) 16 Jan 2021
16 Jan 2021 16:12:21
I feel like part of the reason refs don't punish "small cheats" is that there is no applicable punishment. Yellow and red cards and maybe too harsh and doing nothing rarely results in ref getting in trouble.

It's been suggested countless times before and I think it's a good idea to introduce a sin bin or penalty box for lesser offences.

Things like, stealing yards on throw ins, players going down too easy, that crazy annoying obstruction defenders do near the byline that gets punished anywhere else on the pitch.

If a player knows he's going to be off the pitch for the next 5 minutes if he goes down too easy he'll be less likely to do it. I also think that if the ref knows there's a punishment which more suitably fits the offence he's more likely to use it.


Its unbelievably rare to see anyone get two yellows for simulation ( even when they should) because pretty much everyone agrees that's quite harsh considering its hard to establish intent.


10.) 16 Jan 2021
16 Jan 2021 22:50:35
IR - just saying that if there is contact then it could be a foul. Fair play for me.