Premier League 2020/21

[Matt]

Chelsea having a field day on our left side here

[Matt]

Meh, we've not played our best, Chelsea are gonna be top 2-3, can't complain but it's still shit to lose.

[Szumi]

If that youngster from Leeds would've went down instead of staying on his feet when the defender clipped his airborne foot, Leeds would've had a penalty. Exact same challenge as Robertson on Welbeck last week, but VAR never even looked at it because he didn't go to the ground. And that is why players go to the ground so easily now. It's how you get the penalty.

[Colly]

I've said it before and it still hasn't changed, the point that "making the most of contact" became absolutely necessary was when Steven Gerrard got that penalty against (I think) Stoke when he hurdled a sliding tackle but was rightly given a penalty because he'd been impeded by the player who'd got nowhere near the ball. That was literally the wording of the law, and correctly given, but pundits absolutely slated the decision. If that's the attitude, what's the possible motivation for trying to stay up and get a weak shot away?

There's a fine line of course, I'm not saying you go down under the slightest touch, but refs and VAR need to understand the law and apply it correctly whether a player hits the deck or tries to keep going.

[Benjamin]

I thought the penalty against Sterling looked soft. I mean, I’m not complaining because I triple captained KDB this week, but it barely looks like contact. The Robbo one from last week definitely had more contact. How much contact is necessary to be deemed a penalty is always going to be questioned.

[Lineker]

Fully expecting Arsenal to turn up today and put in a shift like Brazil. Having Hart probably starting in goal doesn't exactly fill me with great confidence...

[DavidMarrio]

 

47 minutes ago, Lineklaus said:

Fully expecting Arsenal to turn up today and put in a shift like Brazil. Having Hart probably starting in goal doesn't exactly fill me with great confidence...

You'll be sound unless Arsenal shoot to his left hand side. Thing with Hart I've always noticed is he takes ages to get down to that side 

[Matt]

12 hours ago, It's Pronounced Zoom-E said:

If that youngster from Leeds would've went down instead of staying on his feet when the defender clipped his airborne foot, Leeds would've had a penalty. Exact same challenge as Robertson on Welbeck last week, but VAR never even looked at it because he didn't go to the ground. And that is why players go to the ground so easily now. It's how you get the penalty.

There was a VAR check, they decided no. And that's fine as long as it's the same decision if the player goes to ground. I mean that's the kind of thing that VAR should be and very easily can bring consistency to: decide whether that's a penalty regardless of whether a player stays on his feet or goes down like a lead balloon and stick to it. I tend to think that it probably is too soft to give a penalty, but I'll be fucking pissed if I see the exact same challenge this afternoon and it gets given because the player went down.

[DavidMarrio]

1 hour ago, Matt said:

There was a VAR check, they decided no. And that's fine as long as it's the same decision if the player goes to ground. I mean that's the kind of thing that VAR should be and very easily can bring consistency to: decide whether that's a penalty regardless of whether a player stays on his feet or goes down like a lead balloon and stick to it. I tend to think that it probably is too soft to give a penalty, but I'll be fucking pissed if I see the exact same challenge this afternoon and it gets given because the player went down.

I'd just prepare yourself to be pissed tbh. 

There's just no consistency with decisions. The Welbeck penalty was given and then in the same weekend Traore had it happen to him and got booked for diving and Rashford had the same happen to him and got nothing. 

Problem with using things like VAR is Football is very much a subjective sport. Technology in a lot of other sports is objective and is purely based in situations where its a yes/no question that can be given. Tennis perfect example of hawk eye saying whether the ball is play or not. 

When I posted what Mike Riley said about VAR at the start of the season about trying not to impact the game too much. Every single game there's a big discussion over VAR. It's making some mad decisions, it's getting involved in decisions that aren't clear and obvious errors. It's taking 5 minutes to look at offsides for toenails and armpits. 

We've gone from one extreme to another. 

[Colly]

I watched the conversation on MOTD and it's still the same record as it has been for the last decade, "how much contact is a penalty?", which again is not the point. The point is has that contact prevented the attacker from keeping possession/getting a shot away etc etc?

A shirt pull that has no bearing on an attack can probably be forgiven, while a slight pull on a player about to connect with a header is a pen. The Welbeck one last week I thought was incredibly soft as he'd already miscontrolled it almost back out of the area, an incidental touch on him afterwards for me isn't a foul, whereas had his first touch kept him in possession for me it is. The problem is that these decisions are subjective. Football is a subjective sport. IFAB/FIFA are trying to remove that from the game, but it isn't possible. 

[Matt]

15 minutes ago, DavidMarrio said:

I'd just prepare yourself to be pissed tbh. 

There's just no consistency with decisions. The Welbeck penalty was given and then in the same weekend Traore had it happen to him and got booked for diving and Rashford had the same happen to him and got nothing. 

Problem with using things like VAR is Football is very much a subjective sport. Technology in a lot of other sports is objective and is purely based in situations where its a yes/no question that can be given. Tennis perfect example of hawk eye saying whether the ball is play or not. 

When I posted what Mike Riley said about VAR at the start of the season about trying not to impact the game too much. Every single game there's a big discussion over VAR. It's making some mad decisions, it's getting involved in decisions that aren't clear and obvious errors. It's taking 5 minutes to look at offsides for toenails and armpits. 

We've gone from one extreme to another. 

The problem is, and always has been, that referees aren't held accountable for their mistakes, this can now be extended to VARs. Interpretation is such a cop out made up to excuse shit refereeing. For the Poveda style foul, you can easily decide the following (especially with VAR):

Was the defender deliberately trying to foul? If yes, penalty. If no, next decision.

Could the player reasonably stay on his feet? If no, penalty, if yes next decision if he stayed on his feet, play on if he went down quicker than a Barnsley lass after 2 WKDs.

Does the contact cause the player to lose possession or prevent a goalscoring chance? If yes penalty. If no, play on.

[Baddar]

I was glad VAR ruled in our favour regarding the ball potentially being out of play yesterday. It probably was, but lino didn't give it, and there's no way to tell so you go with the on field call. Same would have applied if the lino had said it had gone out, because the play would have stopped then and there and it wouldn't have been a discussion.

[Colly]

Vardy in homophobia scandal.

 

[Chris2K]

Good lord Sonny, that's a special one.

 

Also, how many times does Lacazette need to take Hojberg out before he gets booked? That's three already.

[Szumi]

Son now has scored as many league goals himself this season as Arsenal as a team combined.

[Bobfoc]

It's early days, but as a neutral, I'd love it if the Premier League remained this close all season.

[Lineker]

I adore Sonny.

[Kaney]

"Mesut Ozil is the one player Arsenal have that can spot a pass. Ceballos as well."

 

[FLiam]

I hate Spurs. I hate the fact they have two genuinely world-class forwards.

[lanky316]

Lo Celso twice been done for making a tackle and on a yellow card (for what was a foul). Spurs'll be somehow down to ten men early in the second half.