Official 2012/13 Premier League thread

[Hobo]

I did not even think of the Suarez thing as a dive when I saw it. I thought he'd just fallen over with the ball at his feet again.

That said, kinda sick of him being talked about as the only player who dives.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

I did not even think of the Suarez thing as a dive when I saw it. I thought he'd just fallen over with the ball at his feet again.

That said, kinda sick of him being talked about as the only player who dives.

Agreed. How about that big cheat Ashley Young huh?

[IAceI]

Young was vilified by the media, and rightly so, for his diving earlier in the year. I'd wager fans of certain clubs will think certain players get off lighter than others, but as I said, Suarez is the face of the anti-diving campaign so is used more earnestly by people when discussing it.

[Plubby]

I did not even think of the Suarez thing as a dive when I saw it. I thought he'd just fallen over with the ball at his feet again.

That said, kinda sick of him being talked about as the only player who dives.

As Suarez falls over (the second time ) His hands go palm-skyward in the universal "Oh, come ON!" gesture. That to me is what signifies that as a dive - he's fallen over the ball and asks for the foul.

[Nerf]

Is it really that easy to differentiate a ball from a foot in that scenario, though?

[brenchill]

I wish he would have sent Guzan off. At least that way this would have received more attention.

[Plubby]

Well, in the abstract, no it isn't easy. However he started with the ball on his feet. In order for him to think it's a foot, he would have to think that he no longer had the ball...which, based on the play (if it's the gif on the previous 40post page) could really only mean he was legally tackled.

[IAceI]

You can't defend that Suarez dive, it was inexcusable. Not to mention he puts his hands down but he's still on his feet, he probably could have continued if he wasn't intent on trying to cheat a penalty.

As an aside, as I didn't see the match - does anyone know at what stage of the match the dive in question happened?

[stokeriño]

All reporting/discussion of diving is uneven, both in over-reporting of some and under-reporting of others. On the one hand I understand that it would be ridiculous to take time to highlight and examine every dive/possible dive in every game every week, but perhaps it wouldn't be such a problem if the rules weren't so hazy to begin with.

For example, there was the Chelsea home match (I actually forget who we were playing) that got massive talk on MOTD for our 'diving'. Of the two main incidents highlighted, Ivanovic's was an utterly ridiculous pratfall and he got no booking. Meanwhile Oscar got a booking for his (perhaps because he's a flighty Brazilian whizzkid rather than a hulking Serbian full-back and "that's what they do"?) and derided by the pundits - but HOW MANY TIMES have you seen a similar incident where the defender lightly clips the attacker's knee (as occured in this case), and the pundit (I immediately think of Alan Shearer) says something like "yes he went over too easily but there was a bit of contact and sometimes you have to go down to make the referee a notice"? The argument is spurious enough even without being choosey over where you apply it, but then I suppose "the boy deserves an Oscar" is too tempting a line for cliché-ridden hacks to ignore.

Conversely, other dives happen that don't get mentioned at all. There was an equally ridiculous dive by an Arsenal player (again, I forget who) in our recent match with them that didn't get mentioned once. Maybe because his team still lost it's not an interesting story to push, I don't know.

[IAceI]

I assume you're talking about the recent match with Stoke? Tony Pulis is always keen to talk at length about controversial incidents after the match, which he did in this case too.

[Starvinho]

Not to interupt this serious debate about diving, but I just wanted to put this here.

[brenchill]

Bwahahahaha.

[Lineker]

That gash, Jesus.

[stokeriño]

"Manchester United striker Robin van Persie will not face Football Association action following his off-the-ball incident with Newcastle United midfielder Yohan Cabaye. Referee Howard Webb has reviewed the incident and does not consider it to be an act of violent conduct."

Cue the usual Webb/United comments in 3...2...

[Gazz]

I am shocked.

[MDK]

Was he trying to swat a fly off his nose or something?

[Twist]

"Manchester United striker Robin van Persie will not face Football Association action following his off-the-ball incident with Newcastle United midfielder Yohan Cabaye. Referee Howard Webb has reviewed the incident and does not consider it to be an act of violent conduct."

Cue the usual Webb/United comments in 3...2...

Surely someone other than the match officials who ignored this in the first place should be reviewing that play?

[stokeriño]

But that might involve someone saying a referee was wrong.

[MJB]

Robert Huth and Check Tiote will also not be punished for yesterday's incidents because one or more of the match officials claim they saw what happened and didn't deem them worthy of taking any action.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

"Manchester United striker Robin van Persie will not face Football Association action following his off-the-ball incident with Newcastle United midfielder Yohan Cabaye. Referee Howard Webb has reviewed the incident and does not consider it to be an act of violent conduct."

Cue the usual Webb/United comments in 3...2...

.....and other such nonsense?