Not sure elmo and actual right back go in the same sentence unless interjected with the term has never been.
Sorry but point 4 is complete crap. If having your arm above your head isn't unnatural then there's no such thing as unnatural positioning for handball. If you can score with your hand then it should be included in considerations for offside. The ball was travelling away from goal, he had his hand raised above his head and virtually slapped the ball in.
I'm also surprised Clucas' dismissal hasn't been touched on when denying a goal scoring opportunity is no longer a red when a penalty results.
The new rules - Players who commit a foul to deny a goalscoring opportunity will no longer automatically be sent off. Players committing accidental fouls that deny a goalscoring chance will now be cautioned instead. Deliberate fouls will still incur a red card.
More likely you would played for France. Monsieur Henry looked pretty sheepish when talking about the incident on MotD.
"Football’s just too messy, too imperfect for that. And therein lies its charm." I don't think there is charm in that. Too much money is involved anyway.
Have yet to see the full game(tomorrow) but of the 2 contentious points seen on highlight clips. 1. Under current rules Sanchez goal was fine. 2. Clucas is a handball offense so red card and penalty.
If it was innocent though people wouldn't really care that much what happened from one game to the next. Plus people's jobs wouldn't be on the line. It's not an amateur game, people are paid money for this.
Those weren't the two contentious points. Your first point is correct, the second was Gibbs' tackle on Markovic.
Whether you think a ball going in off the hand/arm should be allowed or not the fact is it would normally be disallowed. In practical reality that's what happens. It's very difficult to decide on motivation and knowing what goes on in a player's head, so normally it would be disallowed.
And similarly the normal reaction of most referees when someone goes in on goal and gets flattened from behind would be to send the player off. That's what the usual decision is.
When will we see the straw that breaks the camels back? there is so much money in the game 1 point could mean millions of lost revenue, relegation or failing to get into the even richer Champions League. A dodgy decision by the referee could send a club down. If I remember right from the name change stuff it's not allowed to sue the governing body of football. Surely someone / club will have a go one day.
