The sending off was fair and square. He left the ground two feet which means no control. As a result of this he won the ball but he took Dembele's ankle as well... As for Suarez I can see him taking a few games on the stands aand time to practice for the diving competition in 2012 Olympics...
And just to close the matter... BBC reporting is pathetic and I quote:" The sending off was crucial to the outcome and was a controversial one as Spearing got the ball. However, he followed through and caught Dembele, meaning that the Liverpool midfielder was always in danger of getting a red card." Why controversial?
Super Bri, That picture looks pretty damning, but I watched the Spearing tackle replayed 10 times last night slow motion and to me the decision was harsh. He clearly won the ball and his momentum carried him through Dembele, but he was certainly going for the ball (not the man) and had no malicious intent. Gary Neville said it last night: 20 years ago that tackle wouldn't have been called a foul. Ten years ago that might have been called a foul. Five years ago that might have warranted a yellow card. But today .... The game has progressed in such a way that anything that looks like a two-footed challenge risks a red card. I'm actually in favor of taking the excessive physicality out of football. It adds nothing to the game, but puts every player out there at risk for career-ending injuries.
I think the issue isn't so much whether or not he won the ball, or even whether his foot was high. His studs were showing, and the foot that went into Dembele went in studs first (as Super Brian's photo shows). That makes the tackle highly dangerous and likely to cause injury. If Spearing's technique for tackling was better (on the basis of this tackle anyway, out of ignorance I make no comment on whether it was typical of him or not) he could crunch in and make tackles all night without fearing a booking (well, so long as the ref is doing his job). If he goes in with studs raised, he's asking for trouble, and I think the laws of the game get it right on that these days. The last couple of seasons have shown us just how significant it can be when your leading attackers have lengthy periods out with injury. There's a difference between taking the physicality out of the game and taking steps to avoid unecessary injuries.
Afternoon fellas The reaction to the sending off from the media is largely unsurprising. The media continue to fawn over the top four (now top six), if the red card had gone to Dembele for a tackle on Spearing, you can guarantee the media would have praised the referee on a fine performance, or would have used a 'justice served' headline, or something to that effect. Even after the Rodwell red against Liverpool, the media stated that Liverpool would have probably won the game 11 vs 11 without the red card. This is of course **** as Everton were looking very threatening up until that point. Onto last night's game, a massive improvement. The first half was still poor from our perspective, Liverpool missed Lucas hugely, and therefore Etuhu was able to control the midfield in what was an impressive performance from the Nigerian. We weren't able to break though Liverpool's backline (Dembele's miss aside) and Liverpool weren't able to get past Etuhu or beat Hangeland in the air, which led to a lot of shots from distance. Ruiz in the first half was very poor, but thankfully improved in the second, he does seem slow in his movement but hopefully he will adapt over time. Zamora was the only obvious negative for me. He looks utterly uninterested. Maybe his head has been turned by transfer speculation, Sunderland maybe? We looked far more threatening when AJ came on for me, and he even went close to a goal at the end. Plus points for me were Schwarzer, Hangeland, Riise, Etuhu, Dembele (as usual) and Dempsey. Kelly and Murphy were fine, Senderos was far too error prone for me and should have conceded a penalty and been sent off. On the whole, an impressive win, with a slice of luck.
Blimey Bandit - I hadn't even realised that you started the match! Such a negative post given that in the plus points you list 8 of our players! Senderos may have been lucky, but the foul was clearly (just) outside the box. He could easily have gone off, but it would have been a wrong decision if he had. Apart from the Everton game I've only seen Ruiz in tv highlights, so I defer to those who have seen more of him, but it's beginning to look to me like he provides a second option (after Murphy) of a player capable of playing a crucial goal-creating pass. This is good news, as we've often complained that we lack a creative spark when Danny isn't playing or is off his game.
Captain I stated that last night was an impressive win and an overall improved performance, hardly 'such a negative post'. Last night was by no means perfect, but it doesn't have to be. Last night we combined good football with a win, which is everything a fan can hope for. I don't mind Senderos, so I'm not bashing him here for the sake of it, but he should have walked in my opinion. Some decisions go for you, some don't. That one went for us. Lol, the 'for me' comment was to purely state MY opinion, not the general consensus. As I know other people will see things differently.
But my view point is it is not a tackle, it is a lunge at the ball with both feet off the ground. The reason he has to lunge is that he is too far away from the ball to put in a decent tackle while remaining on his feet. When you do a two footed lunge the momentum is going to carry you forward into any player who is standing there and take him out and possibly badly injure him.
My two euros worth (just back from Amsterdam and don't have any pennies!) is that Liverpool looked like a really dangerous team (even when down to 10 men) and we played extremely well in both attack and defence to beat them. I agree with pretty much everyone else in terms of who stood out: Etuhu in particular but nearly everyone else as well. I agree with Bandit that Senderos is a bit of a liability - I don't think Aaron Hughes would have got himself into the situation where he had to bring a player down on the edge of the box. I also agree that Bobby hasn't looked at his best (or even very good) for the last 2 games which is a worry. All in all I thought it was a great performance and a very enjoyable game.
Fair enough, Bandy. I've just re-read your original post and it is a lot less negative than I first interpreted it. Apologies. I think it has more negatives than most on this thread, but that's fair comment. Maybe I was just basking in the glow of a valuable win. The bloke who sits opposite me at work is a Liverpool fan, by the way. He's off today (scheduled since before the game, not a consequence of the result) but he's in again tomorrow. I'm quite looking forward to hearing his take on things.
Agreed Captain, I was calling to bring Danny off after the red and put Ruiz in the middle with Frei or Briggs on the right or left wing respectively. I really think we need some pace on the wings and a more all round striker.
Yes, Great win lads. Sorry not been on here for months, my account got locked and the adminstrator didn't get back to me. Hope you're all ok folks
Wow, both Woy and Bandit on the same post; Long-lost family members coming home. I guess that's what a victory over Liverpool will do.
No doubt a Red Card. Not just the photo posted by SBMc, but the other photos in The Mail were just as damning, maybe even more so.. It is utter rubbish for Dalglish to say âJay won the ball, and probably upset the referee with his follow-through but itâs not his fault thereâs somebody standing there". If he'd have broken Dembele's leg, just exactly whose fault would it have been?
