First of all, from a Chelsea fan, well done and good luck for the rest of the tournament. Just want to say though about Nani. On some occasions when he got tackled he did a gesture to the ref indicating to show the player a yellow card. Why do this? Really unsporting. Also, when he was tackled by ramires for the sending off, he was slamming the ground as if he had been shot! I know people will say well we had Drogba going down easily on many occasions which was annoying to see, but he has stopped now and Nani should do the same. He is really skilful but this bit of his play lets him down in my opinion.
Nani is a great player but this is the name of the game now. If you want to see a player who never goes down. Look at Valencia, he is such a sporting player but sometimes you need characters like Nani in the team but I do admit it is annoying.
yeah i agree that valencia is a very good player. he plays well and theres not a theatrical side to him. im sure many other fans couldnt stand drogba when he did it. when i went to stamford bridge and drogba fell over like he had been shot, all the chelsea fans around me got annoyed at him. i just cant stand nani anymore
Definitely agree it should be cut out. Although in fairness I did see some Chelsea players, Drogba and Cashley included, having a go at the referees after they'd been fouled and the free kick had already been given. I guess they were also arguing the case for a yellow card, but doing it in a slightly more subtle manner...ah...the benefits of experience! From the point of view of a United fan, he definitely needs to cut it out. Ronaldo didn't reach his best until he stopped going to ground all the time and realised that if he stayed on his feet he could often get the ball and put us in a better situation than if we got the free kick. It took him about three or four years to work that out - hopefully the penny will drop for Nani next season.
When refs keep giving him the decisions I can't see it stopping though. He is a very good player but like Ronaldo in his early years, so often looks to go down from the slightest touch when he would often do better to stay on his feet. Only once last night did the ref wave play on and tell him to get up. That said, I've seen worse offenders.
I'm hoping missing out on the PFA nominations might be his "lightbulb moment". The same as when Ronaldo missed out in 2006 - that seemed to make him realise that for all his skills he wouldn't be taken seriously until he did more than just score some goals and win some free kicks...
I hope your right, and I hope he has his "lightbulb moment" before he damages his reputation with the official's in England too much, it happened to Ronaldo, in his final season he was on the end of so many blatant fouls that were unbelievably waved away because of his reputation for going to ground.
Great game of Football last night from both sides. Chelsea had a lot of the ball in the first half, but we were far more clinical. I was delighted to see Drogba on the bench in terms of form, he's in a better position than Torres. The Rooney/Hernandez partnership may prove to be better than Rooney/Tevez and may go on to match Yorke/Cole but it's early days yet. Rooney is finding form at the right time - the Beckham delivery to Hernandez, the raking crossfield balls, long range shots of the volley and audacious 50m chips - it was a joy to watch. Giggs must be on Footballing Viagra, because he was spraying passes around the pitch like a player 10 years younger. Carrick finally found his cojones, he looked much more assured in possesion and he made some vital interceptions, hopefully this will go some way to rebuilding his confidence.
I'm not trying to start an argument but Chelsea are probably the most unsporting team in England when it comes to influencing refs to give free kicks and cards out.
