I'm just glad that Referee's have obviously been given sanction to make the decisions to book players for diving and cheating. The next step should be automatic Red cards, that would stop it dead overnight! The other thing that needs addressing is handball in the penalty area! As I understood the rule, it was that a penalty was awarded for DELIBERATE handball, thats hand to ball, not having the ball blasted at you from 2 foot and hitting your arm/hand/ear etc
I can't get all this hatred of different styles, if thats the way they want to play then so be it, if the long ball was banned there would be something else to moan about, you have to have not so nice style to have a nice style, its the ying and the yang. if every club played like barca, football would become boring! To me there is also 2 types of long ball styles, there is the whack it in the corner for the fast winger to chase, which to be fair is different to what Stoke and Wet Sham play, they play to a player so in effect they are passing the ball 40 yards direct to a player (i.e. Carroll) rather then into space.
I need to get this off my chest; The media have a lot to answer for on this subject, Lawrenson, Shearer and the like, the so called experts! They perpetuate and condone the cheating; there was "slight" contact so he had the perfect right to go down, or he felt it coming? or I've watched it on the slo-mo and I think the ball was over the line, or I've seen them given, or his left toe was playing him on-side! I once saw Ryan Giggs place the ball 2 inches outside the quadrant for a corner, the expert opinion? You've got to gain any advantage you can! It's all bollocks it's all cheating and it's all wrong!!
ILD totally agree with that point, the slightest contact my right bollock, i always thought football was a contact sport so you should expect a bit of contact during the game and you should have the strength to stay on your feet. What i don't have a problem is somebody playing for a penalty, i.e. knowing that the defender is about to tackle so pushing the ball away so you get caught and win a penalty. thats the smart thing to do.
Agree strongly with all this! When pundits say "he had every right to go down" I find myself shouting abuse at the TV. Another is when a player dives they say he is "clever" load of s***. Bring in post match punishment for divers and ban them.
i accept that the rules of the game allow innumerable variations of style, it wouldn't be the great game it is if that wasn't the case. But, just as those opposed to cheating are rightly also applying moral values to what happens on the pitch, I understand carrabuh when he argues that there are aesthetic values to be applied also. He is a fan of "the beautiful game", and I must say I agree with him. Played as I believe it should be, football is a form of ballet, with great skill combining with grace, physical power, creativity, imagination. The football played by teams like Stoke and West Ham under Allardyce is the antithesis of this, an affront to the sensibilities however many points it accrues.
Absolutely agree! It also astounds me when they seem to think it's alright for a certain team/player to do it but suddenly it's not alright for another team/player to do it. For example, when Klasnic got sent off for Bolton last year when he headbutted Tierney. The red card was the right thing to do and the pundits also had a go, QUITE RIGHTLY, at Tierney for his play acting in the incident. Yet when a player like Gervinho slaps Barton gently on the face and he falls down like he's been shot Barton apparently has every right to go down.
The bloke who says West Ham and Stoke don't play long ball is talking bollocks.Its not direct, its not fast counter attack, its not to relieve pressure, its smashing a ball upfield to play for the percentages. How these two teams can gain plaudits for the way they play just beggars belief, only in England. Allardyce and Carrol, ideal partnership, both play as ugly as sin.
West Ham played the worst football i've seen in a few years at Carrow road and somehow managed to bring us down to their level as well. It's genius in a messed up sort of way, but just imagine watching it every week, I'd feel very uneasy.
If Norwich were to win the Premier League adopting the Stoke tactic, or even worse, we would be hearing a different tune. We have played the passing game ever since Ron Saunders left and long may it continue. But please, spare me the higher moral issues. Its bloody football! And I don't see WHU or Stoke having smaller crowds because of their style.
It's a fair point. Ultimately, whoever a person supports, all they really want is some success once in a while even if it just a handsome victory over the nearest rivals. Winning games has to be the priority and while I did not enjoy watching West Ham 2 weeks ago I would have been a happy Hammer that day, walking away from CR with a point
its not pleasant to watch but there is no denying that it works and while it continues to work, some teams will continue to adopt that 'style'. i don't like watching it and certainly would struggle to watch it weekly if norwich played that way but there is nothing wrong with it - there's no right or wrong way to play the game, but that doesn't mean i enjoy it! as mentioned above, the west ham game, 2nd half in particular, was so ugly to watch - at one point the ball didn't touch the grass for more than a minute (or so it seemed - i wasn't counting the seconds) and it was frustrating to watch, but west ham got the result they wanted from the game, a 0-0, so who's to say they are wrong to play that way? gotta laugh though when big sam says they do play good football - he must be as blind as a bat! they pass it two or three times in central defence, knock it back to the keeper and then launch it forward... that's not good football.
Ironically, it was when John Bond took over from Saunders and brought 'the West Ham academy' to Carrow Road that City adopted the attractive style of play for which we are rightly applauded. Having Allardyce managing West Ham is a ghastly aberration in the view of many West Ham supporters and they'd like nothing better than him being shown the door.
**** me, hold the front page! me and Thai agree on something!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ultimately success is what the supporters want, i bet you wouldn't say no to being in stoke's position as an established premier league side? And to whoever said that Stoke and wet sham just whack it and play the percentages is talking out of their ass, you watch their games, they play a long pass 9 times out of 10 it will go straight to their big guy who doesn't have to move more than 5 yrds either side of where they are standing, that to me isn't longball, thats a long pass because they are directing to a player, if messi done that everybody would be creaming their pants about it. A long ball to me is whacking it in the corner to a fast winger, or whacking over the top of the defence to a fast striker hoping he gets it before the keeper, there is a massive difference!
Now while I'm far from a fan of Sam Allardyce (though I do LOVE NotBigSam on twitter), I find it somewhat ignorant of people to accuse him of being nothing more than a long-ball, hoof it up the pitch and hope the best merchant, particularly when you look at the relative success he had with Bolton where his teams there were built around undoubted quality players such as Jay-Jay Okocha and Youri Djorkaeff. And how "pious" of certain people to suggest that clubs simply have to play the game "the beautiful way", what utter tosh. Of course I would not be happy at all if we ever reverted to play the long-ball, direct style of play, in fact I would be mighty pissed off as I have been brought up watching NCFC at least trying to keep the ball on the deck and play stylish, attractive football. However that's not to say that there isn't room in the game for all kinds of different styles with clubs playing to their strengths posing different challenges for the opposition to break down and outfox. However, and back to the OP, there is absolutely NO room or place in the game for cheating and lying, that to me IS disgusting and anybody who says that there is and that they're fine with it in a muppet in my eyes and clearly need to have a good look at themselves
