The worst diver was this legend please log in to view this image Sorry... that was low, it is Christmas after all
The current WSC has an article damning referees for punishing defenders for having arms - as well as the fact they clearly haven't read what the handball rules actually says. So it's official, Premier League referees are to the handball rule what the NRA are to the Second Amendment...
We need more referees like Phil Dowd who rarely get big decisions wrong and less bent refs like Webb and Clattenburg who send players off for trying to win the ball and allow players from one team to talk to them while telling the other team to go away
Mike Dean was superb yesterday got every big decisions right despite having Fergie breathing down his neck all game. He's the best ref in the league for me and yet again MOTD defend Fergie's right to stand there grab officials, shout at them and generally intimidate them at every opportunity, including half time. The good and the ugly. The "Bad" came from Webb, our so called best ref, giving a penalty for shirt pulling on Suarez. The shirt pulling clearly started outside the penalty area and if it was a foul when Suarez threw himself to the floor then it was a foul outside the area too. He also let him off with a booking for going studs up on the 'keeper nowhere near the ball. He's one of the biggest bottle jobs in the league is Webb.
Actually YV he got this right. He can play the advantage as long as he likes. He still had hold of his shirt inside the box so it was a penalty. The laws are very clear on this.
Well yeah and falling unnaturally is also against the rules and bookable whether you receive contact or not, it's about applying the rules sensibly though and that should've been given as a foul from when the contact was made, he never signalled advantage so as far as the defender can be concerned he's not commiting a foul.
Did anyone see the Evans own goal for Man U? Despite what people say the offside law is pretty clear - and interfering with play and interfering with an opponent is very narrowly defined. So it's most likley that the ref got it right.
The law says you are not allowed to attempt to deceive the referee by feigning injury or pretending to have been fouled. Suarez did neither of those as he couldn't pretend to have been fouled as he had been fouled since his shirt was being pulled.
That's not so, as with the Torres case, exaggerating contact is also bookable. My point though was that rules have to be applied sensibly and rewarding a player for going down easy/diving/being smart or whatever else you might call it is not the way to referee. Essentially what Webb is telling players in that move is that you can be fouled and play will stop when it suits you, the last time I checked it wasn't the players but the refs who had the whistle and were the ones who applied the laws of the game.
I'm amazed so many people think Dean got it right. http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/explaining-the-offside-law-law-11.html Simpson was crossing for Cisse who was in an offside position when the ball was played. Cisse was in the centre of the penalty area, marked by Evans and ran to meet the ball, which ultimately Evans, under pressure from him, met first. How is Cisse not interfering with play in this scenario? Some of the interpretations of the law to justify the ref's decision are ridiculously far fetched. And what difference does it make that Evans diverted the ball into the net rather than it reaching Cisse in his offside position?
You're considering it as a cross by Simpson, Lidls. Most people felt that it was actually a shot. I think that Cisse's offside, though. Not sure how he's not interfering when he's in contact with Evans and he tries to get to the ball, too. Ferguson and Valencia should've both been dismissed, though. How this isn't a yellow card is beyond me: please log in to view this image
I agree he's fortunate. Neither player has the ball under control and both appear to stretch for it. This probably saved Valencia.
