Sorry if this belongs in the Germany/Portugal match thread but anyhow.... ITV are covering the game and at half-time Chiles argues that Muller's cheating (which then lead to Pepe's red card) is just as bad, if not worse, then Pepe's moment of madness. He then argued that this sort of play acting needs to be banished from the game. Dixon agreed (sheepishly) but Vieira and Cannivaro said Chiles was wrong and was part of the game. Chiles is getting slated on twitter for being a buffoon and questioning the two WC winning ex-pro footballers. Now most fans I know would agree with Chiles. Or is the average fan now simply accepting that play-acting is part of the game and should be encouraged if it gains an advantage? I'm confused - I'm with Chiles on this one.
I think more people were annoyed that he was trying to defend Pepe as much as he was. Pepe had no excuse, both were as bad as each other.
You've found a unique occurrence - it's basically Schrödinger's Cat. What you have there is a statement that is simultaneously right and wrong. You are right - play acting is ruining the game and needs stamping out so the statement is right - but you have to concede that anything that comes out of the miserable brummie's fat mouth has to be molten horse **** - therefore it has to be wrong. It'll take philosophers years to work this one out.
Struck me that Dixon and Chiles were just pissed off at Muller's cheating and then at Vieira in particular dismissing it as part of the game and justifying it by saying his manager won't mind him doing it - completely missing the point that it's cheating. Chiles' point about USA fans was a good one. I say it all the time but the idea that footballers are all soft ****s was an outdated stereotype up to about 3/4 years ago and diving or cheating was really being clamped down on particularly in England. But people started defending it and the old line 'entitled to go down' started being trotted out by **** pundits and now it's become almost accepted.
Chiles is a terrible presenter but this is one thing I completely agree on. Muller is trying to get Pepe sent off with his reaction, not even to win a free kick or anything for his team, he is specifically trying to have a fellow professional sent off and banned which in my view is despicable. I have always maintained that the attitude towards 'headbutts' between players in football is a total joke. Was it dangerous? Would it harm anybody? Did it stop a goal scoring opportunity or in any other way damage the quality of football played? The answer to all those is no, so why is it a red card offence?
Violent conduct has to be a red though or it'd be farcical. What I don't get is why the footballers do it so much. You don't see all this head-leaning anywhere else when it boils over so why do footballers do it?
Because it's the rules. No matter how soft the headbutt is, it is still violent conduct. Which should always be a red card. Whether or not you like it, that's how it goes.
You have to have some black and white. Your views are admirable but totally unworkable. It's pretty simple really, these 'rules' aren't hidden, there's no smoke and mirrors about the do's and don't's. Move your head towards another players and you're off. If you make that full of ifs buts and maybes, then it makes the referees job even harder and open to even more criticism.
I think he is fine as a presenter. He is not there as en expert or a pundit. He is there to ask questions to them not spout his own views. He is a 'fan' among the 'footballers'. Think Mark Chapman is the best of that type.
Mullers overreaction to the clip to the face was bad and i never condone it , at the same time im not that offended by players rutting each other in the heat of the game But the game has changed a lot over the time i've watched it . Mullers actions would be accepted by fans of the club/national team he plays for , probably applauded . Pepes reaction was wrong and not condonable - no matter how much we would want to do the same thing , but for a very long time now reffs have come down harder on the reaction rather than the tackle .
If muller played for city I would certainly not applaud him. The same as Elmo got from me last season....get the **** up he never touched you!!!
Childs gets a lot of social media abuse, but so does every football pundit. Even i'd get it in the neck if i went on the telly,and i'm very cool indeed,as you all know. Doesn't anyone remember Mr Childs calling Hull city a real football club,on the telly ? The blokes spot on with this diving ****,and he's putting it out there on a ****ing big stage. David Meyler never dived in his life, and Stuart Elliott is a man of god,so....
i agree , but in general the shouts around stadiums always back their man . if every bit of play acting was booed and jeered by all sides it would stop pretty soon . You could tell in the discussion , the players were of the opinion that because Muller was clipped Pepe was wrong , so Mullers reaction was irrelevant . Chiles argued otherwise and got nowhere .
People say that 'violent' actions have to be black and white, but why does having common sense work in other sports like rugby? A player doing that in Rugby would not be sent off as it would be judged whether or not the actions were dangerous.
My main issue with Chiles is the amount of stammering he does. He's a presenter. It's his job to speak. It's all "errs" and getting halfway through a sentence, only to stammer, think about it, and start from the beginning again. He does it all the time.
