Punished for a 3.5 / 10 performance, when others are getting away with 7's and 8's simply because their opponent can keep a lid on things? Please don't get so carried away that you make Muller to be the devil incarnate, cos he's not. He's taking advantage of a slap around the face to go down a little easily and whilst I'd prefer he didn't, if you're going to punish him for that, then Neymar deserves being hung, drawn and quartered. Only he won't be, because his opposition didn't react by throwing the head in. Please keep some sense of proportion - unless you think that Pepe was in any way hard done by. In which case.....
You gonna spend all tournament counting them? Doesn't make your proposed 'solution' right in any way, but you carry on. If it floats your boat, then feel free to count all the tumbles you like. I see you're ignoring the times when the Australian right-back threw himself to the ground and stayed prefectly still, despite not weven being touched? And when the Australian left winger went down in the area and again stayed perfectly still, and thankfully didn't get the penalty he would have got under your world view..... Still, if it makes you happy...
I've already said Pepe was moronic and deservedly got sent off for the reaction to Muller's shameful cheating. I don't see how you can possibly defend Muller. All divers should be punished- whether Pepe reacts or not, Muller's actions should not be tolerated.
Shameful? Hardly. It was barely cheeky. There were far worse in this afternoon's games, but I don't see you or Flyer calling for bans for them. And what about Neymar? Life imprisonment can surely be getting off lightly...
What is cheeky about feigning mock agony trying to get an opponent sent off? I'd like all divers banned retrospectively. We're talking about Muller because the thread is titled "Muller".
This. Mullers performance was great with his hatrick but his action in this "pepegate" was as shameful as some latin players do. West london willie why you thought that your 3,3/10 rate was accurate in that muller cheatcase? IMO something like 7 or 8 was more like it. Mind you english players can do this too and this is the case. English and German players do that kind of cheating acts more often now than before.
Oh for the love of Rick Astley.... He wasn't trying to get Pepe sent off, he was trying to get a free kick. Which he would never have got, had Pepe not been a moron. As I've repeatedly told Flyer, and apparently need to tel you - these things are NOT binary. Players go down for all kinds of reasons, and it's not as simple as "either he's seriously injured or he's a cheat". There are many other reasons - such as when they are actually fouled and want to make sure the ref has seen it. That's where playacting starts, but it's rarely as cynical as "I go down, he gets sent off". Sadly these days, it's everywhere in the game, and of course I would rather it wasn't. But Flyer's proposal ISN'T the answer.
I call it as I saw it. There are far worse, far more blatant, and far more cynical dives - there were worse in this game alone. But the ONLY reason this is being discussed is because of Pepe's reaction - no other reason. Some on here appear to miss that fact completely, and are therefore as guilty of overreacting as they claim Muller was. It's a good job nobody is calling for bans for THAT kind of playacting, isn't it...
With respect, utter bollocks. If Muller doesn't want Pepe off he doesn't pretend he's so badly hurt. Obviously it won't work every time but if you can get the centre-half off one in twenty times then the reward outweighs the risk (is there one??) of being booked for 'simulation'.
Attention all - cast you minds back to ZAMORRRRRRAAAAAA. And then you'll relax and care less about the above. GOAAAAAL CHILIE
I want bans for all of them, robben would never play a full game! I'm only posting it here because there was a thread. Muller wasn't even that bad.
For the umpteenth time I'm not. Pepe deserved a red but whether he'd reacted or not, Muller's acting was shameful and, frankly, worse.
I'm kinda with Flyer on this one; at least on the sentiment of his piece. The sissy play-acting is pathetic. Why anybody would want to spend any amount of their precious time excusing such behaviour interests me.
I'm not against Flyer, I just think his solution is far too simplistic, binary, and because of that, unworkable.
I assure you I'm not. If I was playing I'd far rather take a full on headbutt, let alone the far less aggressive sort Pepe did, than have someone attempt to get me off with a dive. Fortunately I'd be smart enough, or at least have been in the past, to smile and laugh it off, but I have some sympathy with Pepe's anger if not his stupidity.
