Call me old fashioned but I don't like diving or even going down if you can stay on your feet. Similarly the cynical foul to stop the break away (which is what Allen did for his yellow). Ade could have played for a foul when he drove into the box and Lovren tackled him. Ade played the ball inside giving the defender the chance to tackle-in that situation plenty of players would have gone in a straight line and drawn the penalty so well done Ade. Commentators don't help. Yesterday they were praising Seamus Colman for pushing Costa in the back and thus provoking Costa to retaliate and then it was Costa who got the yellow.
So you know how a few people were saying "Wait til the Liverpool game to get a true idea of where we're at"? Well that game just goes to remind us all of what is needed to be in and around the top four - a handful of truly quality players in the attacking third, a decent defence, pace going forward and general organisation. You can even do without a truly excellent goalie and striker if the above are achieved. Poch can do something about most of those elements I'd hope but I just don't think he can do much about the first one - having a handful of truly quality attacking players. Right now we have one - Eriksen. Him aside - am I really believing that Lamela, Chadli, Townsend, Kane, Holtby, Paulinho etc etc are gonna boss a game against a top team? Ade maybe. Sorry - but we've STILL not seen the evidence that we have the quality of players to finish above two of Liverpool, Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal or City. Unless either two of them have massive ****-up seasons and some of our players start actually looking like Prem-quality starters and not (in Lamela's case) just promising-looking subs or players able to hurt teams from Cyprus. Or a very poor QPR. This game was a massive wake-up call. I hope it can benefit the players in a way. But to be perfectly honest I just think we're further off the best teams now in pure quality of player than we have been in the last 5 years or so. People talk about Lamela but what is that - three good games for Spurs? One against some poor Europa team last season, One against a Cypriot team this year and one against a pitiful QPR. Don't mean to slate him cos he's young and got promise but he should be just that - a promising youngster getting regular sub appearances and run-outs in the Europa. Instead, because we paid 3 times too much for him, he's just putting in clueless performances in the EPL time and time again. Again - don't men to single him out - there was almost a teamful of 2/10 performances out there today (why 2 not 1 or 0? No idea). Kaboul, for one, looks a real worry - that was one of the worst peformances by a defender for years, wasn't it? And I'm including Naughton's appearances at left-back there. And then Townsend decided that he was going to try to be our worst player player today despite only getting 30 mins or so. He was in a real hurry to earn himself ****-points. Lloris' kicking was terrible, Verts let balls drift over him again, Bentaleb was poor. Dier's our best defender right now.
There are two types of dive. Ones that are done to highlight a foul (ie Allen today, it was a dive, but also a foul was committed as he was impeded) and then there are dives which are complete simulations when there has been zero contact. Have modern refs ever given penalties when a player hasn't gone to ground?
"There are two types of dive. Ones that are done to highlight a foul" That is the one that is "done" to exaggerate the extent of the foul should the ref be having any doubts about awarding the foul. I believe the scientific term for that one is ... CHEATING. Which is coincidentally the same term used for the second "type" (spooky eh) .
I wouldn't even call it a foul, merely a touch. Outside of the box he would have just kept on going. As it was in the box, he hit the deck instead. From a a Spurs point of view. I hope that Fazio comes through assimilation quickly, and that we add somebody who knows how to put relatively simple chances away. If Chadli had put away that chance just before half time, it would have rattled Liverpool and who knows we might have had a better second half. On two such moments, games can be decided.
Yeah - and Phil Neville was saying how Kolorov should have brought Diouf down when he broke away for Stoke's goal. It's hard to see the game becoming more honest when the cheating is just becoming more and more accepted by the footballing establishment. Remember the scandal that happened when Vinnie Jones admitted to purposefully cheating in his book? Now commentators are not just condoning cheating but we've got to a point where players are criticised for NOT cheating. It really is messed up.
I repeat: Football is a contact sport - you are allowed to touch each other. Contact does not equal foul. This is very, very important and seems to be forgotten my many in recent times. Watch any amateur game, have a kick-about with some kids - you will soon understand what sort of physical reaction the laws of physics dictate when you are touched on the chest. All else is cheating.
To say Allen was impeded is very generous, there was absolutely nothing to stop him putting the cross in until he threw himself to the ground, defenders do stuff like that all the time to try and pressure a player, I'm sure if you concentrated on the defenders the entire game you could spot 10 cases of similar level contact per game, it's totally normal and not a foul. Look here's another heinous pullback. please log in to view this image Just look how badly fouled Soldado is! Except is wasn't given as a foul and with good reason, contact doesn't = a foul, you're allowed to lay a hand on the other player without it being a foul. It happens all the time.
Thank goodness I didn't watch it. Poch lost 0-3 at Saints last season but won up at Liverpool so there's hope. I was worried and right to be because he opened his mouth and bingo. So, we start again.
It didn't take long, did it! Not PC is like one of those school yard bullies who hides behind the big lad and tells him to beat up other little lads like him. So very sad, really.
"And what exactly is pulling someones arm? Being 'clever' I suppose" Being stupid. More so if you do it in the penalty box. Incredibly so when your opponent is the Poool.
The Goons have just scored, so I expect he's busy ****ing himself silly. On reflection, he must have done one hell of a lot of ****ing!
