I saw the Messi / Suarez penalty last night and there's very much 2 camps where people stand in terms of genius or disrespectful. Personally I think the penalty was a touch of genius in a game that has somehow lost it's way in terms of fouling and gamesmanship etc. However, it got me thinking about what would happen if Fulham tried the same, here goes: McCormack walks up and rolls it forward to Cairney who passes it to Parker who twists on a sixpence and passes it back to Burn who passes it back to Lonergan, who plays it up field and out of of play. Now that's the way to take a Fulhamish penalty!
For anybody who hasn't seen the penalty, here's a link to it: http://www.90min.com/posts/2954355-...ost-unselfish-penalty-of-all-time?a_aid=35507 When I saw it, my first reaction was should it have been allowed? Forward pass therefore offside or two touches on a penalty - but don't know if either valid complaints. Second reaction was arrogant and taking the michael.
My thoughts are it is within the rules of the game, there is now well known sportsman agreement about like throwing the ball back after an injury so issues, if they don't like it change they should change the rules. If Fulham did it and scored wouldn't bother me brilliant, if we tried it and missed I would be very angry though.
Cruyff did the same thing in (I think) his Ajax days. As for the rules, as long as the ball is played forwards, the original taker doesn't play it twice and the second player is outside the box and behind the ball when the first touch occurs, it's all good. It's no more unsporting than a clever free-kick routine designed to wrong-foot the opposition.
I think the way it was presented in some outlets as Messi generously giving Suarez the goal set me off - I can just imagine the Fulhamish version with lots of twisting from Parker. Not sure if it's appropriate for a competitive game but then they are good enough to get away with it. I suppose the Barca players see a penalty like paying tax, most people just hoof it down the middle - they like to hold on a little longer and move it around a bit.
