EMF, can't say with certainty but- time and time again, for all teams, the refs seem to place their calls against the big guys. In a 50:50 scenario- 75% of the time the ref will side with the little guy- I'm sure it's unconscious- or it looks like the big guy is in the wrong because the little guy goes flying. Watch Crouch next time he plays for England (stop snickering) how many times does he get accused of a foul for some negligable thing?
Milk. Re: Andy Carroll and the Liverpool vs Sunderland game. It is easy for us to make a judgement when we've had the opportunity to see the incident over and over again. The referee has to make a split second decision, however on this occasion he should have consulted with his linesman seeing as he was unsure. From where I was sitting, Anton Ferdinand jumped up in the air and landed on the ground, and Andy Carroll never touched him. Its definitely 50/50 on whether these decisions are given, I believe there should be a precedent set on this, that all strikers like Andy Carroll will have those decisions given against them or given in their favour. Similar to the Richardson incident. Lets see what happens the next time an incident like that occurs on whether the player is sent off or not. That was definitely an 80/20, 80 that he would usually have been sent off.
The Carroll incident was his own fault, when you outstretch your arm into an opponents back you are giving the ref a reason to give the foul against you, even at junior level kids are pulled up for putting a hand on an opponents back. even if they do not actually push the player.
Football has adapted once again. It has now gone to lining the team up on 4 rows instead of 3, going as defence, midfield, attack, striker. Typical with 2 main midfielder's dictating the game, and another with a free role just in front. It links attack to midfield well and adds an extra man in the middle when defending. Its a system thats all about keeping the ball. By spreading the players out all over the pitch it means less running, and helps make someone always available for the pass. Genius!
