*Official* English Football Season 2008-2009

[Retox]

almost feel like supporting United in the final because I just don't think Barca should be there

 

[GIMH]

I don't actually think that the Anelka one was the right decision, just that I don't think he necessarily went down deliberately.

I don't expect a referee to have superhuman eyesight but they should be able to tell when a player is having his shirt pulled during open play. It's not like I'm calling him on not spotting something he was 50 yards away from, he should have seen the shirt pulling, so should his assistant who should also be held to account for that decision.

 

[garage flower]

Drogba is behaving how fans behave when their team get shafted by the ref, quite amusing. He'll cop a big fan and fine, and I'll cop some stick for this, but I don't mind at all the way he's behaved at the end of the game, people complain that footballers are devoid of passion, well there you have it

That's "passion" is it. Does the irony of his accusations of it all being a "fcuk** disgrace" escape you, as it evidently does Didier?

 

[garage flower]

Mmm there was a free kick given outside the box that was blatantly inside it. But i didn't think it was a foul. One between Yaya and Drogba that could have gone either way- unlucky for Chelsea perhaps but hardly a shocker. An excellent tackle from Pique (i think) that i think you may be referring to. One shocker of a blatant handball a short while after Abidal's red. And a handball that was quite rightly not given in the fifth minute of injury time.

Are they the five you had in mind?

I'm finding it strangely bizarre that none of the four Chelsea fans i was with shared your sentiments remotely but everyone on CW does. Their view of it (and mine) was a bit of a "things didn't go our way", as opposed to "Chelsea waz robbed".

Saved me the job, Uppercut. Some ludicrous assertions on here, mirroring the predictably jingoistic coverage on Sky and elsewhere in the UK media.

Although I've been disappointed with Barcelona's performances over the 2 legs (though the loss of Puyol and Marquez and resultant reshuffle had a real detrimental effect tonight), the result really is a defeat for Chelsea's appaling brand of anti-football. The rotational fouling policy that they've mastered to stymie any attacks that appear threatening, while avoiding red cards, is particularly frustrating.

I'm a big Barca fan and have backed them all season, but I think they'll need to raise their game significantly to beat Man U.

 

[GIMH]

That's "passion" is it. Does the irony of his accusations of it all being a "fcuk** disgrace" escape you, as it evidently does Didier?

Drogab's reputation may have been at the core of the decisions tonight, no doubt about it. Two wrongs don't make a right though, I take no pleasure in Darren Fletcher's misfortune despite having seen United benefit from poor decisions over the years; I take no pleasure in seeing Chelsea shafted just because Drogba goes down quicker than an Essex girl. And I don't see that diving is any worse than shirt pulling, as I said a few posts back.

 

[grecian]

Saved me the job, Uppercut. Some ludicrous assertions on here, mirroring the predictably jingoistic coverage on Sky and elsewhere in the UK media.

Although I've been disappointed with Barcelona's performances over the 2 legs (though the loss of Puyol and Marquez and resultant reshuffle had a real detrimental effect tonight), the result really is a defeat for Chelsea's appaling brand of anti-football. The rotational fouling policy that they've mastered to stymie any attacks that appear threatening, while avoiding red cards, is particularly frustrating.

I'm a big Barca fan and have backed them all season, but I think they'll need to raise their game significantly to beat Man U.

Watched it with the sound down, and I hate Chelsea, but never mind.........

 

[garage flower]

Drogab's reputation may have been at the core of the decisions tonight, no doubt about it. Two wrongs don't make a right though, I take no pleasure in Darren Fletcher's misfortune despite having seen United benefit from poor decisions over the years; I take no pleasure in seeing Chelsea shafted just because Drogba goes down quicker than an Essex girl. And I don't see that diving is any worse than shirt pulling, as I said a few posts back.

I'm talking about Drogba compounding the latest in a series of despicable displays of blatant cheating by abusing the ref and - ironically - swearing "disgrace" at the watching millions. That's a just a series of wrongs by a scumbag who should be drummed out of the game.

As for this ridiculous notion that Chelsea were "shafted" rather than just being on the wrong end of some debatable decisions (and the right end of others across the two games), I think the individual incidents have already been debated in enough detail.

 

[GIMH]

Watched it with the sound down, and I hate Chelsea, but never mind.........

The fact that me, you and Pickup were all in here straight away chatting about it, even though none of us could give a tiny rat's ass about the CL 9in the grand scheme of things) - that says enough for me

 

[GIMH]

I'm talking about Drogba compounding the latest in a series of despicable displays of blatant cheating by abusing the ref and - ironically - swearing "disgrace" at the watching millions. That's a just a series of wrongs by a scumbag who should be drummed out of the game.

As for this ridiculous notion that Chelsea were "shafted" rather than just being on the wrong end of some debatable decisions (and the right end of others across the two games), I think the individual incidents have already been debated in enough detail.

I just don't see what is wrong with him shouting "disgrace" round the camera, alleged hypocrisy aside. If anybody who was watching tonight was offended by the fact that Drogba swore - they must mute the crowd at every game they watch on TV then. He said "****" - big deal, let's lock him up, because none of us ever swear

 

[Uppercut]

Drogab's reputation may have been at the core of the decisions tonight, no doubt about it. Two wrongs don't make a right though, I take no pleasure in Darren Fletcher's misfortune despite having seen United benefit from poor decisions over the years; I take no pleasure in seeing Chelsea shafted just because Drogba goes down quicker than an Essex girl. And I don't see that diving is any worse than shirt pulling, as I said a few posts back.

Hmm, have to say i think diving is worse. Although i'm not as against it as most of the British media, it's especially annoying when it puts another player out of the biggest game of his life despite doing nothing wrong.

Shirt pulling isn't the same thing because it's an act of frustration. I've instinctively pulled someone's shirt when playing simply because when you're a defender and you see someone about to score you do anything to stop him from scoring- you don't even think about it. It's against the rules, but it's up to the referee to give it as a foul.

Diving, on the other hand, is deliberately trying to fool the referee into giving a wrong decision. It's not something you do in the heat of a moment, it's much more, i don't know, sneaky. There's something about that that repulses me. Breaking the rules by going a step too far in the heat of the moment isn't the same as systematically trying to gain an unfair advantage. Not in my eyes anyway. It's all completely a matter of opinion.

 

[grecian]

The fact that me, you and Pickup were all in here straight away chatting about it, even though none of us could give a tiny rat's ass about the CL 9in the grand scheme of things) - that says enough for me

Yes and to call the press jingoistically against Barca, also seems odd considering they've been writing eulogies about Messi and co for a fortnight, but I'm sure I'm fooling myself....

BTW I'm still not Supporting United, in the Final.

C'mon Barca

 

[garage flower]

Watched it with the sound down, and I hate Chelsea, but never mind.........

Not sure what point you're making. I'm not suggesting you're biased, just that you - and many others - are mistaken if you think any great injustice has been perpetrated.

 

[BoyBrumby]

The fact that me, you and Pickup were all in here straight away chatting about it, even though none of us could give a tiny rat's ass about the CL 9in the grand scheme of things) - that says enough for me

Indeed. I've no love for Chelsea and Barca may be ever so kind to furry woodland creatures and all, but they've been stitched up with three solid gold penalties turned down.

Same with Darren Fletcher yesterday, god knows I wanted ManUre to lose with every fibre of my being, but it was a horrible, horrible decision. The ball clearly moved and now the boy misses the final because of UEFA's petty intransigence.

It has sweet Fanny Adams to do with anything other than the decisions being wrong.

 

[GIMH]

Hmm, have to say i think diving is worse. Although i'm not as against it as most of the British media, it's especially annoying when it puts another player out of the biggest game of his life despite doing nothing wrong.

Shirt pulling isn't the same thing because it's an act of frustration. I've instinctively pulled someone's shirt when playing simply because when you're a defender and you see someone about to score you do anything to stop him from scoring- you don't even think about it. It's against the rules, but it's up to the referee to give it as a foul.

Diving, on the other hand, is deliberately trying to fool the referee into giving a wrong decision. It's not something you do in the heat of a moment, it's much more, i don't know, sneaky. There's something about that that repulses me. Breaking the rules by going a step too far in the heat of the moment isn't the same as systematically trying to gain an unfair advantage. Not in my eyes anyway. It's all completely a matter of opinion.

Yeah, it is a matter of opinion, but most things we discuss round these parts are

I would argue, (in my opinion ) that it is a little naive to refer to shirt pulling as an act of frustration. It is a cynical method of trying to stop your opponent instead of going for a legitimate tackle. It is so frustrating watching an attack get broken down by a shirt pull outside the box even if the referee clocks it. A foul i can live with if it's not a blatant legbreaker, but a pull of the shirt just smacks of not being good enough to go for the tackle, much like you dive if you know you're not going to beat the defender.

Plus there is probably an argument to be had that some dives genuinely occur in the heat of the moment. It doesn't make it any less despicable or whatever, but there is no doubt in my mind that sometimes when you see a player go down they only decide to in a flash.

Both of them are unfair ways of trying to gain an advantage/prevent a disadvantage, just like a deliberate handball or a blatant trip. They are all cheating and should all be held in the same regard.

 

[GIMH]

Yes and to call the press jingoistically against Barca, also seems odd considering they've been writing eulogies about Messi and co for a fortnight, but I'm sure I'm fooling myself....

BTW I'm still not Supporting United, in the Final.

C'mon Barca

Oh I won't be supporting United either. Just a heat of the moment comment. I make them all the time about footy. We once threw a two goal lead away at home to Chesterfield to lose 3-2 (they were like bottom of the league or something at the time). We had a home FA Cup Quarter-final replay four days later and I was adamant that I wasn't going to in protest at our capitulation.

for about 15 minutes

 

[garage flower]

Yes and to call the press jingoistically against Barca, also seems odd considering they've been writing eulogies about Messi and co for a fortnight, but I'm sure I'm fooling myself....

BTW I'm still not Supporting United, in the Final.

C'mon Barca

The only explanation I can find for the one-eyed coverage on Sky, the biased news reports on the BBC and ITV, the rantings of Alan Green, and - by all accounts - the predictable drivel spouted by Lovejoy on 606 is jingoism. It's perhaps a small sample, so I could be accused of generalising, but it represents most of the coverage I've seen or heard or heard about tonight.

Fooling yourself in what respect?

 

[grecian]

The only explanation I can find for the one-eyed coverage on Sky, the biased news reports on the BBC and ITV, the rantings of Alan Green, and - by all accounts - the predictable drivel spouted by Lovejoy on 606 is jingoism. It's perhaps a small sample, so I could be accused of generalising, but it represents most of the coverage I've seen or heard or heard about tonight.

Fooling yourself in what respect?

Maybe they all thought it was crap refereeing and your bias for barca, may reflect the way you've seen it.

As i didn't feel it was jingoism from me, I must have been mistaken on it all, and fooling myself.
.

Not sure what point you're making. I'm not suggesting you're biased, just that you - and many others - are mistaken if you think any great injustice has been perpetrated.

Well you suggested this, which kind of says we're all being biased:

Some ludicrous assertions on here, mirroring the predictably jingoistic coverage on Sky and elsewhere in the UK media.

But maybe I'm mistaken, never mind, lets forget about, I will in twenty minutes, as I care that much about it

 

[garage flower]

Indeed. I've no love for Chelsea and Barca may be ever so kind to furry woodland creatures and all, but they've been stitched up with three solid gold penalties turned down.

Same with Darren Fletcher yesterday, god knows I wanted ManUre to lose with every fibre of my being, but it was a horrible, horrible decision. The ball clearly moved and now the boy misses the final because of UEFA's petty intransigence.

It has sweet Fanny Adams to do with anything other than the decisions being wrong.

All debatable, though the Drogba shout when there was a brief tangle of legs seemed very optimistic. I didn't see Pique move hand to ball initially and still isn't obvious on the replay, but certainly could have been given. The Alves-Malouda one does reflect badly on the ref in that he seemed to give one of those halfway house decisions in that it wasn't much of a foul (if indeed it was a foul at all) so he compromised and gave it for the initial contact outside the box.

I think there's far more to some of the media coverage, particularly on Sky, than coming to the conclusion that Chelsea have been "robbed" based on an objective analysis of individual decisions. I didn't intend to imply that posters on here were letting bias cloud their judgements, though I am very surprised at some of the opinions.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Only one team tried to play football for 180 minutes (+3).

Now this is a bit rich. I seem to recall a Champions League Semi-Final last season where a certain side played absolute anti-football to knock Barcelona out of the competition, wonder who that was....

 

[GIMH]

All debatable, though the Drogba shout when there was a brief tangle of legs seemed very optimistic. I didn't see Pique move hand to ball initially and still isn't obvious on the replay, but certainly could have been given. The Alves-Malouda one does reflect badly on the ref in that he seemed to give one of those halfway house decisions in that it wasn't much of a foul (if indeed it was a foul at all) so he compromised and gave it for the initial contact outside the box.

I think there's far more to some of the media coverage, particularly on Sky, than coming to the conclusion that Chelsea have been "robbed" based on an objective analysis of individual decisions. I didn't intend to imply that posters on here were letting bias cloud their judgements, though I am very surprised at some of the opinions.

Oh yeah, forgot that you were allowed to repeatedly pull away at an attacker's shirt