Julius Posted March 7, 2022 Author Posted March 7, 2022 23 hours ago, Kav said: How are we getting such bad officiating with VAR?! My problem with how VAR is utilised in offside replays is that arms are even considered to the extent that they are to begin with, especially with how handball has been cracked down on (maybe a bit too harshly) in most cases. It's football -- unless there's an extreme example where some part of the arm is offside and is used to gain an advantage (for example, if a player controlled the ball with their shoulder) I don't understand why we wouldn't just be looking at the attacking player's legs and feet in comparison to the defending player's legs and feet. Part of the idea of offside is to essentially have a fair footrace to the ball if a defender is tracking back, but only considering their position in a vacuum and not even their direction or current momentum (which is silly anyways because nine times out of ten the defending player is going to be slower than the attacking player through the middle of the pitch), so it's supposed to be an equalising thing for, again, essentially a footrace...where one player might be facing or currently moving in the wrong direction to begin with.
bob Posted March 7, 2022 Posted March 7, 2022 I'm pretty sure you can use video analysis to calculate a person's centre of mass, or hip point. Just do that and see who is further forward. Then it doesn't matter if a stray leg or hand is throwing off the VAR. 1
Julius Posted March 7, 2022 Author Posted March 7, 2022 4 minutes ago, bob said: I'm pretty sure you can use video analysis to calculate a person's centre of mass, or hip point. Just do that and see who is further forward. Then it doesn't matter if a stray leg or hand is throwing off the VAR. You see, the problem with a great idea like that is that doesn't allow the refs and VAR assistants to be as incompetent
Hero-of-Time Posted March 20, 2022 Posted March 20, 2022 Not a classic performance by us by any means but a result is a result. I can see City knocking us out in the next round though. I was sure the goal was going to be ruled offside but that wasn't the case.
darksnowman Posted March 20, 2022 Posted March 20, 2022 Some atmosphere at the City Ground. I thought Diogo was a shoulder offside but the VAR awarded the goal so what do I know. Glad the penalty wasn't given because while there was contact... not a pen. 19 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said: I can see City knocking us out in the next round though. Could well be knocked out of the league title race and cup by them in short order. Not that I'm defeatist or anything but at what point can they meet in the Champions League?? 1
Julius Posted March 25, 2022 Author Posted March 25, 2022 Italy not qualifying for the World Cup this year after losing to North Macedonia tonight, after how thoroughly they proved themselves last year during the Euro's, is absolutely nuts. That means if they manage to qualify for the next World Cup in 2026, they'll have gone 12 years between World Cup appearances. It's kind of barmy that they don't automatically qualify as European champions to begin with, but I guess this exact scenario where they're getting knocked out in playoffs by North Macedonia is why. 1
darksnowman Posted March 25, 2022 Posted March 25, 2022 Yup, missing Spinazzola and Chiesa is no excuse. It's was not a vintage side by any stretch but they should still have had enough to put these teams away. Euro winners, beat Belgium to clinch third spot in the Nations League with a 37 game unbeaten run thrown in for good measure, and then falter against the likes of Northern Ireland (not Brazil) and North Macedonia...? With all due respect to the opposition, Italy need to have a look at themselves. Ravanelli says clear the squad out and keep Mancini. He's right enough however Mancini shouldn't automatically get a pass either--he called up those players and set them up! I was gloatingly texted at full-time last night with the info that the last time Italy won a knockout round match at a World Cup was the final in '06. Zidane put the hoodoo on them. It's not like the Qatar World Cup isn't tarnished beyond repair anyway, so when the dust settles on Italy's failure, it'll be nice to have one less reason to tune in.
Hero-of-Time Posted April 1, 2022 Posted April 1, 2022 Looks to be a decent starting World Cup group for England. USA, Iran and potentially Scotland or Wales. Lovely stuff. Hope we batter the yanks.
bob Posted April 1, 2022 Posted April 1, 2022 Yeah those Americans need taking down a peg or two. Scrape into the World Cup with a 2-0 loss to Costa Rica and they think they own the place.
killthenet Posted April 1, 2022 Posted April 1, 2022 Funny how the Home Nations keep getting drawn in the same group, first England & Wales at Euro 2016, then Scotland getting England in the last Euros, now the strong possibility of it happening again - seems like every time its possible, the draw ends up that way Good draw for England, they should win the group regardless of who gets the last spot so I'd be very surprised if they didn't make it through. Hopefully Scotland can win the two games to reach the World Cup, we didn't perform too well at the Euros last summer (although we were very unlucky not to get anything from the first game against the Czech Republic!) but our performances since have been phenomenal so I'd back us to get out of that group of we can make it through the playoffs!
darksnowman Posted April 2, 2022 Posted April 2, 2022 That opportunity for João Pedro in the second half felt like he was just getting the shot away for the sake of completing the move in the belief that play'd be brought back for an offside in the approach. When you see the replay it doesn't look like there was an offside so if he'd stuck it away (and he should have) the goal would surely have stood. I'd like to know what Jurgen sees in Matip in training. He always looks like he has a mistake in him... I'd put him in the Djimi Traoré category. Whereas Joe Gomez looks calm, solid, skilful and unrufflable similar to Virgil yet hardly gets a look in. Every match is a potential banana skin but even more so the early kick-offs as the atmosphere is always a bit flat. That's the Pool top of the league for at least a few hours then. Over to Pep. It was already looking grim for Watford. Think that's them cut loose now. 1
darksnowman Posted April 4, 2022 Posted April 4, 2022 Quote “In the Champions League I always overthink,” he said. “I always create new tactics and ideas, and tomorrow you will see a new one. I overthink a lot; that’s why I have very good results in the Champions League. I love it. It would be boring if I always played the same way. If people think I will play the same against Atlético and Liverpool [City’s opponents on Sunday], well, I don’t think like that because the movements from Liverpool are completely different than Atlético – especially because the players are all different. “Every player has a mother and father and the mother and father give different personalities to the players. That’s why I love to overthink and create stupid tactics and, when we don’t win, I am punished. Tonight I will take inspiration and I’m going to do incredible tactics tomorrow – we play with 12 tomorrow.” https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/apr/04/pep-guardiola-jokes-about-his-stupid-tactics-in-champions-league Pep has become self-aware and learned sarcasm. We're double doomed.
Hero-of-Time Posted April 10, 2022 Posted April 10, 2022 16 hours ago, darksnowman said: Go on the Toffees! You love to see it. I honestly wanted Man U to win. Seeing Everton get relegated would be hilarious. To be fair, given their next few fixtures, it could still be on the cards. It was funny that Maguire caused the goal, especially after all the criticism he's had in recent weeks.
Happenstance Posted April 10, 2022 Posted April 10, 2022 Really hope Ronaldo faces some proper consequences for slapping the phone out of a kids hand and breaking it yesterday after the match. Such a petulant child.
darksnowman Posted April 10, 2022 Posted April 10, 2022 1 hour ago, Hero-of-Time said: I honestly wanted Man U to win. Seeing Everton get relegated would be hilarious. To be fair, given their next few fixtures, it could still be on the cards. It was funny that Maguire caused the goal, especially after all the criticism he's had in recent weeks. He'll still be one of the first names on Southgate's call-up list. Everton are by no means out of the woods yet. Burnely could leapfrog them after a couple more matches. All the talk of them being too big to go down means... they are probably going. 3 minutes ago, Happenstance said: Really hope Ronaldo faces some proper consequences for slapping the phone out of a kids hand and breaking it yesterday after the match. Such a petulant child. Did you see that. What a twit. If possible, he wants to invite the person to a match. Err yeah but what about replacing the phone??
Emerald Emblem Posted April 10, 2022 Posted April 10, 2022 (edited) 11 hours ago, darksnowman said: Did you see that. What a twit. If possible, he wants to invite the person to a match. Err yeah but what about replacing the phone?? It's come out today that the kid he assaulted is autistic too. When it rains it pours. He should offer to replace it regardless but I'd be surprised if he didn't after this fact has come to light. Edited April 10, 2022 by Emerald Emblem
darksnowman Posted April 11, 2022 Posted April 11, 2022 13 hours ago, Emerald Emblem said: It's come out today that the kid he assaulted is autistic too. When it rains it pours. He should offer to replace it regardless but I'd be surprised if he didn't after this fact has come to light. Wasn't aware of that detail. It was already unacceptable and that just puts it in an even worse light. People will say "show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser" but Ronaldo takes it too far every time with these displays of discontent and lashing out. What happened to keeping it behind closed doors and coming back out in the next match to set it right on the pitch.
Happenstance Posted April 11, 2022 Posted April 11, 2022 Any other industry and he would be fired for this. There needs to at least be a ban and not just a fine that he won't even notice.
Hero-of-Time Posted April 11, 2022 Posted April 11, 2022 1 hour ago, Happenstance said: Any other industry and he would be fired for this. There needs to at least be a ban and not just a fine that he won't even notice. Agreed. I hate it when they get fines for such things. As you said, the fines they get slapped with are pennies to them. Dude should be banned for the rest of the season. 1
nekunando Posted April 11, 2022 Posted April 11, 2022 On 10/04/2022 at 10:20 AM, darksnowman said: If possible, he wants to invite the person to a match. Hasn't the kid suffered enough..?
Happenstance Posted April 11, 2022 Posted April 11, 2022 I hate the wording used in that offer as well: Quote "I would like to apologise for my outburst and, if possible, I would like to invite this supporter to watch a game at Old Trafford as a sign of fair-play and sportsmanship" What the fuck does that even mean??? "As a sign of fair-play and sportsmanship"! This is a kid watching a football match that he basically assaulted, not a player on the pitch that he mis-timed a tackle on!
darksnowman Posted April 11, 2022 Posted April 11, 2022 25 minutes ago, nekunando said: Hasn't the kid suffered enough..? Danny Murphy thinks so!
Julius Posted April 12, 2022 Author Posted April 12, 2022 (edited) Best knockout performance in Europe away tonight by Chelsea at the Santiago Bernabeu ever? At the very least in the UCL era and by an English side, much less by a side trailing from the first leg. Gutted we just let it go in the last 15 minutes, we just looked far too leggy when push came to shove and didn't have the peace of mind that experience gives that most of these Madrid players have. Take Modric and Benzema out of the game and we would have won tonight, and I think we undeniably deserved to win tonight, as we did. Very frustrating about the Alonso handball - by the letter of the law, by all means it's a handball and not a goal, but I have no idea what the hell are you meant to do, lop your arms off? - and this isn't a cop out with me, as I've never been a fan of the rule change; on the other hand, I don't think the ball touched Modric before the corner was given for Rudiger to score from, so maybe that cancels it out. I think a lot of the rules "clarified" or changed in recent seasons have been a mess and don't take into account what the people on the pitch can actually do in the moment. But at the end of the day, in competitions like these, you make your own luck, and last week's poor performance at the Bridge has come back to haunt us. Tie goes into the book as an instant classic (which we haven't had too many of), and unfortunately we're on the wrong side of it. Elsewhere curious to see Bayern bow out here, Villarreal under Emery in Europe was always going to be a challenge, but it's very surprising that a side as experienced and with as much depth as they have clearly struggled. City or Atlético vs Real in the semi-finals could be very fun to watch, but for now I'm just looking forward to City vs Atlético tomorrow night. Sucks to be out of the competition but being a neutral with a competition like this is always fascinating (and way less stressful!). Edited April 12, 2022 by Julius
Hero-of-Time Posted April 13, 2022 Posted April 13, 2022 Yeah, absolutely crazy night of football. Gutted for Chelsea as there were very much in control for most of the match. All it takes is a single chance to turn a game around and that's what happened here. By extra time Chelsea just looked exhausted. The other match was nuts as well. Over the course of both legs Villarreal only had two shots on target and scored both of them. Bayern battered them in terms of possession and chances and its once again a good lesson on how the possession stat means nothing if you can't convert. I'm hoping we don't bottle it tonight and can finish what we started in the first leg.
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