It's odd how many sentient human beings can see the footage of

[Sir C]

Olivier Giroud being hauled to the floor by his shirt, then suggest that either it was a 'harsh decison' or, God Help us, wasn't a penalty at all. Is this what they call cognitive dissonance?

[World's End Stella]

Olivier Giroud being hauled to the floor by his shirt, then suggest that either it was a 'harsh decison' or, God Help us, wasn't a penalty at all. Is this what they call cognitive dissonance?

Who are you referring to specifically, Charles? I haven't seen any sentient human beings claim it wasn't a penalty.

Only Alan Shearer and Ian Wright.

[Sir C]

Who are you referring to specifically, Charles? I haven't seen any sentient human beings claim it wasn't a penalty.

Only Alan Shearer and Ian Wright.

One assumes they have the capacity for simple reasoning, surely?

I'm thinking of the usual journalistic suspects as well. John Cross, for example. Also many Arsenal supporters on Twitter claiming we were 'lucky' to win because we got a soft penalty.

[Luis Anaconda]

One assumes they have the capacity for simple reasoning, surely?

I'm thinking of the usual journalistic suspects as well. John Cross, for example. Also many Arsenal supporters on Twitter claiming we were 'lucky' to win because we got a soft penalty.
I was impressed by Fonte's quote that Giroud asked him why the pen was given. I would be very surprised if this was the case but even then it would have been simple got Jose to point out that he was ripping the shirt off his back ffs

[Burney]

One assumes they have the capacity for simple reasoning, surely?

I'm thinking of the usual journalistic suspects as well. John Cross, for example. Also many Arsenal supporters on Twitter claiming we were 'lucky' to win because we got a soft penalty.

I was mystified by that. Wright, Lineker and Shearer would all have been screaming for a penalty in that situation. The defender was clearly fouling Giroud and yet we're supposed to believe it was 'soft'? Weird.

[World's End Stella]

One assumes they have the capacity for simple reasoning, surely?

I'm thinking of the usual journalistic suspects as well. John Cross, for example. Also many Arsenal supporters on Twitter claiming we were 'lucky' to win because we got a soft penalty.

I would never assume anything about Alan Shearer's intellect. At the end of the day, he's still just a sheet metal worker's son from Newcastle. And he has a sheet metal worker's brain.

I thought it was a bit soft but apparently the powers that be have asked referees to clamp down on shirt pulling so the defender has no one to blame but himself. And no one forced him to grab Giroud's shirt, as far as I can tell.

Poor performance, 3 points, life is good.

[Sir C]

I would never assume anything about Alan Shearer's intellect. At the end of the day, he's still just a sheet metal worker's son from Newcastle. And he has a sheet metal worker's brain.

I thought it was a bit soft but apparently the powers that be have asked referees to clamp down on shirt pulling so the defender has no one to blame but himself. And no one forced him to grab Giroud's shirt, as far as I can tell.

Poor performance, 3 points, life is good.

Sorry, you thought this was a soft penalty?

267

[Luis Anaconda]

Sorry, you thought this was a soft penalty?

267

Not sure simple reasoning is a strength for WES either, tbf

[Burney]

Sorry, you thought this was a soft penalty?

267

What these people usually say in this situation is: 'Yes, it's technically a penalty by the letter of the law, but...'

These people are, of course, eejits.

[World's End Stella]

Sorry, you thought this was a soft penalty?

267

No, I thought it was a 'bit' soft, an important distinction. But I didn't think the ManU keeper's tackle on Rooney was a straight red and a penalty so maybe I'm just dead hard.

[Burney]

No, I thought it was a 'bit' soft, an important distinction. But I didn't think the ManU keeper's tackle on Rooney was a straight red and a penalty so maybe I'm just dead hard.

Questions of 'soft' don't come into it. If as a defender you are committing a foul on an opposing player in the penalty area, you have absolutely no grounds for complaint if a penalty is given. The fact that a law may be inconsistently applied does not make its correct application wrong.

As for the City keeper's tackle, it would have been a straight red and a penalty but for the minor fact that he got nothing except the ball.

[Burney]

No, I thought it was a 'bit' soft, an important distinction. But I didn't think the ManU keeper's tackle on Rooney was a straight red and a penalty so maybe I'm just dead hard.

Questions of 'soft' don't come into it. If as a defender you are committing a foul on an opposing player in the penalty area, you have absolutely no grounds for complaint if a penalty is given. The fact that a law may be inconsistently applied does not make its correct application wrong.

As for the City keeper's tackle, it would have been a straight red and a penalty but for the minor fact that he got nothing except the ball.

[Luis Anaconda]

Questions of 'soft' don't come into it. If as a defender you are committing a foul on an opposing player in the penalty area, you have absolutely no grounds for complaint if a penalty is given. The fact that a law may be inconsistently applied does not make its correct application wrong.

As for the City keeper's tackle, it would have been a straight red and a penalty but for the minor fact that he got nothing except the ball.

It was a studs up, uncontrolled lunge actually. Getting the ball is irrelevant, it was clearly dangerous play. Definite red. Even Graeme Souness said it was dangerous ffs

[Burney]

It was a studs up, uncontrolled lunge actually. Getting the ball is irrelevant, it was clearly dangerous play. Definite red. Even Graeme Souness said it was dangerous ffs

Clearly it's not irrelevant, since it was the difference between it being a penalty and a sending off or not. I'm not saying the decision was right, I'm saying the fact that he got nothing but the ball made all the difference to the decision.

[Luis Anaconda]

Clearly it's not irrelevant, since it was the difference between it being a penalty and a sending off or not. I'm not saying the decision was right, I'm saying the fact that he got nothing but the ball made all the difference to the decision.

But it should have been a pen and a sending off - the ref got it wrong :shrug:

[Burney]

But it should have been a pen and a sending off - the ref got it wrong :shrug:

Probably, but the lack of contact made his decision more understandable - if not actually correct.

God knows I am certainly not going to go into bat for Mark Clattenburg. I'm just pointing out that consequences are bound to have an impact on decisions. The fact that there's no harm done and no-one has been illegally impeded is always going to make the decision to give a red card and a penalty more difficult for the ref.

[Luis Anaconda]

Probably, but the lack of contact made his decision more understandable - if not actually correct.

God knows I am certainly not going to go into bat for Mark Clattenburg. I'm just pointing out that consequences are bound to have an impact on decisions. The fact that there's no harm done and no-one has been illegally impeded is always going to make the decision to give a red card and a penalty more difficult for the ref.

Yes, I get that - thought that was meant just after I posted that last comment. And god knows, I don't want to agree with Mourinho.
I think one thing we can all agree on, it is highly amusing to watch him getting his tactics so utterly wrong in a big game

[7sisters]

Questions of 'soft' don't come into it. If as a defender you are committing a foul on an opposing player in the penalty area, you have absolutely no grounds for complaint if a penalty is given. The fact that a law may be inconsistently applied does not make its correct application wrong.

As for the City keeper's tackle, it would have been a straight red and a penalty but for the minor fact that he got nothing except the ball.

That's where the ' hard done by' opinions find sympathy. If a ref were to award a pen for every shirt tug or infringement, there would probably be a dozen in every game. I always assume that given the broad church of interpretation, it comes down to how the ref interprets the severity of the infringement. In this case, and in the context of other penalties, it was a correct decision but a smidge fortunate.

[Burney]

Yes, I get that - thought that was meant just after I posted that last comment. And god knows, I don't want to agree with Mourinho.
I think one thing we can all agree on, it is highly amusing to watch him getting his tactics so utterly wrong in a big game

Yes, that was funny. Also funny is that Man City seem to have replaced a dodgy keeper with one who makes Manuel Almunia look like David Seaman. :hehe:

[Ash]

Yes, I get that - thought that was meant just after I posted that last comment. And god knows, I don't want to agree with Mourinho.
I think one thing we can all agree on, it is highly amusing to watch him getting his tactics so utterly wrong in a big game

:nono: It was his players' fault. He said so.

[Burney]

That's where the ' hard done by' opinions find sympathy. If a ref were to award a pen for every shirt tug or infringement, there would probably be a dozen in every game. I always assume that given the broad church of interpretation, it comes down to how the ref interprets the severity of the infringement. In this case, and in the context of other penalties, it was a correct decision but a smidge fortunate.

If refs were to award penalties for every shirt tug or infringement, those infringements would cease to happen. It is only the turning of a blind eye to such infringements that has created uncertainty.

[World's End Stella]

Not sure simple reasoning is a strength for WES either, tbf

Luis Anaconda is a ****. How's that for simple reasoning?

[World's End Stella]

:nono: It was his players' fault. He said so.

I found that pretty amazing, given that less than a year ago he had a hugely expensive team almost in a relegation battle largely because he had lost the players.

I would not be surprised if Pogba and Mourinho fall out massively this season. Now how funny would that be?

[World's End Stella]

Questions of 'soft' don't come into it. If as a defender you are committing a foul on an opposing player in the penalty area, you have absolutely no grounds for complaint if a penalty is given. The fact that a law may be inconsistently applied does not make its correct application wrong.

As for the City keeper's tackle, it would have been a straight red and a penalty but for the minor fact that he got nothing except the ball.

The 'soft' distinction is made only to point out that the large majority of those sorts of fouls are ignored by the referee. It doesn't change the fact that it was clearly a foul and a penalty. I don't see the two as being inconsistent.

[PSRB]

Probably, but the lack of contact made his decision more understandable - if not actually correct.

God knows I am certainly not going to go into bat for Mark Clattenburg. I'm just pointing out that consequences are bound to have an impact on decisions. The fact that there's no harm done and no-one has been illegally impeded is always going to make the decision to give a red card and a penalty more difficult for the ref.

Must say, I thought the keeper was very lucky. On the back of that performance Joe Hart should have been laughing his arse off but he made a mighty cock up as well

[Luis Anaconda]

Must say, I thought the keeper was very lucky. On the back of that performance Joe Hart should have been laughing his arse off but he made a mighty cock up as well
Thought Stones was just as much at fault for the goal though. Keeper clearly calls - get the **** out if the way

[PSRB]

Thought Stones was just as much at fault for the goal though. Keeper clearly calls - get the **** out if the way

Keeper should never have been coming for that ball anyway but yes, you can clearly see he's shouting that he's got it

[Luis Anaconda]

Keeper should never have been coming for that ball anyway but yes, you can clearly see he's shouting that he's got it

Do like the fact that some of the stick he is getting is like it's his very first game of football. Not like he's been No 1 at Barca for two years and twice won the Copa America or anything

[Burney]

Do like the fact that some of the stick he is getting is like it's his very first game of football. Not like he's been No 1 at Barca for two years and twice won the Copa America or anything

Keepers are defined by their fūck-ups, la. Seaman was a great keeper for Arsenal and England for years, but for many non-Arsenal fans, it's his balls-ups that stick in the memory. :shrug:

[SWv2]

Do like the fact that some of the stick he is getting is like it's his very first game of football. Not like he's been No 1 at Barca for two years and twice won the Copa America or anything

An instant critical analysis and judgement of players is the modern way.

Bravo made a few mistakes, got away with 2-3 but not one. Had the ball fallen at the feet of probably any United player other than Zlatan then he may well have got away with that also.

See also IWWW using MOTD analysis to show how Perez drifted wide on a few occasions. Not what we need!!!! Now had the same analysis been used to show him rooted stationary inside the box he would be criticised as too static and probably not what we need.

He will score next week and become a hero.

[Mo Britain less Europe]

I think the PSG would suit Perez better than home to Southampton.

[Luis Anaconda]

An instant critical analysis and judgement of players is the modern way.

Bravo made a few mistakes, got away with 2-3 but not one. Had the ball fallen at the feet of probably any United player other than Zlatan then he may well have got away with that also.

See also IWWW using MOTD analysis to show how Perez drifted wide on a few occasions. Not what we need!!!! Now had the same analysis been used to show him rooted stationary inside the box he would be criticised as too static and probably not what we need.

He will score next week and become a hero.
I'm so glad I don't watch MotD. Spot on about the United goal - complete ricket from the keeper but a wonderful finish by the ****-haired Swedish lad

[eastgermanautos]

No, I thought it was a 'bit' soft, an important distinction. But I didn't think the ManU keeper's tackle on Rooney was a straight red and a penalty so maybe I'm just dead hard.

Yeah, I was wondering about that one as well. Looked painful as fvck. On the other hand, they were both going for the ball.

[PSRB]

I'm so glad I don't watch MotD. Spot on about the United goal - complete ricket from the keeper but a wonderful finish by the ****-haired Swedish lad

:nod:

Thankfully Shane Long's finishing was complete poverty

[Luis Anaconda]

:nod:

Thankfully Shane Long's finishing was complete poverty

He normally does well against us

[Ash]

He normally does well against us

He was a leetle bit Short on Saturday.

[PSRB]

He normally does well against us

Yep, was shocked he didn't take at least one of his chances