The Soccer Thread (IV)

Adu going on loan to some club in Portugal that doesn't ring a bell with me - Belenenses.

 

I don't care if I've heard of it. I just hope there's PT for him there.

 

Hopefully Portugal is better to him than it was to Kenny Cooper or Jovan Kirovski.

 

I'm not sure what you are watching there. Rooney takes a touch to his left past the keeper (who doesn't come close to getting the ball). The keeper dives out and misses the ball. Rooney's left foot/knee drags on the ground and the keeper takes out Rooney's right leg and then the rest of his body. I don't see that as the start of a dive, but even if you argue that it was, explain to me how he could have avoided contact?

 

Aren't even close? What did you see?

I concede that the last act may not have been intentional. But this is a defender at one of the biggest clubs in the world, one who's played dozens of games for them, and a few for Italy. That he would completely miss an easy ball, then AGAIN, so badly, in the space of three seconds, would be some kind of coincidence. Add the details that they're playing in Italy, and Juventus is involved... I'm comfortable saying that it looks like more than a mistake.

I stand by the way I described it.

 

You've never seen world class players make mistakes? Stand by it all you want, I saw a player fuck up, nothing more, nothing less. He steps around and away from the ball as you put it, to survey the field, like most defenders would.

Did you lose money on this game.? If you are so jaded why in the hell would you continue to watch SerieA?

 

In the link I put up, you can see the ball change direction after Rooney has already touched it, at the same time Almunia gets to it. It pops up into the air. Again, I have no expectation of the referee seeing such a small touch. But it wasn't a cut-and-dried penalty, and the one not given at the other end was much more of a foul.

 

I watched again -- Almunia didn't touch the ball and it's pretty clear on the replay. To me, it looks like Rooney's left foot gets caught in the turf while he's reaching with his right foot to get the ball around the keeper. Alumnia comes in a little late and simply takes him out -- I can see maybe not calling a foul because the ball is too far in front of Rooney, but otherwise it is a foul. If Rooney isn't dragging his left foot, then maybe he can jump to the side of the keeper, but I don't see how given the angle.

I can't pull up any video of the Fletcher tackle at work, but will so as not to be United-biased, will look when I'm home.

 

Fletcher's tackle is really almost comically bad. And I realize Arshavin made it a moot point a minute later anyway. It's just the juxtaposition of the two that raises questions.

Rooney's penalty was certainly defensible. He just embellished a bit.

 

Briefly wandering into a neighborhood I don't belong in.

I've noticed on 2-3 occasions watching an EPL match that the in-stadium clock will count down instead of up. Wasn't that supposed to be sacrosanct?

 

You know, I saw an American-style scoreboard, with the red numbers, like you see at a lot of high schools, the other day on highlights from a League 2 ground. It was counting down as well. I wouldn't think those scoreboards would be incapable of counting up, but maybe they are.

In any case, the responsibility for keeping time belongs to the referee, so any scoreboard clock is strictly unofficial, a reference for the spectators and perhaps the players. Nothing more.

 

I finally watched the second half of this tonight. And yes, I'm speaking from the point of a Gunner fanboi looser, but the bold part above is the money line.

Would Rooney have scored on that play had Almunia not come out? Was the ball on Rooney's foot when he went down?

Not a chance. Bogus call. Thank you, Webster, for making my point for me.

And while we're on the subject of bogus calls at Old Trafford, Wenger had every right to go off at the end of the game. Unbelievable.