Just as clumsy as the strikers who always back in standing all over your feet then claim they've been fouled. Always makes it more enjoyable when you see they're wearing Vapours too.
I'm not really a violent player or person in general. If someone plays rough I just use my strength against them. If they talk sh*t to me to put me off, I don't even take notice or react. But getting stepped on IS a b*tch, also getting grazed with the studs. I have played with players that kick your legs if I take the ball off of them, it makes me laugh. I just suck it up and play on. One time a player got frustrated that I beat him and chased me and actually tackled me as in a hug and was hugging me on the ground (with legs and arms). I just got up and said: "WTF are you gay?"
To be honest, i would. If somebody was annoying me, i wouldn't think twice. I would just slide tackle the hell out of them.
I assigned a player to man-mark the other team's best player. I told my guy, at the first opportunity on a set play, to step on the other guy's foot and tell him he's not going to get the ball all day.
http://youtu.be/pgvmUbd568I [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgvmUbd568I"]YouTube - Totti / Jumping‏[/ame]
Since this is for refs, I've never tackled showing my studs, but I'd be lying if I hadn't thought about it. I play in a recreational adult coed league and at 5'9 130lbs, I ask for preferential treatment for my safety. You can call me a baby, but it's REC ADULT COED with no slide tackling. I'm out here just trying to get some running and touches in. I'm not here to win games and prove my athletic prowess in my mid 20s. Anyways, I don't dribble people, don't score goals, play very laid back, and won't even steal the ball from girls. Without fail, every few weeks I'll run up against some super competitive opponent that constantly knocks me to the ground and in general just physically beats me up using their additional 50+lbs. worth of weight. The refs refuse to police it and without the ability to slide tackle I can't legally send a message physically. I actually received my first red card in that league as well. I didn't show studs, but after getting banged on the ground 5-6x by a guy twice my size who never played the ball, I gave an intentional hard whack to his trailing foot the next time he dribbled through my area that sent him flying to the ground and started a total sh*t storm. Told the ref it was his fault that I had to be the messenger.
I had never done any serious "cleating" to anyone before last week. Sure i'd give a slight step to defenders when playing forward but nothing serious. Last week though, I was at a soccer camp with 7 of the best players in my grade (all of which go to my school and are friends with one another) and one of them who always goes WAY over the top was getting reckless and had to be put in his place. I had played forward in the first half and over heard him talking to the other defenders "take him out if you get the chance" (talking about me). So the game goes on and there was ONE tackle he went into that just made me Snap. It was a through ball to me and when I looked down to take my touch by Him I see his studs coming right at my ankle but thankfully I was able to jump into him (purposely of course) and avoid an injury. The next half I'm in goal and he is playing striker. To make a long story short, He had a breakaway and I had to show him who's boss. I go into tackle him in my box, studs up, both cleats right into his ankle and shin. It was a dirty tackle, sure. But in the end it was no foul. The next day, the saga continued. I was once again up top and he kept on coming into bone crushing tackles (he had just broken my best friends ankle the first half of that game) so once again, I had to show him who's boss. Now sometimes he can be a prissy little bitch on the field. Once again, A through ball was played to me and I looked over and see him coming full force right at me, with no intent to hit the ball. I simply stopped, moved to the side and watch his studs go right by my ankles. In the end, I will not use my cleats as a weapon unless there is a player on the opposing team who is not playing by the rules, or is using his cleats as a weapon. sorry for the huge write up. /Rant.
My hero: Materazzi. /thread [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpG4AHlZrL4"]materazzi - YouTube[/ame]
Yes, i would. If the opposition player used his cleats against me, then i would use my cleats against him. It's only fair.
As a defender I was taught as a youngster to be kind of an equalizer. If a player is being a total asshole sometimes you have to bring them back to earth. If someone is fouling left and right I was almost expected to hammer him into the ground to show him what's what. I just got used to it. EDIT: For the refs: I've never been caught and ive never received a red card in my life. I was slick at being dirty. Not proud of it but it's true
At the chance of getting caught myself by the ref, I prefer to stick to a good hard slide tackle. Nothing illegal, but something to bring the player to the ground. A good nutmeg is usually satisfying too.