For someone who states he doesn't have a dog in this fight. You've spent 24 hours yapping and whining like a kicked puppy. You realise or perhaps you don't. You sound obsessively sick.
Yeah I know sarcasm is the lowest form of wit. Sometimes I just can't resist As for Jenks. The guy has a problem, there's a difference between discussion and obsession. Just imagine being a family member or coworker.
As far as I can remember the premier league has not used var to disallow a goal for a foul in the build up, with the exception of offensive handballs in the box. To have overturned that precedent in this case, in this match, in this opaque situation was never going to happen. But if it makes you sleep better at night to hear a LFC fan say we benefited from a bad call , sure I think we benefited from a bad call. Guess what? I really don't care! We won, were the better side for large periods, took our chances, are 8 points up and added another talking point for the City persecution society to harp on about. Absolutely love it.
What a team, I love these boys, always finding new ways to win and always turning up for the big days. Could have given the MOM to about anyone but personally would give it to Degsy. Immense today, still had a few Lovern moments like a couple of clearances that went straight up in the air, a weird clearance where he was running back towards goal and somehow jumped-pivoted all while clearing the ball and falling on his ass at the same time, and of course the wonderful block while sprawled out on the ground. But even with that "unorthodox" defending in mind he was still immense. Always there in the right place communicating with Trent and doing the job. The chemistry of this side is amazing the next man up just steps into the breach and nothing changes. Even if Dejan doesn't play another game he'll feel a part of it, and rightfully so.
There is no scenario under which a penalty should be awarded, even if TAA handball is ruled intentional.
I repeat: Facts of the case: the ball first hit Silva's arm which then deflected the ball onto TAA's arm. In theory, either handball could be deemed "intentional" or "accidental". This gives four possible scenarios/combinations: 1. Intentional/Intentional - if Silva's (the first) was intentional, outcome is FK to Liverpool. 2. Intentional/Accidental - if Silva's (the first) was intentional, outcome is FK to Liverpool (or ref can opt to play advantage) 3. Accidental/Intentional - Silva's accidental handball created a goal scoring opportunity (a penalty). Therefore outcome is FK to Liverpool (under new rules). 4. Accidental/Accidental - play on! This was the stated ruling of the ref and VAR. So it is conceivable play could have been stopped and a FK awarded to Liverpool. The important thing to note is NONE of the four possible scenarios result in a penalty to ManC. Note: I believe everyone agrees Silva's handball was accidental, so only scenarios 3 and 4 actually apply in practice
@_pauljoyce Raheem Sterling dropped by England for game with Montenegro after angrily confronting Liverpool's Joe Gomez at St George's Park today. Report
Reflecting on the game, for me, handball or no, penalty or no, the one thing that was evident in spades was how much better LFC was than City and ultimately how easy the win was. Yes, we can pay City the platitudes and admit they looked very good in the opening minutes, that they had the greater share of possession, that they made a go of it in the last 10-15 minutes, but… But this was a game LFC never looked like losing and with the exception of the first and last 10 minutes, they were always in control. Yes, City nicked a goal late on, but what struck me was how toothless City were overall. Sterling, Silva, Aguero and Jesus all linked well and sometimes looked dangerous, but too often the end product was negligible. A shot straight at Alisson, a corner (which was then cleared), a loss of possession. No doubting their defense was substandard, certainly for title contenders, but was that the best they had? There was nothing new from City, they were exactly as we expected. Last season Guardiola came to Anfield he played 5 at the back, looking to contain and hoping to hit on the break. Perhaps not the most innovative strategy, but it did make life difficult for Liverpool. This time out, he came with a dodgy defense and hoped his midfield and forward line would carry the day, but nothing special, no creative strategies or positioning, except target TAA. Which is what he did with Sané in the CL two seasons ago. And then howling about handballs. As I say, nothing new. I suppose it could be argued that Klopp set LFC up with nothing new, but that’s not quite true. Henderson played further forward and VVD and Lovern were not as adventurous as Matip has been, staying at home more. Mané also dropped deeper. At the end of the day, City were bang average - a good side, no doubt - but Sheffield United gave us a tougher game, Leicester also, even Norwich maybe. They’ll improve when Laporte returns or when/if they buy in the January window, but that’ll be too late. We’ve seen behind City’s curtain; it’s not very impressive. They may not even finish second. Or third.
It was a great win for LFC - let's just leave it there... City are not going anywhere, they are not going to implode and fade after a loss to LFC (like Barca apparently has). They will be angry that they are not winning and leadings the league - they will be angry that they lost to LFC. They will likely buy some players in the winter window - that may or may not make them better. But they are not going to follow their city rivals down the toilet and hire/fire new managers left and right, and they are not going to drop in the table below the fourth or fifth spot...they will finish in the top four... But (and I say full of hope), they are beatable...and my hope is that other teams come out an play them to win, rather than play them "not to lose"... I do find it a bit petulant that Sterling is still whining about the game and confronting Joe Gomez (at least that is what my understanding is - although I could not open Newterp's link)... Onward Reds - Walk On...
Think Fabinho is better. For one thing, Mascherano had trouble keeping a long range strike between the corner flags and below Row Z.
Fab's less of an outright destroyer, he's more a combination of Xabi and Masch. All three are great, same tier of player in my opinion
look at the nice cut under joe's eye - courtesy of Raheem. It was a bigger deal than they let on - not some "disturbance"
Apparently, Gomez impressed by not taking the bait, refusing to engage, which always was going to paint Sterling in the worst possible light.
The question is... is a penalty a "goal scoring opportunity"? Because under the new handball laws, an attacking team cannot have the ball hit an attackers hand and then go on to result in either a goal for them, or even a goal scoring opportunity. If the ball doesn't hit Silva's arm, it doesn't hit Trent's, either. So that's the question that needs to be answered. I could see it argued either way, and there doesn't seem to be clarification within the rulebook itself but I may have just missed it. In the refs forum they seem to be saying the no-call was correct.
They seem to have called it as two accidental handballs. Which is definitely a very subjective call but hard to say they are 100% wrong.
Sorry, I had a whole other post but I'm late to this. I think if it comes off Silva's chest, the pen is awarded. Trent's arm is away enough from his body, but considering the handball by Silva it does seem like the kind of thing the new rule is purposefully crafted to stop! So I mean... I get why people might not like seeing it. It's the kind of ridiculous scenario which zaq would bring up in a theoretical discussion and which I probably said at the very least was super rare but probably likely wasn't going to be seen... and here we are looking at it. I don't know how a penalty isn't considered a "goal-scoring situation" either... so considering that's where I'm at, it's absolutely the correct call according to all the rules, even if the refs gave a different rule for not giving the pen. VAR shouldn't take away the marvelous goal either, because there's actually no clear obvious error according to the rulebook, and VAR doesn't work to retroactively award a free kick due to an attacking handball... it rules based on specific situations. Since there was no City pen to award (by the rulebook), there's no action for VAR to take. It was only ruling on that element of the play, not whether a free kick for Liverpool was properly awarded due to Silva's handball. I think I have that right, and as such feels like great job by VAR to me! It's possible I'm wrong and the free kick should have been awarded. But as delay said, I don't think there's any situation in which a City pen is the correct outcome according to the rulebook.
And hey, apart from that Liverpool kind of beat the crap out of City for most of that match. Which is also noteworthy. Reverse fixture gonna be a cracker.