SOCCER SPORT !

[93EXCivic]

I think there should be more penalties given for illegal grappling on corners. More cards given for bad fouls. None of this "I don't want to change the game" crap from referees. Yellow cards, red cards, and penalties are not given enough in England. I'm not saying they need to get as overzealous as continental referees, but the gap should close a little.

Yuck! I think the overzealous nature of refs is ruining the game. Too many fouls are given. It only encourages diving.

Let the players play. It is a contact sport after all.

Players should have to earn their goals not fall on the floor and cry about it. To quote one of my favorite defenders, "football is not for ballerinas."

[GaryF]

I'm with Raza on this. There are defenders (John Terry, for example, or our own dear Mr Carragher) who have been getting away for years with all sorts of stuff at corners and set pieces because ref's referee by context.

That touch on Benteke and his going down would, on any other part of the pitch, have been a free kick and no one would have batted an eyelid. The rules are the same in the box but referees almost always bottle it because that know they'll get slaughtered by the manager who is on the wrong end of the penalty.
Same with those 'softener' tackles you see the players under certain managers make in the first five minutes of a match. Twenty minutes later and it's a yellow or red card but too many referees bottle the decision.

Cynical players and managers know where and when they can get away with fouls.

Context has no place in a refereeing decision. The rules are supposed to be applied everywhere equally. You know what will happen when offences in the box get addressed in the same way as outside the box? Players will stop getting fouled so much in the box and we'll start seeing more goals.

And, as for diving, it should be punished in the same way. Furthermore, if they want to stop that crap, they should start giving free kicks and penalties to all players WHO ARE FOULED and not just players who are fouled and then theatrically collapse on the ground.

[93EXCivic]

Same with those 'softener' tackles you see the players under certain managers make in the first five minutes of a match. Twenty minutes later and it's a yellow or red card but too many referees bottle the decision.

First thing I'd do on the field is fly hard into a tackle with the toughest looking midfield or the most skilled ball handler whether it was legal or not. Suddenly 50% 50% balls become 60% 40% balls in your favor and what used to be 60% 40% balls for them become 50% 50% balls.

Defenders and defensive mids get called way more then they should. I played both striker and defensive midfielder. I could make the same tackle as a striker that I would as a defensive mid and when I was striker it wouldn't get called or it would just be a foul.

Modern professional footballers are a bunch of soft shits and the referees aren't helping. It used to be most tackles that are called fouls weren't even whistled and I don't get why that changed. It hasn't improved the game. I don't understand the attraction of having more whistle happy refs. It takes away the best part of football, the physical contest. One of my favorite clips of all time is watching Gentile completely shut down Maradona but now that wouldn't be allowed and that is a shame.

[shameless]

cant wait for Pep giving some out to our lazy stars next season -just imagine this -Kompany would have headbutted him
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FljkTEGJ0mE

[GaryF]

Personally, I'd prefer to see skilful players doing amazing things than a bunch of orcs wiping out anyone that they don't have the ability to dispossess.

[meijlinder]

It used to be most tackles that are called fouls weren't even whistled and I don't get why that changed. It hasn't improved the game. I don't understand the attraction of having more whistle happy refs. It takes away the best part of football, the physical contest..

You don't think the quality in the Premier League has improved the last 10-15 years with the influx of foreign players? The same players that wouldn't dream of going to England if their legs could be chopped off by a Vinnie Jones or a "Razor" Ruddock.

[93EXCivic]

You don't think the quality in the Premier League has improved the last 10-15 years with the influx of foreign players? The same players that wouldn't dream of going to England if their legs could be chopped off by a Vinnie Jones or a "Razor" Ruddock.

I don't know. I enjoy watching replays of old games more then a lot of games now.

The number of times a whistle is blown during the games and the amount of time that players spend rolling around on the ground destroys the game. It is especially annoying when the player is barely touched. If you do actually get fouled, man up, get up and get on with it.

I love the midfielder destroyers. I love that Chiek Tiote picked up 25 yellows in 50 games for Newcastle. It shows commitment to the cause.. Recently he has been crap and like the rest of the players shown no commitment but once upon a time. Every good team needs that bit of steel on the field. The player that you know has your back and will get a bit of stuck in hard if it is needed.

[Raza]

I don't see how purposely attempting to injure people is such an important part of the game. There's plenty of contact that isn't a foul in matches as it is, which is fine, but I certainly don't like seeing my players go down with broken ankles.

[93EXCivic]

I don't see how purposely attempting to injure people is such an important part of the game. There's plenty of contact that isn't a foul in matches as it is, which is fine, but I certainly don't like seeing my players go down with broken ankles.

It isn't purposely trying to injure people. It is going to get a ball and you aren't always going to get the ball. I think the current refereeing makes plays think twice before going for a ball.

Injury is part of any contact sport and you have to accept the risk. I broke my shin, broke several of my toes, broke a couple fingers, broke my nose, got a couple concussions and got knocked out cold once plus numerous sprains or muscle injuries. And I'd finish the game in most of those cases except for the shin break. Usually I'd finish a game with more bruises then I care to admit but I'd rather get carried off the field then lose.

I guess we will just have to agree to disagree about the contact side of the game.

[tribe125]

Whether it's tackling or over-reacting to a touch, it's cynicism that should be punished. Going in hard is fine, going in hard at the man is not.

The modern game is pretty clean compared to the one I grew up watching. One of the most disgusting things I've seen was Pele being kicked out of the World Cup by the Portuguese in 1966. I'm glad those days are gone. On the other hand, I quite enjoyed seeing Stuart Pearce leaving players in a heap even though he had tackled them fairly.

Exaggerating contact, going down when you don't have to? I'd book them all. I don't remember seeing any of that in English football in the 1960s and 70s. It would have been regarded as weak, which it is. Naturally, with the cheerful xenophobia of the times, it would also have been regarded as 'foreign'.