50-50 Challenges.

[Lisas Husband]

Why have they been eradicated from the game? And how exactly can a 50-50 challenge bring about a card for someone who was genuinely going for the ball in what is still supposed to be a contact sport?
Parts of our game now is in tatters. Raul (vs Leeds) had every right to challenge for the ball and if he'd have pulled out would mean anyone else doing so in another part of the pitch, giving Leeds their advantage.
It's wrong and FIFA needs to step on this and sort the refs out because blowing for every slight bit of contact now is wrong and players are taking advantage to the point of cheating.

 

[Oh When the Wolves]

Every foul tonight should have been a yellow by his rules.

 

[Tezthewolvesfan]

Every foul tonight should have been a yellow by his rules.

That elbow should have been a straight red

 

[Oh When the Wolves]

That elbow should have been a straight red

And forshaw through the back of podence , late

 

[Alex Rae The Substitute]

The one on RAN? Absolutely went through the kid. Comical reffing.

None of this excuses our defending and Leeds’ fight. But if the ref gets his decisions correct tonight and we end the game with XI on the field, I think this is a very different result.

 

[jrpb-3]

With the view these days on reckless/ out of control tackles that it doesn’t matter if you get the ball first you still get booked, then for this one you either book both players or neither. Raul actually seems to slow down and nearly stops and the keeper continues into him after getting the ball.

But definitely both entitled to be going for it

 

[NewarkWolf]

That elbow should have been a straight red

Agree. Shocking decision

 

[Scallywolf]

With the view these days on reckless/ out of control tackles that it doesn’t matter if you get the ball first you still get booked, then for this one you either book both players or neither. Raul actually seems to slow down and nearly stops and the keeper continues into him after getting the ball.

But definitely both entitled to be going for it

Wouldn’t it be lovely to hear what the referee has to say about it!

Absolutely scandalous that Kevin Friend can pick up his pay packet and walk away without any explanation whatsoever.

Raul definitely slows down. Meslier maintained full momentum and had no intention of slowing down. Unavoidable collision. Nothing unfair from Raul or Meslier for that matter. Just a 50/50 challenge. That’s my opinion and thoughts anyway. What about yours Mr Friend!

 

[Lupus ad Penn]

On MOTD last night , both Dion Dublin and Stephen Warnock said it was no foul by Raul or the keeper, just a throw in. Dreadful arrogance from Friend, I don’t think he even looked at the screen, so VAR must have agreed with him. You could fall out of love with this game, the direction it is going in .




Kevin Froend

 

[SA Wolf]

Why have they been eradicated from the game? And how exactly can a 50-50 challenge bring about a card for someone who was genuinely going for the ball in what is still supposed to be a contact sport?
Parts of our game now is in tatters. Raul (vs Leeds) had every right to challenge for the ball and if he'd have pulled out would mean anyone else doing so in another part of the pitch, giving Leeds their advantage.
It's wrong and FIFA needs to step on this and sort the refs out because blowing for every slight bit of contact now is wrong and players are taking advantage to the point of cheating.

Couldn't agree more. I really don't know what is allowed and not allowed any more. 50:50 by definition means no one is at fault if both players are genuinely attempting to win the ball as was the Raul case. I've not seen/heard anyone commenting on the incident who believes that it was a yellow, but cost us 3 points.
I no longer watch athletics due to drug cheats or F1 due to the contrivance in the sport that led to Verstappen's title 'win'. I can see football going the same way as it is no longer a game that I played and fell in love with.

 

[glorybox]

The ones that really annoy me now with the modern game is where if a player gets to the ball first and follows through because of his own momentum a foul can be given literally either way seemingly dependent purely on what the referee feels like at that point in time.

 

[northnorfolkwolf]

On MOTD last night , both Dion Dublin and Stephen Warnock said it was no foul by Raul or the keeper, just a throw in. Dreadful arrogance from Friend, I don’t think he even looked at the screen, so VAR must have agreed with him. You could fall out of love with this game, the direction it is going in .




Kevin Froend

Haven't really been on here since HT on Friday but forced myself to watch MOTD last night to get 2 unbiased opinions on the sending off. Dublin's and Warnock's comments that it was no foul endorsed most of the views on here which made me feel a little bit better but then I just got annoyed again with Friend's decision. I hope we appeal it. That's 5 points we've thrown away against Leeds this season. Difference possibly between in Europe and not.

 

[Frank Lincoln]

How I long for the days when players could tackle without fear of a red/yellow card. Good, strong, hard challenges used to be part of the game. It's a shame the way things are going. Look at the tackle by Tyrone Mings yesterday against Arsenal. It was an excellent challenge in which he won the ball, but his momentum meant he made contact with the player. Years ago that wouldn't have been a foul, let alone a yellow card.

I would also point out that some players don't help by rolling around in 'agony.'

 

[SingYourHeartsOut]

Had to read an idiot on here saying it was a yellow as Meslier got there first only to then watch Mings booked despite getting there first....

 

[Frank Lincoln]

Had to read an idiot on here saying it was a yellow as Meslier got there first only to then watch Mings booked despite getting there first....

In my opinion the Mings booking was wrong as well. It was a great tackle, he couldn’t do much about momentum.

 

[SingYourHeartsOut]

In my opinion the Mings booking was wrong as well. It was a great tackle, he couldn’t do much about momentum.

Yes, I get it in a head on challenge, but from that angle Mings on endangers Saka if Saka sticks his foot where Mings is going, it's ridiculous to me.

 

[Abbobrom]

If Raul had have pulled out of the challenge he would have received dogs abuse from both the Manager and the fans. You can not just stop dead at that speed. Even if you had been shot, your momentum would carry you forward. As well as lost points, our mutual Friend could have cost the club millions in prize money.

 

[Contrarian]

The ones that really annoy me now with the modern game is where if a player gets to the ball first and follows through because of his own momentum a foul can be given literally either way seemingly dependent purely on what the referee feels like at that point in time.

This is how I see it. Sometimes, there is no mathematically correct decision, it is a judgement call by the ref. It always was like this. I reckon refs would give one close call one way, then give the next the other way. It's not mathematically correct, but given the hectic nature of the game, it's common sense.

But in recent decades, the move to VAR has also gone hand in hand with a move away from judgement and common sense, to trying to impose mathematical precision where it just isn't going to work.

Let alone the inconsistency. This isn't rare, it's every match. The whole thing raises more questions than answers and makes the game way more frustrating than it used to be in the "bad old days". David Luis clearly arrived second when he fractured Raul's skull, yet that was no card. When raised at the time, apologists said "ah , but it was an accidental collision, everybody knows that isn't a foul". That raises so many questions! How do we judge whether a "collision" is accidental or not? It's not defined in the rules, so it's back to refs making it up as they go along. How do you define "reckless"? And on VAR, how do you define "clear and obvious error"? You can't, simple as that.

My biggest anoyance is this thing about "contact". Commentators invariably say "ooohh, there was contact" when the team they favour (usually one of the big 6) is lightly brushed and collapses in a heap to win the inevitable free kick. Only moments later, the same pundits will say "not enough contact, he's gone down far too easily" when it's a non-big 6 player who has been taken out by a crunching tackle far worse than the previous incident.

It gets more like stage managed pro-wrestling every year.