Man City v Arsenal

[Fordy62]

15 minutes ago, italian dave said:

. Yes, and sometimes the way defenders shield it out borders on what would have constituted obstruction in years gone by. 

But at least they have got themselves into a position where they have their body between the ball and the opponent. That’s the difference.

Surely if you’re going to consider that simply getting your foot between the ball and the opponent constitutes ‘possession’ then half the trips that give rise to free kicks are actually legal! 

Who’d be a referee!!

Really enjoying this one. Perhaps it’s because i don’t really care too much,

but let’s imagine that Partey had been in that exact position for the 5 seconds prior and KDB ran up and kicked him in the back of the calf. No pen - shielding. Just because it was momentary, doesn’t make it any less shielding. 

Definitely don’t get me started on the red card!

[Super]

On the subject of refs and VAR did anyone see the Thiago handball last night in the WH V Liverpool game?! Think i've given up trying to understand now.

[italian dave]

31 minutes ago, Fordy62 said:

Really enjoying this one. Perhaps it’s because i don’t really care too much,

but let’s imagine that Partey had been in that exact position for the 5 seconds prior and KDB ran up and kicked him in the back of the calf. No pen - shielding. Just because it was momentary, doesn’t make it any less shielding. 

Definitely don’t get me started on the red card!

Me too! And as City fans we seem to have been at that 'don't really care too much' stage of the season for rather a long time now!!

Got to say that I'm having trouble even imagining that scenario! Which makes it quite hard to use it as a 'what if'.......but I think what you're asking is whether it's about length of time. And I'd say yes, that's significant. 

Using the defender shielding the ball out analogy, I'd say that's often taken too far nowadays and the defender given too much leeway. Clearly they have to get their whole body there (or would you allow them to 'shield' it with a foot alone?!) but yes they are given pretty much as long as they then want. I'd argue there comes a point where that's obstruction, and their principal objective is around stopping the opponent getting to the ball and not around actually controlling the ball. But that's not how it seems to be interpreted nowadays.

But going back to the Partey incident. Yes, I'd argue that it being momentary does make it different. For him to have been able to be in that position for any length of time he's got to have had the ball under some sort of control. He's put himself in that position solely because the ball is where it is. And if he's chosen that as the method for controlling it then yes you could argue that he had it under some sort of control. 

But it was, as you say, momentary. And what I'm struggling with that if a player momentarily sticks their foot, or leg, in between the ball and an opponent, when is that 'shielding' and when is it a trip. Because to me it seems more like the latter! Indeed, seems like the very definition of the latter. To the point where most trips could be defined as 'shielding' Partey style!

I won't mention the red card - oops!

[pillred]

Watching the game last night I couldn't help thinking we gave Man City a much harder game than Arsenal, in fact to me it looked like a premier league side that had been drawn against a good league one side in the cup at times it was that one-sided.

[Super]

5 minutes ago, pillred said:

Watching the game last night I couldn't help thinking we gave Man City a much harder game than Arsenal, in fact to me it looked like a premier league side that had been drawn against a good league one side in the cup at times it was that one-sided.

They never got out of first gear despite us playing well.

[ScottishRed]

2 minutes ago, pillred said:

Watching the game last night I couldn't help thinking we gave Man City a much harder game than Arsenal, in fact to me it looked like a premier league side that had been drawn against a good league one side in the cup at times it was that one-sided.

I think first half we gave a very good account of ourselves but I am sure we were always aware what the outcome was likely to be.

Last night I didn’t hold out much hope for Arsenal - not that I cared who won - they were up against a team truly hitting top gear and they were coming off the back of some disappointing results and performances.

Man City are one hell of a team and I do enjoy watching them. In Haaland they have a player that is starting to offer more than the coupious goals he scores.

[cityexile]

3 hours ago, Super said:

On the subject of refs and VAR did anyone see the Thiago handball last night in the WH V Liverpool game?! Think i've given up trying to understand now.

There seems to be a part of the rule that excludes the normal interpretation, and allows that if a player is falling and puts their arm down to break their fall, it is not hand ball. Clearly can make it look daft, but that is the rule they rely on here.

[RedLionLad]

[W-S-M Seagull]

21 hours ago, Super said:

They never got out of first gear despite us playing well.

Don't think they even made it into 1st gear against Arsenal, it was THAT easy.