southstand1882
Mitchell Thomas
Defoe wasn't booked for diving
In answer to the first point, in bold above, I thought the Suarez 'challenge' with Begovic was very very similar in nature to the Adebayor/Cazorla situation. This time, Suarez got a yellow despite the ball being FURTHER from his potential reach. Webb was the ref on both occasions. At this point, it clearly depends on personal opinions. Mine is that given it did not lead to injury, and given it was nothing more than sloppy play from a forward, a yellow is the correct decision. Probably helped that Begovic was on his feet in moments because, err, he wasn't hurt.
As to the second point in bold, given what you term a 'dive' then yes, absolutely, 100%. And if that's what it means, then the game has it wrong. Because it basically means that cloggers trying to clog Bale will win. Essentially, if he is punished for avoiding bad challenges because refs won't book players/protect him enough, then it gives them the clear advantage and will become a tactic. I rue the day...
some from today for debate:
Everton vs Wigan. Maloney's penalty appeal. MOTD are convinced it is a pen, I disagree. Osman (?) does have his leg out, but the player doesn't go over.. he actually steps on Osman's planted foot and slips. That isn't a foul.
And so much for Foy being a homer ref. Should have given a penalty to QPR yesterday.