Van Dijk’s ACL injury immediately sprung to mind as soon as it happened. Of course, Rodri’s injury is self-inflicted, whereas Van Dijk’s was caused by a short-armed twat.
It could have similar repercussions though.
Force is a test, but hardly the only one. I actually understand why VAR had nothing to say about it, but it is an easy “using offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or action(s)”. If every opponent is allowed to bounce a ball off Haaland’s head every week, there will be brawls.
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But it’s Beluga…the saviour of Man City…sunshines out of his bottom…and he can do no wrong…the men in black and on VAR will never ever think he will do anything wrong…
… unless it’s Rodri.
If Rodri’s injury is serious, I’m sad for the fella. I wouldn’t know if playing too much football is a factor that makes you more susceptible to injury, but obviously bad luck can strike at any stage. Seems ironic as he just spoke out about playing too much, and the players possibly considering some sort of action to try to rein it in.
So, on a human level, and a sporting level, I’m sad for the player.
Then again, I’m having a second thought on the sporting side of it, as Man City are definitely unsporting, I am not sad for them, and the possible hindrance to their prospects. I suspect since they have both Gundogan and Kovacic, along with all their other players, they will be quite fine until they buy Zubimendi in January.
Still, the league might come down to fine margins and this could be enough to sway it.
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Sorry for any player, not for the club.
Re Arsenal being furious about Haalands childish act…they should look up Keown on Van Nistlerooy whenever they get a chance.
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Kovacic literally kicked Wissa off the pitch last week simply because he was giving them fits. Wissa is expected to be gone for half a season or more.
Any sympathy I have is limited to Rodri as a person, especially given the innocuousness of the situation that caused it.
Oh, Party nudged him? Boo fucking hoo. You’re built like a rugby second rower and you think you deserve a free run to try to get on the end of a corner?
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Bet it’s not true and Rodri will be back before Christmas.
But if he’s really out for more than 4 months that would make a huge difference in the title race.
City will no doubt cry that everything is unfair. Remember, we only won our title because Laporte was injured for a long period that season and it was just not reasonable to expect them, a side funded with illegal outside sources, to compete without ONE player
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I’m one of those Liverpool fans who are convinced that Sane and Laporte getting injured played a massive role in us winning the title. Imagine Rodri getting a serious injury in 2022 or last season? For all of their wealth, replacing a player who is the best in the world in his role will provide an obstacle to any team.
Unfortunately for us, Guardiola managed to overcome that particular obstacle when De Bruyne got injured in 2018/19 but he had a lot of offensive quality in his side. With Rodri, it might be different - he does not have a player who would have been/will be able to replace Rodri like for like, just like he didn’t have a replacement for Sane’s goals and assists off the bench or Laporte’s calmness in possession. He’ll have to shuffle his pack this time around.
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Nope, those titles aren’t yet being investigated.
The timeframe that is currently under investigation only covers our 2014 title challange.
IFAB are unusually specific about throwing the ball at another player for something so petty and out of the scope of normal behavior.
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No.
We should have both in just one bus, Kloppo on top and Brenda under it.
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As long as he’s not seen or heard.
Although given that throwing the ball was completely unnecessary then isn’t any amount of force excessive? I assume the wording of excessive force is meant to stop a situation where someone throwing a ball back underhanded to the other team is deemed violent conduct but in this situation the throw of the ball was meant entirely to hit another player. Seems excessive to me.
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Yeah that is a totally reasonable take I’d buy. It seems IFAB wrote this section as a call back to the wording in the generalized yellow and red card offenses to create some consistency without consideration for what reasonable force is when throwing the ball at the back of an opponents head 
Regardless though, they seem clear there is a distinction and just because it is unsporting doesnt make it an automatic red
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My understanding has always been that throwing the ball earns you a yellow, throwing at someone earns you a red for violent conduct. No velocity test required - and bouncing off the back off the head honestly should have been a fist to the face and a few games for Haaland and the offender. That kind of reaction is exactly why it should be a straight red.
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