Yeah it’s very annoying. Especially the faking head injury to force the ref to stop the game, thus breaking by our momentum. That really needs to be dealt with harshly because it detracts from an actual serious injury.
Having said that I’m thankful that they’re not an injurious lot like Atleti or Everton.
I don’t want my team to play that well but they’ve assembled a squad for the same cost as Van Dijk and they clearly are man for man not as good as us. You want to win, even if it’s playing a certain way but sometimes that’s all you’ve got, especially against a team as good as us.
It’s up to us if we let that affect our game or not. To be honest I’m a bit sick of this constant whining about refs and how teams set up to play us. If you are good enough none of that ever matters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwvh02jHOSU
Love the interview with Robbo and Henderson at the end…also Robbo giving his shirt away 
You’d swear some people are just watching the refs and making notes about everything they do wrong rather than just enjoying the team playing ar the highest level week after week.
Right now we could still win everything, or maybe just one thing, either way it won’t ever be better than this, and there’s chance we’ll be there after winning the Champions League final 2-1, completing the quadruple, and all some people will be bothered away is the corruption of the ref for not calling a foul 12 passes before they scored their goal and then only adding on 2 minutes instead of 3 at the end of the game.
Every team we play seems to be pulling that stunt now. ffs Richarlison even did it after fucking heading the ball on sunday !
The refs have to get a handle on it. Every time the ball is in the box you get some twat going down holding his head. It’s cheating , plain and simple , and needs to be stamped out.
Football is already pretty crap at dealing with concussions, implementing a rugby style HIA protocol would kill two birds with one stone. If you are holding your head, off for a 10 minute substitution to ensure that you are sound. Real head injuries would be dealt with more effectively than they are, nonsense time-wasting would be disruptive to your own side.
In fairness to the refs they are supposed to stop the game first and ask questions later with a suspected head injury. However, with out old friend VAR they should be booking players for simulation if this isn’t the case.
Is it not possible to do both?
Enjoy the football and observe what is visible for everyone to see?
I think this moment is fantastic, best chance ever of winning multiple trophies. And I am certainly enjoying it.
That said, should the irritating little things, like time wasting etc just go unnoticed?
Should we all just comment on what you want to read, or is there freedom of expression for everyone?
I notice in in match threads there is invariably criticism of players. Even whilst we are in the chase for four trophies. Calls for players to be hooked etc. …
And that appears to be ok…
But criticise the ref??
Yeah, to be fair, the time-wasting was pretty much the only thing you could say about them, and you can understand why they did that. It’s the difference between Atletico or Villareal, and Everton for me. One of these teams can’t play any decent football at all, so they’re just pathetic, while the other two use it to gain an advantage against superior opposition.
They didn’t dive as much or exaggerate too much, nor did they seek to injure our players, and that’s one good thing for me.
Nah that’s bullshit. There are rarely such dominant games that one would say that the referee doesn’t matter. Look at some of the games we’ve had against Burnley for example. They could manhandle our players without a single foul, but the moment any of ours go near theirs it’s a foul. The best team in the world can’t guarantee a win 100% in those circumstances, not even close.
Play as defensive as you like. I have no problem with that. As you said, it’s up to us to get around that
But repeatedly faking injury and also trying to nobble our players is not on. That’s where the refs come in.
Villarreal are a credit to the game. Small team on the up, maximizing their potential, picking up unheralded players and under a good coach polishing them into a cohesive unit.
Their fans are a great credit to them too, respect to them.
Ok, some time wasting and a bit of play acting, but in the grand scheme of things it was within the bounds of normal - just, and we have to recognize that because we are so good, teams will try to deploy more of this stuff to limit the amount of time we play the actual game, because when we play, we hurt them.
When you take the dark arts to Atletico or Everton levels, it grates enormously. It is horrible to see. When it goes to Villarreal levels like last night, I have a slight shoulder shrug, especially after winning it 2-0.
Bottom line, it is on the ref to referee the game better.
Arminius made the suggestion I was saying to my lad when we watched the Everton game and suffered through Richarlison’s play acting. If a player claims a head injury, it’s an automatic 10 min substitute for proper assessment, and if cleared by a doctor to enter the fray again, switch back. It is the only way to properly assess - which is paramount under the circumstances, and the useful byproduct is teams will reduce the play acting so as not to disrupt themselves.
Sounds good but also there could be a tendency for people to claim they are alright and then get a delayed concussion a while later. Didnt it happen to Mane in Afcon ?
Its better than whats currently in place which lets teams get away with time wasting etc etc
I had thought this - but that’s now on the doctors to make the call - so really they should be off for 10 regardless of what the player wants.
I assume doctors also watch the replay of what’s happened to gauge the best course of assessment/action.
I hear you, it’s not perfect, but better than the situation as it stands.
10 min assessment, back in if cleared by doc.
If a delayed concussion, and symptoms show after the reintroduction, it should be another 10 min sub for further assessment, or probably out for the rest of the match as that doesn’t sound safe, but whatever the reasonable medical protocol is deemed to be should be enacted.
I didn’t see any nasty tackles, time wasting yes but nothing really bad. It’s your perspective they were cheating, both players got hit by a ball going at pace, sure that could hurt.
Best way to stop this is stop the clock whenever the referee calls a foul or theres a stoppage in play if the ball goes out for a throw and resume only when the ball is back in play. Shouldnt be that tough with the technology in place.
Would stop all the antics by teams to run down the clock. Teams like atletico eat away 20 minutes of the game knowing that they would at max get 4 to 5 min added time
Foyth and their centre back went down holding their heads. Foyth wasn’t even hit in the same head area with the ball and the CB has zero contact with their head.
The sliding high challenge on Fab (which was high enough to clip him even after he hurdled it) could have done real damage.
Nothing as bad as Everton or Atletico, mind.
Doesn’t account for the loss of momentum when the fake injury happens.and then if ref waves play on we get hacked (a la Everton) so that the game indeed has to stop
Nope it doesnt. Some proactive refereeing against playacting might help though in tandem with what i have suggested.