***Official Football (Soccer) Thread:[R] All leagues and competitions***

[wesbender]

Well until that happens (it may never), we will continue to see dives like what the Arsenal player Eduardo did that led to the first score of the game.

Everything I see that crap, I think to myself, "What a bunch sissy boys."

Not that I care for either team (Arsenal and Celtic) but I hate to see players argue calls that the ref got wrong inside the box. It situations like that, its hard to blame the ref because he is only calling what he sees.

Well yeah, you can't blame the ref, it's the player's fault entirely. That's why some sort of system where the ref can review a controversial call would fix a lot of things. But like you said, and I agree, it's highly doubtful to happen anytime soon.

[Dom_88]

****in Eduardo and his pathetic dive!

Otherwise, was a good game. Glad he didn't score anymore afterwards.

[wesbender]

****in Eduardo and his pathetic dive!

Otherwise, was a good game. Glad he didn't score anymore afterwards.

facepalm.jpg

I love how blown out of proportion his dive has been. It's plastered all over the english media as one of the most terrible things to happen lately. If it had been a United/Liverpool/whoever else player, it wouldn't have gotten near as much attention.

But no, it's a Croatian Arsenal player. Croatia + Arsenal + English media = sh*tstorm

A perfect example is what Wenger brought up after the game when Babel's pathetic dive single-handedly won Liverpool the champs league quarter-final a couple seasons ago. But of course it was Liverpool, so nobody gave a ****.

[Paul S25]

facepalm.jpg

I love how blown out of proportion his dive has been. It's plastered all over the english media as one of the most terrible things to happen lately. If it had been a United/Liverpool/whoever else player, it wouldn't have gotten near as much attention.

But no, it's a Croatian Arsenal player. Croatia + Arsenal + English media = sh*tstorm

Obvious Arsenal supporter.

There was ZERO contact between Eduardo and the GK. Horrendous dive.

[wesbender]

Obvious Arsenal supporter.

There was ZERO contact between Eduardo and the GK. Horrendous dive.

Wow, you're stupid. Did I ever say there wasn't? Look a few posts back, I clearly said he dove, I'm not denying that. I'm saying how if it happened to any other top English club it wouldn't have gotten so much coverage and people generally wouldn't really care. And if you actually follow the Premier League you would know what I'm talking about.

[Dom_88]

facepalm.jpg

I love how blown out of proportion his dive has been. It's plastered all over the english media as one of the most terrible things to happen lately. If it had been a United/Liverpool/whoever else player, it wouldn't have gotten near as much attention.

But no, it's a Croatian Arsenal player. Croatia + Arsenal + English media = sh*tstorm

A perfect example is what Wenger brought up after the game when Babel's pathetic dive single-handedly won Liverpool the champs league quarter-final a couple seasons ago. But of course it was Liverpool, so nobody gave a ****.

The bias of the English media is pretty obvious to anyone with a brain.

Gerrard is one of the worst divers; CL final for example. I've said this many times over.

It's getting so much attention because; IT JUST ****ING HAPPENED TODAY!

[wesbender]

It's getting so much attention because; IT JUST ****ING HAPPENED TODAY!

lol, no, it's getting so much attention because of who did it and what team he plays for. There's all sorts of stories about "banning" Eduardo for the dive, I've read a couple editorials so far that have been solely about "the dive", most of the match reports I've read have focused about 75% of the article on it as well. All this talk is totally ridiculous and blown way out of proportion.

My whole point is that none of this would be happening were it Rooney or Gerrard who committed the dive. There'd be a few words about it when discussing the game, but that's it.

It has nothing to do with what team you support, that's just the way the english media works and it's annoying as hell. I didn't expect it any other way, but I figured I'd bitch about it anyway because I can.

[Dom_88]

lol, no, it's getting so much attention because of who did it and what team he plays for. There's all sorts of stories about "banning" Eduardo for the dive, I've read a couple editorials so far that have been solely about "the dive", most of the match reports I've read have focused about 75% of the article on it as well. All this talk is totally ridiculous and blown way out of proportion.

My whole point is that none of this would be happening were it Rooney or Gerrard who committed the dive. There'd be a few words about it when discussing the game, but that's it.

It has nothing to do with what team you support, that's just the way the english media works and it's annoying as hell. I didn't expect it any other way, but I figured I'd bitch about it anyway because I can.

I hear you, but I personally agree with banning. It's no news that the media in England love to yap on about everyone else's diving, but with English players it's "winning" penalties or "soft penalties." I've talked about this a lot.

Eduardo is still a **** for what he did, though.

[wesbender]

I hear you, but I personally agree with banning. It's no news that the media in England love to yap on about everyone else's diving, but with English players it's "winning" penalties or "soft penalties." I've talked about this a lot.

Eduardo is still a **** for what he did, though.

I'm all for banning, I just don't want something like that enforced unless it's consistent, which I know it wouldn't be.

And yes it was certainly a **** thing to do, but unless he starts making it a regular occurrence, I'm not going to hold it against him. It didn't affect the tie in any way. Celtic were always going to get trampled.

I guess that's just my main problem with this whole thing is that he dived once, and now he'll be branded a cheater. People are always going to be talking **** about him diving when there's far worse players doing far worse things on a regular basis that nobody speaks of.

edit: like this guy -

[CLK-GTR]

lol, no, it's getting so much attention because of who did it and what team he plays for. There's all sorts of stories about "banning" Eduardo for the dive, I've read a couple editorials so far that have been solely about "the dive", most of the match reports I've read have focused about 75% of the article on it as well. All this talk is totally ridiculous and blown way out of proportion.

My whole point is that none of this would be happening were it Rooney or Gerrard who committed the dive. There'd be a few words about it when discussing the game, but that's it.

It has nothing to do with what team you support, that's just the way the english media works and it's annoying as hell. I didn't expect it any other way, but I figured I'd bitch about it anyway because I can.

gerrard is getting pretty well known for his diving, and rooney is well known for not diving

[midnightrogue]

eduardo was shown a lot of goodwill after his injury 18 months ago, when he mugged Celtic he was just upholding the arsenal "tradition" but you cant expect people to condon that kind of behavior.
pires, viera, eboue, vivas..........to that illustrious list add the name of eduardo.
retrospective punishment is the only way to punish this filth. 3 match ban for 1st offence, 5 for 2nd. trust me they'll soon get the message when they start missing the big games

it seems like every club has one but forever more eduardo will be a cheat - he's just the latest.if you dont like it gooners then dont accept someone in YOUR shirt acting in such an effiminate way!!
players come and go but the club and its reputation are all important!

fifa and uefa are just a load of fat old men in suits feasting at the trough like pigs. while the money keeps flowing in they will do nothing. men like wenger are the ones who have to say ENOUGH to their players. comments like "i did'nt see the incident" are unhelpful and are basically a copout. maybe something will be said behind closed doors but more than likely the club will be delighted that eduardo's plan to throw himself to the ground at some stage of the game worked.

[CreamPie Charlie]

Anyone got a video of the dive?

Nevermind, just found a video.

What a piece of crap.

[CreamPie Charlie]

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/st...et.com&cc=3436

What time is 4:30PM WET in Australian time? (Sydney)

[wesbender]

eduardo was shown a lot of goodwill after his injury 18 months ago, when he mugged Celtic he was just upholding the arsenal "tradition" but you cant expect people to condon that kind of behavior.
pires, viera, eboue, vivas..........to that illustrious list add the name of eduardo.
retrospective punishment is the only way to punish this filth. 3 match ban for 1st offence, 5 for 2nd. trust me they'll soon get the message when they start missing the big games

it seems like every club has one but forever more eduardo will be a cheat - he's just the latest.if you dont like it gooners then dont accept someone in YOUR shirt acting in such an effiminate way!!
players come and go but the club and its reputation are all important!

fifa and uefa are just a load of fat old men in suits feasting at the trough like pigs. while the money keeps flowing in they will do nothing. men like wenger are the ones who have to say ENOUGH to their players. comments like "i did'nt see the incident" are unhelpful and are basically a copout. maybe something will be said behind closed doors but more than likely the club will be delighted that eduardo's plan to throw himself to the ground at some stage of the game worked.

Anyone got a video of the dive?

Nevermind, just found a video.

What a piece of crap.

lol, see this is exactly what I'm talking about. There's plenty of other players who flop around on a regular basis and nobody gives a ****. Why all the commotion over this instance?

And to midnightrogue, you can't possibly believe that Arsenal are a cheating team any more than any other top clubs? For every Arsenal player you name that consistently dives, I'll name you at least one from Liverpool/Chelsea/United. And considering Eboue is the only player we have now who consistently puts on a show, good luck with that. And no, the club won't like what happened, 1 - because it made them look bad, and 2 - because it didn't really even affect the outcome of the game.

I don't care how you slice it, one dive does not give you the label of a "cheater". Get back to me when he does it 3-4 more times and I'll agree.

gerrard is getting pretty well known for his diving, and rooney is well known for not diving

Right, but every player has his day. My point was if it were Rooney, there wouldn't be a media fuss over it.

[wesbender]

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/st...et.com&cc=3436

What time is 4:30PM WET in Australian time? (Sydney)

I believe it's about 5 hours from now. So whatever time that is.

And lol to whoever gets Real Madrid in their group.

[nighthawkdiner]

Liked what Arseblogger had to say about the dive:

Arsenal scored five goals. Even without the Eduardo penalty we'd have won last night yet they're bleating on about Eduardo being a 'cheat'. It's funny but these are the same people who told you 'Tiny Taylor' "isn't that kind of guy" when he shattered Eduardo's leg and ankle and put him out of football for over a year. It's easy to condemn a dive, it's safe, yet you rarely hear the same condemnation for acts of violence or dangerous tackles.

Eduardo is a cheat yet Michael Owen is 'clever' when he wins a penalty against Argentina with a dive. Steven Gerrard is notoriously light on his feet yet he carries no reputation as a diver. You can be sure that Eduardo will after one incident. Jingoism? Xenophobia? Arsenalism? Call it what you want but we all know there are rules that don't apply to some because of who they play for or what international shirt they pull on.

I'm not trying to excuse him or justify it but a little perspective is needed. Eduardo's dive was not his finest moment but in the grand scheme of things it meant little and he does not deserve the kind of vilification he's received from some quarters. It was just a dive. Football would be better served if people paid more attention to things that really damaged the game.

Now, regular readers will know I'm all for retrospective punishment. That if there's a way to punish a player for an obvious dive after the fact then it should be looked at. It would certainly act as a deterrent, because diving is something we should try and get rid of as much as possible. I've got some sympathy for the Celtic players because we've been on the receiving end of a dive more than once. Rooney's leap over Sol Campbell to end the Invincibles run at Old Trafford and Dirk Kuyt in the Champions League quarter-final spring to mind - both of them affected us far more than Eduardo's tumble did Celtic last night. Yet I didn't hear much in the way of criticism for those players.

So while I'll happily hold my hands up and admit Eduardo took a dive last night, and I'll agree with you that it's not nice to see, don't expect me to sit here and let the press and pundits go to town a man who does not deserve that kind of treatment. If we had won the tie 1-0 then maybe there's a point worth making. The fact is Arsenal scored five, might have scored at least a few more than that, Celtic had two shots on target over two games and Arsenal were more than good value for the win.

[CLK-GTR]

everyone bleating about how noone ever picks on the english player needs to remember the biggest english player the game has ever had. beckham nigh on left this country because of the press

[CLK-GTR]

for those in any doubt which is the best league in the world, the top seed group for the champions league:

Pot one

Barcelona
CHELSEA
LIVERPOOL
MANCHESTER UNITED
AC Milan
ARSENAL
Sevilla
Bayern Munich

[beersandwich]

for those in any doubt which is the best league in the world, the top seed group for the champions league:

Pot one

Barcelona
CHELSEA
LIVERPOOL
MANCHESTER UNITED
AC Milan
ARSENAL
Sevilla
Bayern Munich

interesting to see what happens because now plenty of big stars are leaving for spain. it may not take an immediade effect but over a few years the 4 english sides may not all be in there. esp if some1 stupid like city or spurs make it - they will never do as well in champs as the big 4.

and i read an article the other day how alonso leaving to madrid may save him 10mil pounds over 5 years (50% tax in england vs 24% tax in spain) not including extra salary just the rediculous tax cost in england thanks to the recession.

if thats really the diff then why woudl you stay in crappy england vs sunny spain

[.MANoWAR.]

on Eduardo diving. yes, it was a horrible dive and the penalty should not be given. Eduardo should be given a 1 match UEFA ban, mostly because of the ridiculous media attention this has gotten. But take it easy, Arsenal destroyed Celtic 5-1 on the aggregate so the dive didnt make a difference anyways.

Robben reportedly signing for Bayern Munich this week for around 20-25m. Imo, Robben is a great player who does not receive the attention he deserves. The only reason Real doesnt need him are because of Kaka and Ronaldo, only 2 of 3 players better than Robben at his type of position (Ribery being the other). Ribery and Robben will form a terrific attacking partnership, one just as dangerous as the Ronaldo/Kaka attacking partnership of Real. Im expecting great things from Bayern this season.

[laughin_man]

Sneijder in inter and rafinha in juve
i guess in serie A only two teams will battle for the trophy

[Popcorn_fart]

not a chance

he's good, but top 5 in the world

ronaldo
rooney
iniesta
messi
xavi

all easily better last season than gerrard will ever be, and that's just 2/3 players from 2 teams.

lol your a tool than he ever will be gtfo. He was top scorer in CL only behind messi who played 3 games more and 2nd or 3rd in the EPL and he missed over 10 matches. Zidane last season called him the best in the world, Kaka and Totti call him the best midfielder in the world but yer ill take your word over theirs

[Popcorn_fart]

why the hell is AC milan and Sevilla in pot 1???I kniw Milan have been great in CL but they werent in it last year therefore there stock should drop and wtf at rangers being in pot 2 lol and juventus wtf they havent been in CL in how long the way they seed it is stupid

[uhyeah]

Champions League:

A:
Bayern
Juventus Turin
Bordeaux
Haifa

B:
ManU
ZSKA Moskau
Besiktas
Wolfsburg

C:
Milan
Real Madrid
Marseille
FC Z?rich

D:
Chelsea
Porto
Atletico
Kasan

E:
Liverpool
Lyon
Florenz
Debrecen

F:
Barcelona
Inter Mailand
Dynamo Kiew
Rubin Kazan

G:
Sevilla
Glasgow
Stuttgart
Urziceni

H:
Arsenal
Alkmaar
Pir?us
L?ttich

[andydriffield]

good to see liverpool have got a potentially smooth group

[350_an_ounce]

Obvious Arsenal supporter.

There was ZERO contact between Eduardo and the GK. Horrendous dive.

its all about angle, the ref did not see things correctly and had to decide....

if the games had instant replay none of this would happen.

im actually in favor of instant replay, if you are caught diving automatic yellow, get caught diving again after that and a red everytime.

[nighthawkdiner]

its all about angle, the ref did not see things correctly and had to decide....

if the games had instant replay none of this would happen.

im actually in favor of instant replay, if you are caught diving automatic yellow, get caught diving again after that and a red everytime.

UEFA's reviewing the footage and are going to decide on a punishment if any. Could go from a yellow card to a two-match suspension.

[wesbender]

UEFA's reviewing the footage and are going to decide on a punishment if any. Could go from a yellow card to a two-match suspension.

Meh, I hope he does actually get suspended if this means that they're going to be stricter about it from now on. If it took an Arsenal player to finally open people's eyes, then whatever. I'm fine with that.

I have my doubts, but we can always hope.

[nighthawkdiner]

Meh, I hope he does actually get suspended if this means that they're going to be stricter about it from now on. If it took an Arsenal player to finally open people's eyes, then whatever. I'm fine with that.

I have my doubts, but we can always hope.

From a supporter's point of view it's a disgrace. I'm not crestfallen or anything, but it was odd and frustrating to see him do it. In previous similar situations I've seen him dribble around keepers and put it in.

It's not like hoops were a side that in order to win Arsenal needed a dive for an early goal. Completely unnecessary and I hope the exposure will cement how ridiculous it is to play that way. Arsenal in particular will be closely watched by officials now, that much is for sure.

But my guess is per usual FIFA's resolve will be tested and after a few weeks everyone will be back at it.

[MISTERDUDE]

http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news;_yl...v=ap&type=lgns

MONACO (AP)?UEFA warned European soccer clubs that they must break even in the future or face being barred from the Champions League.

UEFA president Michel Platini said Thursday he wants new financial rules in place by 2012 to stop clubs from spending more on buying players and wages than they generate in soccer-related income. That includes selling players, match tickets and merchandise, and money from television and sponsorship deals.

?The clubs simply can?t spend more than they generate by way of income,? Platini said. ?We have three years to see how clubs can get back to break even.?

Platini spoke ahead of the draw for this season?s Champions League. UEFA?s proposals for controlling club spending will be discussed Friday by the Professional Football Strategy Council, a panel of experts from Europe?s clubs, leagues and players? unions.

I agree with all of that.