17 Mar 2014

LFC vs. Man Utd: Superb win...spoiled by 2 cynical incidents involving SAS & Hendo

Liverpool put in a Premier League-winning performance against Manchester United at Old Trafford yesterday, and whilst - like all fans - I'm ecstatic about the victory, there are still two incidents in the match the leave a bad taste in my mouth, and I'm not going to ignore them just because I'm an LFC fan. Fair-play is (or should be) a hugely important part of football, but it's slowly being eroded, and it saddens me to see Liverpool players complicit in the erosion of the game's core values.

1. Daniel Sturridge's Blatant Dive

Sturridge dived. There is clearly no contact from Vidic, and if a player goes down like he's been shot when there's no contact, It's a dive. End of story. Alan Hansen also took the view that Sturridge dived. He told The Telegraph:

"Daniel Sturridge dived for the penalty but Vidic should never have allowed him to get into that position. In the modern game if you put your leg out the chances are you will get punished"



Yes, Vidic's tackle is reckless, but that in-and-of itself should not give players license to try and con the referee. There's no such thing as an 'anticipatory foul', yet this cynical practice continues to sully the game.

What's worse is fans arguing that players have the right to go down if a player puts in a bad tackle *even if there's no contact*. What kind of spurious logic is that? It's cheating, pure and simple, and in my view, fans who peddle that poisoned line of thinking are encouraging and condoning cheating.

This is not the first time Sturridge has dived this season. He perpetrated a carbon-copy of the Man United incident against Man City earlier this season, and received a deserved yellow-card for his actions. Take a look at the video below - The only difference between the two incidents is that Joleon Lescott didn't attempt to make a tackle.



2. Suarez and Henderson Trying to Get Rafael Sent Off

After Rafael's handball for the penalty, Suarez raised arm in the air to signal 'handball' - which is fair enough - but after that, he raced across to referee Mark Clattenburg and made the 'yellow-card' gesture with his hand. The video below provides conclusive evidence of this:


Manchester United vs Liverpool 0-3 ~ All Goals... by SportChannel

Suarez then proceeded - along with Henderson - to try and convince Clattenburg to show Rafael a second yellow card. The penalty had already been awarded, so why else would Hendo and Suarez be remonstrating with the referee?

 photo ScreenShot2014-03-17at085558_zpsae2c28aa.png

Whether it's LFC players or the opposing team, I really hate to see this, and if a Man Utd player had acted the same way, Reds fans would be up in arms. Commentating on the game, Former LFC star Jim Beglin - to his credit - criticised Suarez for his actions. He noted:

"Suarez should just be happy with the penalty. It's not his job to referee the game. He should just get on with it"

Diving and cynically trying to influence the referee may be growing staples of the game, but that doesn't mean LFC fans should accept it. I'd expect this kind of behaviour (particularly the yellow-card incident) from a Mourinho team, not the Reds, and when Rodgers views the match again (as he inevitably will), I really hope he speaks to the players about both incidents, and rams home the important point that LFC are better than this.

I'll inevitably get stick for posting this, but the overall integrity of the game is bigger than LFC, and if fans want to stop football becoming even more of a cesspool of cheating and UNfair play, then they need to demand higher standards, and stop turning a blind eye to damaging incidents when it involves the team they support.

NOTE: Please remain civil when posting comments. If you can't do that, your post will be deleted.

Author:


75 comments:

  1. BR definitely needs to talk to the players, particularly for Sturridge's dive. I'd rather us beat opponents fairly and earn our victory. That dive has certainly left a bad taste. On Suarez and Hendo influencing the ref, honestly, I wanted to see Rafael get sent off. He's a rough player and it irritates me to watch him play. So, I'm not going to be too harsh on them trying to influence the ref.

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  2. 1. Still a pen.
    2. Nothing wrong with asking for a United player to be sent off.

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  3. Yes, and I'm sure you'd have the same attitude if an opposing player made the yellow card signal at a ref and tried to get an LFC player sent off. It's attitudes like this that are reason for the erosion of fair-play in the game. Bravo.

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  4. Definite Dive. Yes it is cheating, what i do not understand is where does the motivation to do that come from? You're 2-0 up, through on goal, more or less assured of the win, why risk a booking? On players influencing referees, I want to see football adopt rugby rules in that only the captains speak and relay messages to the referees and put mics on the referees so the fans can hear discussions.

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  5. It should have been a yellow card. If you're interested in promoting fair play why aren't you castigating the ref for not giving a penalty for Fellaini fouling Suarez, or Carrick on Sturridge? You worry about fair play, I'll enjoy sticking it to the scum. As far as United are concerned the best result would be a completely unjustified Fergie time penalty given for Suarez doing a triple somersault cos Evra breathed on him. F*** the scum.

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  6. I arched the match with great joy, but towards the end of the game, I found myself wondering how on earth you would manage to find anything negative to write, especially about Louis Suarez. There were no negatives at all, in reality. Daniel Sturridge was brought down by Vidic, because there was no way of avoiding his clumsy and mistimed tackle. In fact, the referee would have been perfectly justified in awarding two more penalties for further fouls on both Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez. As for the alleged cynicism of Luis Suarez and Jordan Henderson regarding Liverpool's first penalty, the inquiries made regarding whether or not Rafael should have been sent off were polite, rather than cynical, remarkably so, given the white-hot nature of the occasion. From your previous tirades, it seems that you have a serious problem with Luis Suarez that refuses to go away. Have you considered therapy?

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  7. Not a pen
    This happened in the Villa Chelsea game with the Ramires tackle

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  8. I'm not going to be too harsh and Suarez and Henderson on that yellow card incident. Anyone who has played football knows that sometimes the adrenaline can make you do things like that. Especially in Henderson's case, it looked like he was simply asking why it wasn't a yellow, which i think is a legitimate question.
    That Sturridge dive was shameful though...

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  9. I support LFC, so I'm principally concerned with LFC's contribution to the lack of fair play. This is obvious.

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  10. Completely agree with the Sturridge one. Though I would argue that we should have had 5 penalties without him diving. And whilst I see your point with Raphael; in the laws of the game, that should be a second booking - he definitely meant to stop the ball with his hand which is a bookable offence. I know he was booked minutes earlier. But that was an awful tackle and deserved a booking also. I think Flanno probably should have seen red as well as he was borderline the majority of the game and should really add up to a second yellow.

    But to be honest; I dont think either of those "incidents" really effected the game. Because even if Vidic was still on the pitch I couldnt see where they were going to score from. Which might be credit to our midfield for playing them off the pitch. Or simply tactical naivety from the "Football Genius" himself, David Moyes. What a legend. MOTM

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  11. You say you don't expect this from a Liverpool team, but this is a team that a) has Gerrard in it.
    b) Vehemently defended a racist who was proven to be a liar and abuser.
    c) has a manager who defends his diving player to justify the penalty


    so this behaviour is truly a reflection of your club.

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  12. All I can say is fair enough it was a dive which won us a pen, but look at the stone wallers that should have been awarded in our favour. I am not for cheating as I despise anyone who does it, but i'm just saying that we haven't had what we deserved in the past. This is not a comment to stir up a fuss, it is just my mere opinion and I also agree that the phantom waving of a yellow/red card is something that needs eradicating from the game.

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  13. Evra is on the pitch, bacon face is in the stand, 70000 scum fans are watching on.


    Fair play can kiss my a***.


    Payback for all the fergie time, penalties not given and bent refs over the last 20 years.

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  14. Polite? Suarez did the infamous 'wave the imaginary yellow-card' gesture, something that is supposed to be frowned-upon. There's nothing 'polite' about it. It's a disgrace, and LFC players shouldn't be doing it.

    When another team does the same thing to LFC in the future, and it actually leads to action being taken, you'll change your tune; you won't be saying 'but John Tery was just being polite'.

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  15. For consistency I have no doubt that Jaimie's next article will be commending Suarez for staying on his feet throughout, and in particular when challenged from behind and knocked off his balance in their penalty area after 5 minutes.
    Or perhaps not!

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  16. There's a difference between appealing for decisions that should never be given, like United and Chelsea players often do, and appealing for decisions that should be given, like the awarding of a yellow card for blatant cheating by the scum player in question.

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  17. The dive was ugly, i don't like diving and it shouldn't be tolerated.
    I have always had an issue with players and coaches asking for yellow cards but over this season im having more issues with referees not doing their job properly.
    Rafael should have been sent off but the ref didn't follow the rules he decided it would have been too harsh to send him off, if it was a first yellow he would have given it but not a second and that's what i have an issue with this year, Bad refereeing.

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  18. The truth is though, is Rafael should have off. The ref bottled it.
    Yes they shouldn't be trying to get him sent off, and I don't like that card waving thing. But for the most part Suarez stood with his arms behind his back didn't he? (video isn't loading)
    Sturridge was an obvious dive, and its disappointing to see it. No excuses for that.
    I don't think there is any harm in a playing asking a ref why some hasn't been punished. As long as the do it in a sensible manner. But more problems arise when refs just wave players away, and don't give any kind of explanation - I'm talking generally here, not just this game. This causes players to get frustrated.
    If, in this case, Clattenburg simply said "I deemed it accidental, and therefore not a booking." It could solve the issue. He might have said that, I don't know, but chances are he didn't.
    I'm against cheating as well. But it extends beyond the attacking team 'looking for penalties' etc... Rafael should have been sent off, it looked pretty deliberate to me. So should he therefore own up?

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  19. The only disappointment for me was Suarez didn't bite Evra.

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  20. Hillario-7-Quaresma11:17 am, March 17, 2014

    Lol stop pretending to be a liverpool fan writting this article when you aren't Suarez & Hendo did nothing wrong sturridge was wrongly given and denied a penalty which cancel each other soo If you got a bitter taste on your mouth better stick with it No need to share it with fans who have a sweeter one

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  21. Was Rafael's handball deliberate? Hard to tell, therefore it would've been harsh to send him off (IMO). Plus, United already get punished with the penalty.

    And Suarez didn't keep his hands behind his back. He ran over to Clattenburg brandishing the imaginary yellow card.

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  22. I've already commended Suarez many times this season for changing his behaviour, most recently last week in the following article, in which I defended him against Mourinho's indirect criticism:

    http://www.liverpool-kop.com/2014/03/john-aldridge-slams-mourinho-etoo-cheat-mind-games-suarez-dive.html

    "The accusation of play-acting cannot be levelled at the Uruguayan this season. The striker's behaviour on the pitch is exemplary so far, and he's clearly trying hard to change his approach to the game. Suarez deserves credit for making a concerted effort to remove the shady side of his game"

    I am consistent, and your point is irrelevant.

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  23. Nicolas Chamberlain11:24 am, March 17, 2014

    Jamie and his famous moral highground.... Boring!

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  24. I thought it looked deliberate. Just my opinion.
    I know Suarez was initially waving his arms about, but he did then stand with his arms behind his back, I thought? I could be remembering it wrong though.
    Even if it wasn't deliberate, could it not have been a goal scoring chance?
    I think, had he not been booked just before, he would have been booked. And that is the problem with Refs, they bottle all these decisions.
    I wouldn't be surprised if that influenced his decision to send off Vidic. Maybe he thought he should have sent off Raphael, and was 'making up for it'

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  25. Funny how you find it hard ot tell if Rafael's handball was deliberate, yet when Suarez made an unintentional handball against Mansfield last season, you were accusing him of cheating.

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  26. Nicolas Chamberlain11:26 am, March 17, 2014

    It was a red card, its not rocket science. Sturridge dived but if he didn't jump he could have been injured... We are finally getting that extra 'gogme'

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  27. Yeah whatever. Man Utd players were doing exactly the same thing, & it will never change. Liverpool shouldn't be the puritans of football if no one else is. It's the responsibility of the FA.

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  28. No reason for Rafael to have his hand there & couldn't be considered ball to hand.


    And yes, agree with the comment below completely.

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  29. There's nothing 'funny' about it. Suarez's handball against Mansfield was manifestly deliberate. Additionally, he has form for deliberate hand-ball, which raises the probability that it was intentional.

    http://www.liverpool-kop.com/2013/01/mansfield-luis-suarez-handball-gif-goalkeeper-angry-over-incident.html

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  30. Sturridge dived but who cares. yh we all love our football but if there was no divers it wouldnt be interesting. bad referee decisions have to balance out over a season so sturridge penalty you can say was awarded for Sterling offside goal or Suarez penalty for Eto'o foul.


    point is, it happened, if Sturridge was caught, he would have been carded. sadly for United, he did it in a situation where United were under pressure and made a tackle to make it look like at the time it was a penalty when infact it werent, but again i mention, who cares? United fans might, but over the years, Utd have always got big decisions against LFC which make us lose.



    and IMO suarez and henderson did nothing wrong. its the Referee who got it wrong. if its a penalty, its a GUARENTEED yellow card. Suarez and Hendo are supporting their team badge like any other fan would do if they were on that pitch. it should have been a Red card for rafael, and Suarez and Henderson do nothing wrong whatsoever.


    on yesterdays match, love the way Suarez flung Phil Jones to the floor like a fly. 25 goals and counting for big Luis

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  31. Moan moan moan it is obvious you dont support lfc...after every game you pickk out some negative

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  32. surely everyone's points are relevant otherwise why bother to get comments.

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  33. "Suarez and Hendo are supporting their team badge like any other fan would do if they were on that pitch."


    Not quite every other fan apparently.

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  34. I don't see how the 'wave the imaginary card' gesture is a disgrace IF the card is warranted. In this case, it definitely is. Rafael intentionally stopped the ball with his hand, that certainly warranted a yellow.


    Other teams like Chelsea and Barcelona have on occasion, surrounded and relentlessly pressured the referee into making a decision (usually a debatable one). Suarez and Henderson were merely pointing out to the referee an obvious decision that he should have made.


    While purists such as yourself may choose to take the moral high ground, perhaps because you may believe that the referee's authority should never be questioned, I think that both players reacted in a very natural way to the 'injustice' that occurred.

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  35. Suarez stayed on his feet and didnt get a penalty. To be honest i don't care how we beat United so long as we beat them.

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  36. If you want to be abusive be accurate. Suarez was found not to be racist, but to have used a racist term, which was deemed racist in this country (quite rightly) but he maintains not in south America.

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  37. Jamie K is dick who writes shit articles...Stop reading his bullshit he hasnt got a clueabt the rubbish he writes..go fuck urself u asshole...

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  38. If i remember correctly he shoot the ball and "score" after the handball clearly expecting the ref the give a fault for handball (his face and his shot out of frustration say it all), and clearly look surprise to see the referee accepting the goal so saying that he was trying to con the ref seem unfair on this one.

    but on the other hand the one against southampton is a blatant cheating act.

    On a other note if people (not especially you Jamie) could stop refer to even that happen quite some time ago (no even this season for Sammy's post) that would be great, i may be the only one but i find it really annoying particularly when we talk about situation that have nothing in commun.

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  39. Agree that the dive was unsavoury, nobody likes to see that from any player. Vidic's lunge was badly mistimed, so had Sturridge waited for contact he could well have been brought down anyway, so there was really no need to throw himself to the ground. In any other situation I feel Rafael's handball is a clear yellow card, which is what Suarez and Henderson were suggesting to Clattenberg. However, a caution would've meant sending Rafael off, plus a penalty. The penalty is punishment enough for the offence alone and I feel this is probably the reason he didn't issue one, which is totally fair. I have never liked to see players try to get others booked, but it doesn't seem to be a regular thing for the Liverpool players and I will put it down to the pressure and passion of a big match against fierce rivals. If we are to win though, we want it to be done fairly, and I hope that behind closed doors Rodgers is pointing this out to his team, whatever he says in public. Thankfully we won so convincingly yesterday that these little moments didn't influence the game. Occasional indiscretions aside, we are still top of the fair play league (I think).

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  40. In this particular case i think it's because Clattenburg realise that if he goes by the book he should give a yeallow card but didn't want to "ruin" the game and let a team with 10 man for a half in a game of this importance.

    Considering the penalty was still giving and that we dominated the game, winning 11 vs 11 is even more satisfying than 10 vs 11

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  41. Just wondering where you stand on the issue of fair play when quite a number of dangerous tackles were made by United players esp early on.
    Are we to partake that its ok to possibly ruin a players career but poor sportsmanship is not allowed.

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  42. With respect, this is not a credible question. My focus on these two issues does not hint, apply, or suggest that I condone dangerous tackles.

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  43. It has some credibility as poor sportsmanship runs both ways and thats not to condone the actions of the Liverpool players concerned.

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  44. I have watched both handballs again and tried to be as objective as possible. It is very difficult to judge intent but my conclusion (unsurprisingly) is that Suarez's was unintentional, Rafael's was.

    In both cases, the ball took an unexpected change in direction. But,
    1) Rafael's entire arm was totally outstretched whereas only Suarez's upper arm was close to his body, which supports the theory that he was trying to get his arm out of the way as opposed to into it.
    2) Suarez was running forward, Rafael was almost flat on his heels. Moving the arms while running is natural, raising them from an almost standing position is not.

    Also, two counterpoints to your arguments. First, Suarez NEVER admitted to the Mansfield handball. He admitted that he would probably have used his hand if that particular incident occurred two months ago. The Mansfield incident took place nearly a year before that interview. He was in no way making a reference to that incident, and the article is basically describing the change in his overall attitude.


    Secondly, just because Suarez handballed in the world cup does not mean that he would have done so in the Mansfield game. The circumstances were totally different. Liverpool were leading in the game with over half an hour to spare while Uruguay were sure to be eliminated if not for his intervention.

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  45. No, it's not credible. You're trying to imply that because I didn't mention bad tackles in my article that I somehow condone bad tackles. Additionally, you're pulling the age-old trick of trying to take the focus away from the issues at hand by changing the subject to something else.

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  46. Ok, Sturridge went down and shouldnt have and didnt need to.

    But Suarez and Hendo "spoiling" the game in trying to get the yellow? Not in a million years. 1st Suarez makes the "card" gesture, for about a second, realizes he shouldn't do this, but politely talks to the referee with Hendo. Nothing disgraceful about it - if it were a regular occurence maybe, but this instance it is totally acceptable. A crucial game, a clear incident, which just about any other day would lead to a sending off - asking the ref for this is fair play - how many handballs in the box do you see not get yellows?

    Looking for a fair advantage - it is very reasonable to believe a yellow is in order - is fine. If there was nothing to call for, you might have a point. But I imagine the majority of fans were expecting Rafael to get sent off - it was not only Suarez and Hendo.

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  47. Also, Graham Poll's opinion is also consistent with mine with regards to the handball incidents. While he did not cover himself with glory in the World Cup incident, he provides the objective perspective of an ex-referee.
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2258138/Luis-Suarez-handball-Mansfield--dont-blame--Graham-Polls-verdict.html

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2582116/Clattenburg-got-nearly-big-decision-right-Liverpools-win-Man-United-inconsistency-left-scratching-heads.html

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  48. You didnt hold back on Carra when he laid the tackle on Nani when the United team rallied for the red card but because no one was injured are u saying there was lesser intent.
    If u read my last sentence it actually explained that i did not condone their actions no age old trick sir.

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  49. Suarez still made the yellow-card gesture, and then tried to convince the ref - along with Hendo, who was anything but polite in his approach - to send off a fellow professional. Just because the yellow was deserved doesn't make that behaviour excusable. It's poor sportsmanship, pure and simple.

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  50. You have your view, I have mine. The fact that Suarez has a history of deliberate handballs (*and* recently admitted that he deliberately uses his hand), means that probability of his handball vs. mansfield being intention is significant.

    Please read his quote again. You are ignoring Suarez's mindset. He is a player who *admits* that he will use his hand to gain an advantage, so why would he not do that against Mansfield?

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  51. Sorry, but this has nothing to do with what's being argued in this article.

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  52. Jamie thank you for highlighting this as I knew you would, a lot of Liverpool fans are turning a blind eye on this because we battered them but I cannot stand by cheating.

    A few points:

    Sturridge dived. I can understand anticipating contact and bracing oneself to be clamped but Sturridge started falling way before that, furthermore there was no contact. No wonder Vidic was absolutely fuming. That made me quite sad to be honest.

    Had it been Rooney that done that Liverpool fans would have been up in arms. Let's not by hypocritical here, whichever way you view it was a dive. And that's such a shame.

    Appealing for sending off: I quite like when players are so passionate but this is unnecessary, once again if it was the other way round I'm sure our fans would a feel some type of way.

    All in all, I'm over the moon with the win, being a Liverpool fan for a 11 years I have never experience this in my life, apart from 01-02 and 08-09 I have never experienced Liverpool being contenders and certainly beating United away like we did.

    Overall, I hope BR talks to Sturridge about the dive, and kudos to Suarez for being exemplary apart from the Rafael thing.

    It makes me so happy seeing United fail lol! But I expect them to spend heavily this summer.

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  53. @Jaimie K About that yellow card incident, when the ball is out for a throw-in, don't both the teams' players raise their hands to influence the decision? And when a player is fouled, doesn't he try to raise his hands in hope for a free kick? Would you call that as unsportsmanlike behaviour too? I don't see what the problem is in asking the ref for a second yellow. For example, if you saw Ramires' tackle vs Aston Villa, didn't AV players rush towards the ref and try to convince him to give a red card? Why is that different from this?

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  54. My point was the stakes was very much higher, thereby increasing the incentive to deliberately handball to gain an advantage.


    Assuming that you had no other information to judge the handball incident other than historical knowledge, then you are right. It is likely that he did. But watching the actual incident allows us to better evaluate his intentions. I have explained myself with regards to that issue. Add to that his demeanour,the manner in which he blasted the ball from nearly inside the goal and the muted celebration, it suggests that the handball was not intentional.

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  55. sturridge agree. cringe worthy when you watch that replay. yikes!! That's gonna stick.
    >>>No body mentioned the early play when Suarez was clipped from behind by I recall M Fellaini and he stayed on his feet just as he entered the 18. Could have fallen or embellished that clip. That would have been a pen also. Credit to LS there. <<<
    but the handball very well could have garnered a yellow if he didn't have one prior. That's just good refereeing if you ask me. I think he used the mentality, "If I gave the yellow it would have ruined the game". But under other circumstances it likely was a yellow offence. Blatant attempt at grabbing the ball to prevent an advantage towards goal. Stupid if you ask me, as it was almost subconsciously done, but it was done none the less. Anyhow, the players with the rules ingrained in their dna appealed to the referee for the rule interpretation as it is what it is. Black and white. That's not necessarily cheating or influencing the ref just asking the ref to be fair in accordance with the rules. I hate Man U, but I immediately thought if the shoe was on our feet how would we feel? I thought the call was good. Was good refereeing imo.

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  56. Where have I argued that the Villa incident is different to this?

    Yes, players raise their hands to call for a throw-in, but it speaks volumes that you try to equate that with someone showing an imaginary yellow card, and then badgering the referee to change the game by sending someone off. The two things are completely different.

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  57. The outcomes are different, but both actions are the same. It is the act of trying to influence the referee to make the right (or wrong) decision. If you condemn the act, then both examples should be wrong in your book.

    P.S. I hope you don't mind my comments, I just enjoy engaging in a healthy debate on these 'controversial' issues with other Reds :)

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  58. Of course I don't mind :-) Your comments are top notch: civil, and reasoned; precisely what's welcomed here.

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  59. Jaimie, whilst I agree completely with you that Sturridge dived to win that penalty which is wrong, I can only completely disagree with you on the Rafael/Suarez/Henderson incident. I'd like to hear a response to what I'm saying here but basically the way I see it is that Rafael cheated. He stuck his hand out to deny Suarez a chance on goal and that's against the rules of the game which is cheating plain and simple. And if diving is a form of cheating where players get yellow cards as punishment, why doesn't Rafael's cheating also warrant a yellow card? In my view Suarez and Henderson are totally justified in asking for a yellow after Rafael cheated. I'm interested to read your response.

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  60. That is the real point and I can't criticise LS or Hendo for asking the question of Clattenburg. It would have been a yellow had Rafael not already had one. A yellow is a yellow regardless of the supposed 'bigness' of the match. Who knows whether an obvious second yellow didn't embolden the ManU players to think Clattenburg didn't have the stones to send anybody off...and thus indirectly caused the future penalties.
    The PK scored and we won so it didn't adversely affect the match...so no real harm...just bar talk. Same with DS's dive...the PK was missed and it didn't hinder the outcome so no harm done. Besides Clattenburg made up for it by denying the real penalty a little later.
    But I DO disagree that these incidents 'spoiled' the match. We beat our most bitter rivals 3-0 on their turf...3 times a bad as we beat them on our turf earlier in the season. It wasn't spoiled for me at all...and even without the penalties we win 1-0 on Suarez's nifty strike.

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  61. You may be right that Rafael deliberately hand-balled, but in my view, that does not excuses the lack of sportsmanship on the part of Suarez and Henderson. There's never a fair reason for a player to brandish an imaginary yellow card. It should be outlawed from the game. Additionally, the penalty had already been given, and Suarez/Hendo didn't give Clattenburg the chance to consider the yellow. Their intervention may have even subconsciously convinced him to hold off.

    For me, whatever the incident, players should not be in the ref's face trying to convince him to send off a fellow professional, and brandishing an imaginary yellow should automatically result in a YC for the offending player.

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  62. Not great but didn't exactly 'spoil' it for me.

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  63. The idea that it spoiled the game is just me personal view.

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  64. Fair enough I can see your point a referee is already under a ridiculous amount of pressure he doesn't need players to then get in his face. Still though, you must agree that Rafael's handball was cheating and therefore deserves a YC regardless of circumstance. But I can see your point in not pressuring the referee into a decision.

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  65. Why cant referees be held accountable for their actions?
    IMO it was a second yellow but the ref didnt want to send a player off.
    Im not saying Ref's should be punished for missing a call but i'd rather hear "From my angle it looked like a foul" rather than the endless moaning about whether incidents are dives or not.
    Also was gerrard carded just because fellani had a cut and someone needed to be punished?

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  66. Mate you got it spot on there.. But yea making the ref pull his cards out are normal in Derby's.. But I seriously hated Dan Stu dive.. Sickens me that even though we can win the game fair and square unwanted tactics are used to gain an advantage.. Anyways your views are absolutely correct, if people are giving you stick for it You can understand what kind of person they are ☺

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  67. If we won the game as a result of a bad call, I'd agree with you about it spoiling the result.


    But in this case, we were so much better than them that we deserved to win. I wish we didn't resort to those tactics (specifically diving), but we didn't win because Sturridge dived, and we didn't win because the players tried (albeit unsuccessfully) to get Rafael sent off.


    We won because we were the better team from start to finish and put ourselves in good positions.

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  68. I agree with you entirely.


    However, I love the reaction of the fans in the Stretford end to Gerrard's successful first penalty. I have played it quite a few times now. Does that make me a bad person? ......... ;-)

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  69. Rafael SHOULD have been sent off. It's absolute nonsense that he didn't receive a yellow for a deliberate handball
    I do not have an issue with the Liverpool players trying to make sure the referee did the right thing
    I feel the referee then let Flanagan off with a rash challenge on Rafael later on, to level it up
    As for the Sturridge "dive", it's not something that we want to be associated with, however it's being ignored by the media really. Because Sturridge is now England's main hope for World Cup.............. Suarez would not have gotten off so lightly
    Defenders, and goalkeepers, cannot go lunging for balls that they have no chance of getting, across an attacker's path. Why should the attacker avoid them? If someone hurdles a challenge, and loses their footing they will get nothing
    Sturridge did the same against Fulham, and I highlighted it at the time but no one batted an eyelid to it
    Oxlade Chamberlain did the same in the 5-1 defeat. Look at it carefully, he goes down before any contact with Gerrard
    Suarez did the same when Guzan slid out at him on a wet surface
    Each time the defender erred massively, and behaved in an utterly unprofessional manner
    There is a massive difference in above "offences" and the Ramires one v West Brom or Oscar dive where he kicked the keeper instead of tapping into an empty net. The attacker manufactured contact in these situations even though defender didn't rashly commit to a challenge
    Can anyone here also see the distinction?

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  70. i honestly dont see the problem in waving imaginary cards or trying to get players sent off when they deserve it. it happens week in, week out in grass roots football only we dont wave the imaginary card, just let the ref know what we think

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  71. Crazy Legs Djimi3:36 pm, March 17, 2014

    The sentiment of of your point is right, with regards to getting someone sent off. But if every team hounds the ref for a favourable decision ala Man U, Chelsea, Barca, Madrid..etc. Why should we be the pillar of the community?? Game are usually won by fine margins (not always by 3 goals...LOL). Mass of professions always point out that Gerrard doesn't do enough of this type of hounding of the ref, it was left to Carra to do this.


    Hell, Mourinho probably hold training drills on how to harass the ref's...... As for the dive (which it was)... Ashley Young had won so many games for them with dubious penalties last season, this explains their 11 point gap at the top, because they we're pants last season too, but for last min pen's and Van Persie, they may have not on at a canter.

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  72. Crazy Legs Djimi3:45 pm, March 17, 2014

    It kinda does have relevance, as he's giving you examples to vaildate his point. He might of side tracked abit, but if he doesn't give you a example.. He would be someone who suffers from tunnel vision, so he looks at the bigger picture. As you do JK. You look at the bigger picture more often than not......don't you?

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  73. If you all remember Graham Poll during WC 2006 booked the same player three times before sending him off! So you see these refs need help sometimes so nothing wrong with Suarez and Henderson reminding Clattenburg what the situation is really like!!!!
    \

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  74. It's such a misdemeanor, that it's hardly noteworthy - he caught himself in the act, stopped immediately - AND it was a yellow worthy incident. Who can blame him if he gets a little excited that there's a very very legitimate chance that a rival might be getting sent off in one of the biggest games of the year - nothing unsportsmanlike about it, it was totally valid - instinctual reaction.

    It's not like he's made a habit of it, or was doing it on a questionable foul - there was 0 doubt he handled the ball on what was essentially a goal scoring opportunity.

    If there's anyone that is very versed in the rules of handballs in the box - it's suarez.

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  75. What is done is done. Things such as diving and player flashing imaginary cards happen all the time. Do not get me wrong, I am not for diving etc but until the FA, Fifa or Uefa etc bring in rules to punish offenders then nothing is EVER going to change!

    Diving has been discussed over and over and over again, game after game, season after season... Fingers need to be pointed at those who make the rules and are doing nothing to eradicate the problems we see on the pitch.

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