Pet Hates
Wednesday, 08 April 09, 04:06 PM · Comments(0)
by Stuart Gillespie
It might not seem like the most obvious point to raise after last night's enthralling Champions League match between Liverpool and Chelsea, but it's the only one that got my neutral blood boiling.
The incident came at 1-1, early in the second half, in the shape of Lucas Leiva's flagrant shove on Branislav Ivanovic at a Chelsea corner. This sort of "jostling" in the penalty box is far too common and, as in the case of Lucas, often takes the form of common assault. But it's all too rarely punished.
Ivanovic had the last laugh, going on to score his second of the game from a subsequent corner, but this should not distract us from the previous foul, during which time Lucas was completely unconcerned by the whereabouts of the football. Of course Chelsea have been offenders themselves in the past - Ricardo Carvalho getting over-friendly with Victor Valdes rings a bell.
But what else would we like to see eradicated from the game?
For a start, how about what is euphemistically known as defenders "shepherding the ball out of play". Often, this involves the defender adopting a pose more usually associated with sumo wrestlers or those with severe constipation. And the ball is rarely within projectile vomiting distance of the offending full-back (not that I'm singling anyone out), never mind playing distance.
Watching a Scottish First Division match on Tuesday night reminded me of another personal bugbear, this one a relatively new irritant. A ball was played over the top of the defence, towards the corner flag. The attacking forward was a yard offside, but could not have known this himself. Instead of flagging straight away, as would seem sensible, the linesman felt the need to wait until both attacker and defender had sprinted 30 yards towards the ball to see if the forward would get there first. Having had a decent headstart he of course did, and the linesman duly flagged. But there would clearly have been no advantage for a defender collecting the ball at his own corner flag, so there was no need to let play continue. All it did was waste the energy of two players, as well as a bit of game time.
Any advances?
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