To the referee of the Arsenal v. Liverpool Champions League match played at the Emirates on Wednesday, April 2, 2008:
The following is a foul:
The next time you are presented with such a situation, please respond accordingly and award a penalty kick. Also...
BLOW YOUR FUCKING WHISTLE, YOU USELESS TWAT!
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Ode to a Referee
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10 comments:
Moan on, Gooners. Moan on. No penalty. Sorry. Yes, Kuyt pulled him back with the arm, but I don't see how that caused Hleb's knees to buckle and his whole body to go limp and tumble to the floor.
There is a serious "dive-first" mentality in the EPL, and I hate it. Hleb could have easily shrugged off the challenge and taken a shot one-on-one with Reina, but he chose to fall and try and win the penalty.
1-1.
Kid,
I have no dog in this fight, and I agree that, by the rules, it "should" have been a penalty. That said, the ref was pretty consistent about not calling anything short of a mugging, Kuyt did a good job not extending the grab, and Hleb looked like he'd rather go down than actually have the ball at his feet near the goal...
Seriously, Hleb drove that ball in hard like he was going to refuse to be denied by anything less than a goal, and then the moment Kuyt makes contact, oopsy...
Just the view of a neutral who'd actually prefer that Arsenal advance...
Joe
ah, poop on you, James.
This just in: Dirk Kunt does not think it was a penalty:
Dirk Kuyt has denied that the referee in Liverpool's first-leg Champions League tie with Arsenal did him a favour in not awarding a penalty against him - despite the fact that they grew up in the same part of Holland and have met several times before.
Pieter Vink turned down Arsenal appeals for a second-half penalty, after what looked like a clear tug by Kuyt on Alexander Hleb. Vink is from Noordwijkerhout, a small town close to Amsterdam with a population of around 15,000. Kuyt's home town of Katwijk aan Zee is only five miles away, and the striker admitted to having played in a number of games in which Vink officiated. He was adamant, however, that Vink made a "good decision" in waving play on.
http://football.guardian.co.uk/championsleague200708/story/0,,2270632,00.html
Hockalees --
yeah, he doesn't think it was a penno, along with the rest of the sane world. [Now I'm just being a dick]
Interesting about the proximity of his and the ref's hometown, although I don't appreciate the cheat insinuation of it all. Fun fact, sure, but could it really be anything worth investigating? Like the two men have waited their whole lives to play/work the same big game, so the ref to finally flex that close kinship and bail Dirk out of a tight spot on the pitch?
Puh-leeze. Still a fun fact, so thanks for bringing that up!
DICK!
Lingering -
Two things.
1. I personally believe it was a penalty. If Kuyt had even REMOTELY tried to get the ball instead of pulling Hleb backward I might be persuaded otherwise. But the posts inferring that Hleb "dove" are ridiculous. It was a blown call.
2. I do not believe that there is/was a conspiracy. Arsenal should never have put themselves in a position where a single blown call costs them the tie. But it was an odd coincidence that Kuyt and the ref are familiar, no?
I only posted the link here because it "fit".
I also believe that Oswald acted alone, we really did land on the moon in '69, and that one day, all the people of the world will unite in our hatred of Oprah.
Sadly, YouTube has beaten me again, as this video has also disappeared. We need to find a more permanent version so that the debate can continue.
Holy crap that was a penalty. Kuyt went from being even with a chance to block the shop to jumping behind Hleb . Hleb emphasized it juuuuuuuuust a bit, but Kuyt played the man, not the ball. And in the box, that's a spot kick. Law.
Kuyt also looks like Sloth from the Goonies which is all the proof I need that it was a foul.
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