Man Utd Thread:

[J70]

You can't be serious?! (and I suspect your statement about Almunia's arms must be tongue in cheek!) If serious, is it now permissable to go down if the possibility of being impeded exists? Could Rooney (or any of the other numerous players who have done it) not have jumped over Almunia fairly easily? Or does the fact that he had kicked the ball into touch mean that he's more justified in going down?

You think a player should be allowed lie down in front of an opponent and if they could have hurdled them then it's not a foul?

Do players not ride tackles and hurdle other players all the time? I've never seen a rule which says you can preemptively fall down when you think a foul might be coming. Had Rooney touched the ball softly towards goal instead of hammering it over the endline, do you think he would have gone down so easily? There was no foul because he didn't allow one to happen. United won a very similar one against Liverpool a few months back, but in that case Park stayed on his feet and Reina knocked him over.

Regardless, if someone dives like Rooney did, I don't see why he should be rewarded or at least not punished after the fact, which thankfully seems to have started this week.

[deiseach]

No he wasn't. Rooney was still in a running position when contact was made. Fact, as Rafa would say. Your point about jumping is irrelevant, as deiseach highlights.

*takes hot shower and scrubs self with Swarfega*

[J70]

4 in 4 now, good man Wayne.

Was a penalty, there was plenty of contact, but Rooney definitely made sure he was getting it.

Why the f**k is Park coming on? 

Bullshit. Rooney was on his way down before Almunia even got near him. Yes, lots of players do it, but it was still a dive.

Yeah but Almunia would've made contact anyway, Rooney just made sure of it. He shouldn't have had his arms out to run into.

You can't be serious?! (and I suspect your statement about Almunia's arms must be tongue in cheek!) If serious, is it now permissable to go down if the possibility of being impeded exists? Could Rooney (or any of the other numerous players who have done it) not have jumped over Almunia fairly easily? Or does the fact that he had kicked the ball into touch mean that he's more justified in going down?

Nonsense. Clear penalty, Andy Gray was spot on, there's no onus on Rooney to hurdle Almunia. Rooney continued on his run and Almunia took his legs from him. Certain foul.

Nonsense right back at ya! If Almunia takes him out, so be it. Clear penalty. Rooney was on his way down before Almunia even got near him and probably could have jumped clear if he'd wanted to. It was a dive, end of story.

No he wasn't. Rooney was still in a running position when contact was made. Fact, as Rafa would say. Your point about jumping is irrelevant, as deiseach highlights.

They must be showing doctored replays over this side of the Atlantic then so.

[slow corner back]

Personaly I couldnt care less about how much contact was or was not made with Rooney it was certainly more than was made with Eboue  . Bottom line Utd played badly and beat the gunners, imagine how good Utd will be when they start to play well   . Still hoping for a new central midfielder before the window closes.

[Tony Baloney]

I just logged on after seeing the score on teletext to see if Rooney had dived. As soon I saw he had been brought down and scored a penalty I assumed he had dived! Seems my assumption was correct.

[orangeman]

Lucky win. Missing Ronaldo terribly. Valencia looks like a reserve.


Can't see United doing a lot the year.

[deiseach]

Do players not ride tackles and hurdle other players all the time? I've never seen a rule which says you can preemptively fall down when you think a foul might be coming. Had Rooney touched the ball softly towards goal instead of hammering it over the endline, do you think he would have gone down so easily? There was no foul because he didn't allow one to happen. United won a very similar one against Liverpool a few months back, but in that case Park stayed on his feet and Reina knocked him over.

Regardless, if someone dives like Rooney did, I don't see why he should be rewarded or at least not punished after the fact, which thankfully seems to have started this week.

I think that if referees were instructed to ensure there was contact before awarding frees, you'd have players lying down in front of opponent basically daring the opponent to go around them. The classic example was the Fabio Grosso / Lucas Neill incident in the last World Cup. Neill blocked Grosso's path to goal. As far as I was concerned, it was a penalty. I can't stand Wayne Rooney - once a Blue, always a Manc - but once Almunia went down Rooney was entitled to take advantage of that obstruction

[J70]

Do players not ride tackles and hurdle other players all the time? I've never seen a rule which says you can preemptively fall down when you think a foul might be coming. Had Rooney touched the ball softly towards goal instead of hammering it over the endline, do you think he would have gone down so easily? There was no foul because he didn't allow one to happen. United won a very similar one against Liverpool a few months back, but in that case Park stayed on his feet and Reina knocked him over.

Regardless, if someone dives like Rooney did, I don't see why he should be rewarded or at least not punished after the fact, which thankfully seems to have started this week.

I think that if referees were instructed to ensure there was contact before awarding frees, you'd have players lying down in front of opponent basically daring the opponent to go around them. The classic example was the Fabio Grosso / Lucas Neill incident in the last World Cup. Neill blocked Grosso's path to goal. As far as I was concerned, it was a penalty. I can't stand Wayne Rooney - once a Blue, always a Manc - but once Almunia went down Rooney was entitled to take advantage of that obstruction

I don't recall the WC incident, but surely blocking someone's path when you're not in control of the ball is obstruction, which would have made it an indirect free-kick? But anyway, from what I saw, Rooney dived, which makes him a cheat. And he's done it plenty of times before, just like Gerrard, Ronaldo and all the rest of them. Unless someone shows me where it says you're entitled to dive preemptively, we'll have to agree to disagree.

[Minder]

I take it we will have wall to wall media coverage of Rooneys dive in the next few day a la Eduardo?

Thought not

[TacadoirArdMhacha]

I take it we will have wall to wall media coverage of Rooneys dive in the next few day a la Eduardo?

Thought not

No. Because he didn't dive.

[Minder]

I take it we will have wall to wall media coverage of Rooneys dive in the next few day a la Eduardo?

Thought not

No. Because he didn't dive.

Sorry, because he is English he was being, whats the term again? Ah yes, he was being "clever"..............

[TacadoirArdMhacha]

I take it we will have wall to wall media coverage of Rooneys dive in the next few day a la Eduardo?

Thought not

No. Because he didn't dive.

Sorry, because he is English he was being, whats the term again? Ah yes, he was being "clever"..............

No, he was being "fouled".

[J70]

I take it we will have wall to wall media coverage of Rooneys dive in the next few day a la Eduardo?

Thought not

No. Because he didn't dive.

Did Almunia even touch him at all?

Courtesy of O'Neill on the other thread

[Farrandeelin]

Let's see it from another angle.

[J70]

Let's see it from another angle.

The only possibility from that narrow view and angle is that Almunia's left hand brushed Rooney's thigh. But given that his left leg was already well on the way to ground...