[quote=âfarmerinthecityâ]How exactly does an occassion get to players? Or did you just say that because it sounded like the right thing to say?
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Idiot farmer. An occassion gets to players if they put themselves under too much pressure to perform, and are subsequently unable/afraid to perform to the required level. This happens to schoolgirls in exams, people on their wedding days and famously to you in the bedroom, I believe.
Massive one today. Noone knows what mood United will be in. Chelsea have struggled to score of late and are a supersolid machine. United are solid as fuck at the back, but are encountering our own dip in form of late. This all points to a tight game. with one or two breaks or pieces of inspiration telling. Letâs hope theyâre our moments. A draw should be sufficient but a win would be sweet as fuck and a great boost for the Barca game.
As for Chelsea today. Fat Frank will be out for Chelsea so thats a big plus for Chelsea straight away. I reckon itâll be a draw. Although I saw a headline on BBC this morning that said âMourinho gives Utd advantageâ I donât know how Jose did that but it was nice of him
Im not even going to hazard a guess at what team will be put out today.
Bust up between United players and Chelsea stewards after the game today.
According to The Sun:
The row erupted when the players refused to come off the pitch and an altercation broke out between Chelsea stewards, groundstaff and the United players.
If only United had shown this kind of fighting spirt in the first half of the match then it could have been different. While Chelseas penalty was a correct decision, I felt that United had a good shout for at least 2 penalties that the ref didnt give. Ferguson was right saying that he wasnt sure that United would get a big decision in their favour at Stamford Bridge. I just hope now that United can go out and beat West Ham next Saturday to go and put the pressure back on Chelsea ahead of them going to Newcastle.
The one on Carrick near the end was obviously not a penalty. Ballack just got goal side and Carrick went down himself under his own momentum and played for a penalty. Close to a yellow card for Carrick. The other one was Ronaldo and Ballack I presume? Bit more in that obviously but both players were at it and hard to see who was worse. Ballackâs entitled to stand his ground, Ronaldo isnât entitled to shove him out of the way, Ballack isnât allowed to grab him.
Thought the penalty actually awarded was a definite handball as you say. Heâd loads of time to get his hand out of the way. Never realised there were only 2 games left until this evening. SPL seems way behind so.
Ballack didnt play the ball. He only had intentions of stopping Ronaldo. I just want referees to be fair to both teams. If Ronaldo had done that to Ballack in the United area then it should be a penalty too.
Looking at the run ins its good that United play West Ham on Saturday as they can put the marker down before Chelsea play Newcastle away on Bank Holiday Monday at 4pm. Last day Chelsea are at home to Bolton who could be safe by then if Bolton beat Sunderland next week. United are away to Wigan who also could by safe by then and there is the Steve Bruce connection. Its certainly intresting to see it go to the last day but nerve wracking nonetheless.
Just one thing Iâd like to mention about the game. Anderson is going to be someting special, amazing talent and I was disgusted when he came off. Some work still to be done on his game but he only turned 20 around 2 weeks ago.
[quote=âCaptainshanâ]Ballack didnt play the ball. He only had intentions of stopping Ronaldo. I just want referees to be fair to both teams. If Ronaldo had done that to Ballack in the United area then it should be a penalty too.
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Ronaldo didnât play the ball either! Just because it was in Chelseaâs penalty area doesnât mean Ballack needs to get out of the way and allow Ronaldo a free run at the ball. If Ronaldo had gone past and he held him back then fair enough but thereâs no compulsion on Ballack to just wave him past.
Still think youâre deluding yourself thinking that United should have had a penalty. The Carrick one really shows up your bias because itâs absolutely not a penalty, Carrick just keeps running ahead of the ball and falls to the ground under his own momentum and any look at the replays from a neutral perspective would tell you that.
The Ballack on Ronaldo one - well I can see why youâd argue it was a penalty, even though it wasnât. At least thereâs contact so you can ask the question but the reality is thereâs no god given right to Ronaldo to run through Ballack and Ballack does well to resist his movements without grabbing onto him or holding him, he just stands his ground. If anything itâs a free out for barging by Ronaldo but I think play on is about the right call.
The F.A. will probbably hang the players involved in the scuffle on Saturday. It didnt even happen during the game and it didnt happen with Chelsea players. If its true that Evra was racially taunted then I could see why he got so angry.
thought it said on SSN this morning that utd made that claim and then withdrew it. Seemed to be a lot of black guys holding back Evra, why werent they as angry?
Yeah it would be very understandable - the difficulty will be proving it if all they have is CCTV footage and photographs. I assume theyâll just have to rely on the honesty of any witnesses among the stewards and players. Donât think much will come of it in the end anyway though.
One thing you all seem to be forgetting is that Chelsea are scum. Regarding the Ronaldo Ballack incident, it was clear, stone wall penalty. Oh itâs true, itâs true.
I just remembered last week at Ewood Park when Emerton handballed it in the box and the referee didnt give a penalty. Nobody could argue that wasnt a penalty except Farmer probbably.
The papers this morning say both clubs accept there was no racial angle to the incident at all. I was surprised at Fergusonâs team selection as I thought heâd pick his strongest side, even with Barca looming on Tuesday night, in order to try to put the title to bed. I suppose he thought worse case scenario they can still win the league by beating West Ham and Wigan but the pressureâs mounting on them. I regard the midfield of Ballack, Mikel and Essien and Chelseaâs best combination in there and thatâs the main reason why they dominated and deserved their win. That said Makelele and Lampard will probably come back in for the Liverpool game.
