the football post
FA Cup
Manchester United 2 - 0 Arsenal - Fabio. Rooney.
Champions League
Manchester United 2 - 1 Marseille - Hernandez x 2.
It's not ideal that at this point of the season we're having to be experimental with team selections. There were SEVEN defenders on the pitch for the FA Cup game, there was method to the madness as it was a very controlled performance. Vidic, Smalling and Van Der Sar were all on top of their game and came away with a deserved clean sheet. With seven defenders a clean sheet should be a given. They haven't done it a lot this season but in both these games they scored at the right time. They're going to Wem-ber-ly, idiotically. I love the ways in which the FA are trying to devalue the FA Cup.
Have I mentioned how much I hate the Champions League? I forget just how much until this stage. While the away goal rule may be practical. It's stupid. It makes any lead by just one goal so uncomfortable to watch. They did it, scored two fantastic goals and got through. All that counts. The two injuries to defenders did not help at all and it was very much a sigh of relief come 90 minutes. I was less than impressed by the Marseille fans yet again, not lasers this time but they interrupted the moment of silence for Japan. I believe fans also didn't observe it at the Chelsea game. While we could debate the for and against of holding minute silences at football games, there is absolutely no excuse for not staying silent for just one minute of your life.
I pretty much picture the Football Association as a James Bond villain. Sitting in their swivel chairs, stroking white cats in front of a wall of television screens. As soon as the word "fair" is even whispered I imagine an alarm goes off and a manic, evil laugh can be heard from miles away. I guess that makes Sir Alex Ferguson James Bond. He's been awarded a five match ban and a £30,000 fine for answering questions honestly. You can word it differently but mean the same thing and get away with it, say what you mean how you mean it and you don't get off so easy. I'm left wondering what the FA want. It seems to me that they want robots, smiling and lying. They may aswell give managers the script they'd like read out.
Referee's aren't held accountable. They don't have to explain anything and are protected from all those nasty words managers say about them. "You want a fair referee, or a strong referee anyway - and we didn't get that" The referee in question failed to send off David Luiz for tackles worthy of two yellow cards, he was in a perfect position to see them yet took no action. From further away he sent off Vidic for lesser offences. That, to me, is the definition of unfair. He made an error yet he doesn't get called on it. Ferguson made an error by saying he wasn't fair, he corrected himself straight after yet he isn't awarded the same treatment. This coming a year after the same referee, in the same fixture wrongly awarded a free kick to Chelsea in which they scored from and won the game. A referee that has officiated 13 Chelsea games all of which they have not lost. It's really not hard to insinuate bias. Not that I think he is, ofcourse.
When comments can be backed up by facts, I think context and understanding should play a part in any possible punishment. It's time to stop being so precious.