Ronaldo is rare combination of talent and cheating in the game. I like his game but last season i observed he falls down even when there is no conact made by the defenders.
Till last year we had no choice on Asianet, but to see EPL. This year they are showing ZeeSports which prominently shows football from France, Italy and South America.
The EPL is now worse than american NFL. It is more like wrestling. A player has to be above 6feet and have great upper body strength - thats all.
From the referees decisions, I understand that if a player touches the ball before he brings down his opponent, its a clean tackle. It does not matter if the player has to be taken off the field on a stretcher as a result of the "fair tackle".
That is why a gifted player like Ronaldo is forced to "dive" the moment an opposing player tries to take the ball away from him, otherwise he will be spending most of the time in the hospital.
I have been watching English football since 1964 - as I used to live abroad. During the last five or six years, it seems that the referees of the EPL have been given orders to be a bit more lenient with tackling. One has only to see a corner being taken to see what I mean.
Compared to EPL the other leagues are a pleasure to watch. At least there is an attempt to play football and not wrestling. But the current trend is catching on and the disease is spreading to South American football too.
By the way, in my opinion the best "divers" are the Germans.
RE:RE:Is this football?
by Prasad Chavan on Aug 18, 2007 04:44 AM
Mr Shyam, football is not a kids sport. You run a lot in football, atleast more than 2k. u hav 2 be fit and strong for that. So this dosent mean it is wrestling!! When u play football u will know whats tackle, otherwise just dont talk rubbish by comparing EPL to wrestling.
RE:Is this football?
by Shyam Shivadas on Aug 18, 2007 08:10 AM
To me there is a difference between "shouldering" and bringing the opposing forward down by pulling his shirt or using your hand to stop his progress.
If you have watched South American football, you will see their incredible footwork, ball control and selling a dummy to the opponents.
All these skills fail when the opponent simply uses his size and weight to stop the player, instead of trying to take the ball away from him.
I watched the 1986 World Cup match between Argentina and S.Korea. Maradona was unstoppable. Time and time again the opposing players stopped him by kicking his leg from under him. One had to give credit to Maradona for not reacting even once to the brutal tactics. The referees allowed the South Koreans, maximum latitude to play this kind of game. I think it was after this cup that FIFA became stricter regarding foul play.
I see ronaldo every week in play and typically he is a big diver, cheat and a nasty character on pitch. Serves him right to be sent off and if he stays on his feets more often Sir Alex wont have much to squibble. PS: I dont support any football team in UK so please dont take this as a biased approach towards mr. Winker aka Diver.
