Originally Posted by
Supersub6
Very true BT and I can think of many defenders in the past who would have nailed Maximin before he got out of the centre circle! However, when you see goals being disallowed because a player 'accidentally' flicks a finger in an opponents face when running and the opponent goes down like he has been poleaxed, VAR needlessly becoming involved, then try to convince me that the days of non-contact football are not just round the corner.
Week in and week out we are seeing players falling around if they lose the ball and trying to convince officials that they have been fouled. If that doesn't happen, they lie around holding their face, knowing that the referee will stop the play because of a head injury, even though no contact whatsoever has been made with the head.
Why did VAR become invovled in the Tarkowski clearance when Longstaff came in from behind him and tried to head the ball even though Tarkowki had already kicked it. It was Longstaff who put himself in danger by his actions, however, the officials who post on the board which I use are all saying that it should have been a penalty because Tarkowski should have looked behind before trying to clear the ball. They all totally ignore the fact that the ball had just bounced up from the keeper and that any defender would kick the ball clear. He only became aware that Longstaff was approaching from behind as he pivoted in the act of kicking the ball.
Obviously, Anthony Taylor, who is an experienced official saw it exactly as I have described and played on --or he would have done --had VAR not become involved! We then had all the pundits shouting penalty.
The modern game at the top level has become a joke and, as I have said for around three years now, the days of non-contact are approaching quicker by the day.