Mails: ‘Superb’ Michael Oliver got Buffon call spot on

Matt Stead

Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com

 

Well done, Michael Oliver
For some odd reason, I was thinking during the match of what a bloody good ref Michael Oliver is and how I would share these thoughts with F365, post match.

No histrionics, not fooled by diving and placating, he just got on with the game in a very understated way. Considering that this must be a massive night for a referee…on the European stage, in the Bernabeu, two European giants, CL semi at stake. Superb.

Then deep in injury time it explodes. My first reaction was penalty. He pushed him over in front of goal, FFS! How is that considered a soft penalty?

Then Buffon and co. lose their collective sh1t and come close to assaulting Oliver. Yet some people think Oliver should do nothing because, well Buffon is so lovely and it’s his last CL match?

My hairy arse to that! If Buffon had been as quick off his line in that last minute as he was to get to Oliver, there might have been no drama.

Well done, Michael Oliver; superb performance.
Eoghan (these are parentheses, not brackets), Ireland.

 

What a brilliant round of Champions League Football. Each tie had tension, despite looking like many of them were over after the first leg. I’m a Manchester United fan, but I’m glad we weren’t involved. I don’t think we’ve got the spark needed to make it deep into the competition, and I hope if we make it further in the near future it will be because we’re playing well rather than grinding out results or fluking through.

I wanted to specifically write about the penalty in the Real Madrid vs Juventus game last night. I can’t believe the criticism Michael Oliver is getting. It was a penalty. It’s not the swipe of the leg coming round that makes it a penalty, it’s the contact from behind which is much more obvious watching at full speed than in the slow motion replays. This is a common problem, where slowing something right down removes the impact that is more obvious at full speed. I play as a defender, and if the attacker gets between you and the ball in front of goal, you are in trouble. Contact in itself is of course not enough to make it a penalty, but the contact is coming from behind and is enough to knock the attacker off balance when they are about to strike. That’s a penalty.

What I find more incredible is the criticism of Buffon’s red card. Sure, stakes are high, the tension is incredible in the final minutes of the game, but you just cannot behave as he did. All the Juventus players are in Oliver’s face, and before the shouting you can see Buffon bumping him from behind and Oliver half-ducking. I’ve also referee’d games, and that is just unacceptable. Referees put up with an incredible amount of verbal abuse from players, and if they are making physical contact as well then they should be sent off, no questions asked. Imagine if that happened to a rugby referee, or a cricket umpire! The player would be dismissed and a lengthy ban would follow. Football referees put up with far too much, and the fact the decision is being questioned means that things like the respect campaign have obviously had no real impact. It doesn’t matter it was the last minute, it doesn’t matter Buffon is usually a nice chap, it doesn’t matter about the incredible come back, and it doesn’t matter it’s Buffon’s last campaign. Drama, tension and borderline decisions happen in other sports, and the players may question the decision but not in an aggressive or threatening manner like that for the most part. His behaviour was out of order, and his red card was well deserved.
SinJun (brackets for the sake of brackets) Delaney

 

Incredible drama. Honestly I don’t think I can remember a Champions League quarter final round as sensational as this one. You literally can’t predict one match to the next. And then when a tie looks completely done after the first leg, it really, really isn’t.

But for me, Clive, it’s a penalty. He’s gone into the back of Vazquez, denied him a very clear goal scoring opportunity and it sure as hell isn’t a dive. So where’s the argument? Buffon has clearly lost his head and it’s a genuine shame for him, but he had to go.

God only knows how Ronaldo kept his nerve, considering how long he had to wait, but that was one hell of a spot kick.

It was an amazing comeback that would have been even better than Roma’s, but jeez, what drama and what a game of football.

So in the end, who wins the Champions League out of this lot? I honestly don’t know, but I suspect it’s going to be a hell of a lot of fun finding out. Especially if it’s us.
James, Liverpool ( Christ they missed Ramos )

 

Thankfully despite it being Buffon’s ‘dream’, Michael Oliver was able to remain dispassionate and award an absolutely stonewall penalty and also correctly send him off. Many others would have buckled under the pressure and magnitude of the moment!

Great ref and he should be commended for his actions instead he’s having his credibility and reputation damaged by Buffon’s histrionics!
Mark ( I wanted Juve to win….and annoyed with everyone saying it was a ‘soft’ pen) lfc

 

…or not
-Let me start by saying, it’s unfortunate that it was Michael Oliver. I actually rate him relatively highly. I think if you gave me 10 prem Michael Olivers, I’d probably take it right now. He’s miles (kilometers?) better than your Deans and Mariners. Just my two pence.

-With that said, it’s never a pen. Not in the 1st minute, not in the 45th and sure as shite not in the 95th. He could’ve called 10 of these throughout the entirety of the game. Same as shirt pulling on corners. Yeah, it happens. Yeah, it kinda sucks. But I think we can all agree we don’t want to see 15 penalties every game. It’s one of the fine edges that players create that blur the lines between right and wrong.  We all do it, in some form or fashion, everyday. Stones and glass houses, and all that. I’m comfortable living with it. And anyone who uses the “if that happens anywhere else on the pitch, it’s a foul” defense is extremely off the mark.  It’s one of the paradoxes of football.  The stakes are higher in the arbitrary 18 yard box, and thus should be treated as such. I’m immovable on this point. Refereeing is subjective and contextual. It requires reading the game and situation. Oliver was wrong here. Plain and simple. He’ll get other chances, sure, but this one will be on montages for ages.

-Pjanic was immense. Seriously, that was some performance.  Pjanic’s line splitting passes were a sight for sore eyes. And every time he received the ball, no Real player was near to him. Because they wanted no part of it and had to defend aforementioned line splitting passes. Reminded me of Scholes on those oh-so-unforgettable huge European Nights against the likes of Roma and Barcelona.  Ed Woodward, get to work. Waste no time. We can’t afford it (jk, we probably could tbh lol).

-The result is obviously hard on Juventus. They bottled the 1st leg but performed incredibly in the 2nd. I’ve had to eat my words on Allegri in the last few years. I always thought he should’ve done more at Milan but I’m able to look back on that time and see them for what they were: a team in serious transition (not unlike United, post-Fergie). The fact that he won a Series A title there is actually pretty remarkable in hindsight. He’ll feel hard done by tonight, and rightly so. He set his team up beautifully (Away. In a UCL quarter final. In Madrid. Home of back to back European Cup winners and champions of 3 of the last 4.). Felt they were the better team, even after going level. Tough to stomach. But that’s football.

-Which brings me to my last point – football as a metaphor for life. Sometimes you can do everything in your power to do the right thing but not get the result. Those are the breaks. Bad guys win every day (not to say Real is bad, per se, but bear with me here). But if you keep at it, every dog has it’s day. Don’t stop trying just because it didnt come off or didn’t go your way.  History will remember the names on the plaques but all real football fans will be able to vividly recall this result 20 years from now. Keep plugging. Never give up. You’ll reap what you sow eventually.
Seth, Birmingham, AL, USA (united till I die)

 

I agree with Buffon.
Graham Simons, Gooner, Norf London

 

He’s good, him
Is it possible to even imagine a better penalty than Ronaldo scored last night in the 97th minute against Juve? Having won the header brilliant to set it up. Having waited 5 full minutes to take it. Knowing he had Real’s get out of jail card in his hands. Knowing that everything he’s done in the CL this season was on the line. Knowing that the haters were just waiting to pounce. He takes the shot with the greatest risk of missing the goal entirely … high and right. He absolutely buries it.

You really can’t exaggerate this man’s greatness.
Dave Mack

 

Want to know what separates the best players from everyone else? Watch Ronaldo prepare for that penalty, crush his emotions, and bury it.
Aidan, Lfc (Salah has it too)

 

Perfect for Arsenal
A first leg capitulation, followed by a “heroic” fightback in the second leg, only to go out anyway?

Maybe Max Allegri would be perfect for the Arsenal job after all.
Martin (Warrington)

 

Get a load of this guy
73 minutes on the clock.

This game will be resolved by a disgusting dive getting one side a penalty. Just you watch…
Royston Queen

 

93 mins.

And this week’s lottery numbers are…
Royston Queen

 

Nasty?
As a City fan sick to the back teeth of Liverpool generally this season I really tried not to get too incensed by reading yesterday afternoon’s mailbox. At the end of the day, all this is football and it’s supposed to be jolly good fun, win or lose.

Then Theo called my club “nasty”, and I felt compelled to write a response.

His reasoning for this was flimsy. Whatever the correct view of our owner’s moral rectitude (and I admit that sadly it leaves plenty to be desired), this has no influence on the attitude of the club, or more particularly, the fans.

He also raised some unpleasant comments he had seen on social media. I’m sorry, but that is a general problem through society, not something directed solely by City fans to Liverpool fans. I’m pretty confident a small amount of digging would find plenty coming in the opposite direction.

Yet apparently, these are markers of a “nasty, entitlement-led malaise” apparently within the fabric of Manchester City itself.

That this comes from a Liverpool fan is all the more galling. This is not a club whose conduct has been without considerable question in recent seasons. In the league game at the Etihad this season you may remember there was a sending off (which seems to have gone down as one of the great injustices of modern times). After ten minutes of treatment and requiring oxygen and a spinal board, Ederson was stretchered off and more or less to a man the away support booed him. I have watched plenty of football live and no matter the bitterness of the rivalry between the clubs I have never seen similar when an injury which appears serious is involved. That’s nasty.

Four years ago City travelled to Anfield towards the end of the season in what was billed as a title decider. Outside Anfield, the team bus was attacked and damaged. Last year Borussia Dortmund’s bus was so badly damaged a player was injured. Last week the same problem arose. That’s nasty.

It would be completely wrong to paint City as a ‘nasty’ club on the basis of a few moronic social media trolls. It is simply not true. As for entitlement, I have been a season ticket holder since the dark days of Division 2 and I can tell you that there are no more grateful people than devoted City fans (who are, in truth, the heart of the club). Given our underdog mentality (which remains), we all fully expect our stay in the spotlight to come to an end a some point and are therefore determined to enjoy it while it lasts, despite the sniping from those who genuinely consider themselves entitled to be at the summit of English football.
Matt, MCFC.

 

There seems to have been a bit of back of forth on the increasing distaste for City in the mailbox over the last few weeks, and the last few days in particular. Here’s a thought which should hopefully sum it up and allow is all to move on:

People in the UK don’t like the success.

I can hear you cry already…”Oh but it’s only recently – it’s the players”; “the fans have changed, they’re now entitled”; “Pep’s a dick, he put a bloody ribbon on his lapel”, blah blah blah.

All superficial nonsense. The ABU movement only started when United started winning consistently.

No-one cared about Chelseas cash when Ranieri and Crespo were there. Once Mourinho turned them into a winning machine suddenly it mattered.

Liverpool were hated in the 80s by just about everyone. It’s taken 30 years of disappointment for people to start accepting them as a neutrals team.

This is how it works. We like the underdog. We even don’t mind the underdog doing well. We dislike consistent success. Let’s be fair, this is the first season since City were taken over that they’ve really dominated any competition and really looked like blowing others out the water. What a coincidence that it’s now that people are looking for their faults.

Just appreciate them for what they are. Or dont. But if you do, please stop pretending it’s for any other reason than jealousy of their success.
Alex, Ayr

 

A deflated City fan
It’s odd to be sitting here thinking this but having the season virtually wrapped up by Christmas has really wrecked things for us somehow on a number of levels.

In terms of the mood with the fans, it’s very hard to get excited about winning the league at this point. Someone posted in a few days ago that big moments are remembered more than general dominance and this rings true now. This season has nothing on 2012 for good feelings despite only winning on goal difference back then. Our opportunity to win the league against United was our last chance to give this season a truly memorable moment.

Dominance has also had the effect of demotivating the players for the other competitions. I don’t think we were ready for a fight against Liverpool because we were too used to walking over teams. The spirit within the team to find that extra gear has just been missing when it counted in the last month.

Finally, dominance has left us next to useless defensively. When teams have really pressed us, we have looked shell-shocked and very rusty. We don’t have a good defence partly because we are not used to needing it, instead relying on gaining the ball back high up the pitch and keeping it.

What Guardiola does from here will be interesting. He pretty much admitted that he needs to find a solution to our achilles heel (being outpressed). How far is he willing to bend his philosophy when up against teams like Liverpool in order to prevent these implosions? I dread the thought of another £50m on a ball-playing defender this summer.
Nic, MCFC

 

No sympathy for Pep
Let me start by declaring I really like Pep even though he manages a rival team. I’m not weird about it Johnny, he has just always seemed like a class lad, plays attractive football, says nice things about Liverpool and gets on with Jurgen quite well.

I’ve heard people say the incorrectly ruled offside goal changed the game, and without it Guardiola wouldn’t have been sent to the stands. Well yeah if my aunty had a pair she’d be my uncle but that still doesn’t excuse me for pissing in her morning coffee. Pep is responsible for his actions under whatever circumstances, he moves to restrain his players but then gets in on the action worse than them.

We’ve all seen angry remonstrations with the ref (particularly Jurgen) but it’s usually at the final whistle, doing so at half-time can arguably be seen as an attempt to influence the referee’s decisions in the following half.

The defining moment of the second leg isn’t the wrong offside call, it’s that Pep and City let it get to them despite having an entire second half to play. As soon as he was banished to the stands it was effectively game over.
– Sid (5-1 is a lucky win but 5-0 against 10 men is not) LFC

 

Liverpool’s Busquets
In the aftermath of our progression to the semi finals, i wanted to get off my chest a shout out to Gini for a fantastic performance in mid field at the Etihad.

In the first half, as everyone knows, City were all over us and we were resorting to clearances and standing our ground. In the second half, one man changed the dynamic of the game in mid field and that man is Wijnaldum. His ability to receive the ball and shield it was crucial to prevent city from re gaining momentum in the second half as he did not panic with clearances everytime he was hounded by De Bruyne or Silva. Instead, he used clever drops of the shoulder and body feints to create space away from pressing city players and then repeatedly delivered the right pass, which clearly improved the confidence of the whole team to pass with more authority. He has an ability to correctly judge whether to move the ball forward or slow things down by going back to the keeper, the key being that he is not predictable in that sense and is fluid according to the situation. All in all, sounds alot like Busquets role, and he performed it perfectly in the second half.

P. S a special shout out to Firmino. Everything this guy does is just right. So classy on the ball and always making the right decisions. Quality
Wickyleaks (LFC), Toronto

 

Trophies? Kane cares about goals
If anyone ever thought Kane would leave Spurs in search of trophies, I think his behaviour at the weekend will finally disabuse them of that notion.  Rightly or wrongly, all he cares about is scoring goals.  He will remain at Spurs where he will be the unquestioned number one striker for the next ten years in an attempt to break all scoring records no matter who (even his own daughter) gets in his way.
Richard, LFC, London

 

The *real* Champions League
There was other Champions League action last night as well – the CONCACAF Champions League!  This will rightly get very little fanfare in Europe, heck it gets little fanfare in North America unless your team is involved, which I understand.  It will never have the global appeal of the UEFA Champions League obviously.

That being said, Toronto FC defeated Club America over two legs in the semi-finals 4-2 to advance to the finals.  And this is after Altidore and Van Der Wiel (remember him) limped off.  They’ll now face Guadalajara in the Finals, and if they overcome them that would mean defeating three Mexican teams, which never happens in this competition.  Nor has an MLS team ever won this competition, it’s been dominated by Mexico, but Toronto FC is two games away from making more history (highest points total ever last season).

As I grew up following the UEFA Champions League, this tournament does things a bit differently, which is odd when I’m so accustom to the UEFA way.  The tournament has been reformatted such that there are only 16 teams now and it’s straight to the knockout phase.  And above that, these knockout games began before the MLS domestic season even began, which is why MLS teams are at a disadvantage.  The final is also two legs versus a one off final.  And lastly, MLS did something you’d never see in Europe – the league wants MLS teams to succeed, such that Toronto FC requested their league game in between legs be re-scheduled to June, and the league obliged.  In Europe that never happens, a day early sure but I was astonished they were able to postpone the game.  Kudos to the league for that.

Here’s to hoping Toronto FC becomes the first MLS team to lift this trophy – and have them qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup.  Yes they’d probably battered, but it’d be nice to see them on that stage!
Nick C. (Arsenal can’t possibly Arsenal in Moscow can they?)
Burlington, ON