Match Reaction vs Swansea (home).

[adzzzbatch]

You'd hope for consistency but I doubt it. "Professional fouls" happen all the time, I just think Xhaka unnecessarily made it look worse than it was and in that moment the ref perceived it as something more serious. I'm sure we will be on the end of far worse decisions than this.

I think WUMger described it well as a "dark yellow" card.

I can't remember, is Wenger one of those that would like to see a "sin bin" introduced?

[Kano]

I don't think there is an anti Arsenal witch hunt but I think there is a tendency to allow our oponents more scope to be physical than us.

Nah, otherwise Coq would be off most weeks and Flamini would've been every week. The refs are just generally poor. Fans from every club would say they are victimised. There is no neutral way of analysing it because everyone is biased or comprised in one way or the other. Be it fan, pundit or journalist. Instead of old fucks running round with fading eyesight trying to keep up, the refs should be as fit and of the same age. Even then it probably wouldn't be enough. Get technology in to help, because they sure as hell need it.

[Gooner23]

Just watching match of the day and the red was harsh, normally that would be a yellow card. Not sure about an Arsenal bias, just think the overall standard of refereeing is very poor. The Cresswell sending off for the Hammers was ridiculous. Just can't understand why video replays don't get used.

I thought yesterday was a banana skin so 3 points crucial.

[Penguin]

It looked like a lunge to me. If he were running along side him, pulled him back or stepped on his heels he'd have picked up a yellow but it's the fact that he was outpaced and knew it so he dived in. I think the ref has a case if he thinks that foul had enough force to cause an injury. It looked like a kick and not a trip.

It was cynical but It wasn't dangerous. Watch it again, Xhaka kicks the side of Barrow's boot with his laces. It's a tactical foul on the halfway line with plenty of Arsenal players behind the ball... book him, give Swansea a free kick and carry on. Barrow tried to con the ref by rolling around on the floor and the ref fell for it.

It was stupid by Xhaka to give him the opportunity but it's harsh to give a red for that.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

This season, it's a red say Goals on Sunday.

It'll be deemed a deliberate foul with no chance of getting the ball.

[Niall_Quinn]

If that's the case, I expect to see 6 or 7 reds per team, every game. We won't see that though, will we? Such silly words have been used to describe such a minor incident. "Lunge, dangerous", ludicrous. Deliberate is the word that applies here. So if it's now red for deliberate fouls then have at it. Or else do what Moss did yesterday, pick your team and then hand them an advantage in order to try to influence the result.

[Penguin]

Our defending was horrible yesterday. We were lucky that Swansea were as wasteful in front of goal as we were.

Monreal got done time and time again, I wonder if he's lost half a yard of pace? We should probably start looking for a successor if we haven't already.

I lost count of how many chances Swansea created with early crosses or balls over the top. Koscielny kept letting the striker go and hoping for offside. Think he had the same problem against PSG so hopefully someone flags that up for him when they analyse this game.

Mustafi was good overall but twice he didn't bother jumping for headers from crosses towards the end of the game. Why give them free headers on goal? He was also arguably at fault for not tracking the runner for Swansea's second goal.

[Penguin]

This season, it's a red say Goals on Sunday.

It'll be deemed a deliberate foul with no chance of getting the ball.

First I've heard of it but that's right, I just googled the official rules:

"The sending-off (RC) remains for: handball holding, pulling and pushing (as these offences are not an attempt to play the ball) making no attempt to play the ball e.g. a deliberate trip an offence when there was no chance/possibility of the ball being played"
http://www.thefa.com/football-rules-...afMYp0gPrFq.99

They hid that quite well in the Q&A section at the bottom of the page.

It will be interesting to see if that rule is consistently applied because that kind of cynical challenge happens in almost every game. Not always as obviously as Xhaka's, but when do we NOT see someone being pulled back or fouled to stop a counter? If you go by the letter of the law that's now a red card offence. I could probably even find at least one example in last nights MOTD... what a ridiculous rule

[Gooner23]

If that's the case, I expect to see 6 or 7 reds per team, every game. We won't see that though, will we? Such silly words have been used to describe such a minor incident. "Lunge, dangerous", ludicrous. Deliberate is the word that applies here. So if it's now red for deliberate fouls then have at it. Or else do what Moss did yesterday, pick your team and then hand them an advantage in order to try to influence the result.

I have no issues with it becoming a red card if applied fairly and consistently, we would actually benefit because we're often on the end of cynical and deliberate fouling. However I have no confidence this will be the case.

[Kano]

First I've heard of it but that's right, I just googled the official rules:

"The sending-off (RC) remains for: handball holding, pulling and pushing (as these offences are not an attempt to play the ball) making no attempt to play the ball e.g. a deliberate trip an offence when there was no chance/possibility of the ball being played"
http://www.thefa.com/football-rules-...afMYp0gPrFq.99

They hid that quite well in the Q&A section at the bottom of the page.

It will be interesting to see if that rule is consistently applied because that kind of cynical challenge happens in almost every game. Not always as obviously as Xhaka's, but when do we NOT see someone being pulled back or fouled to stop a counter? If you go by the letter of the law that's now a red card offence. I could probably even find at least one example in last nights MOTD... what a ridiculous rule

The idea of consistency can only ever be that, because these are humans trying to apply rules through their own interpretations of the laws and using their own sense of logic. Add in their own emotional confusion at times, whether they are aware or can fully control it or not, fitness and bias - again acutely aware or not - and it's impossible to get uniform decisions on everything. The only possible way is too apply the absolute letter of the law in every situation, which would lead to us fans shouting and screaming about how the laws are being applied too rigidly. The pace of the game over here would probably drop off over a few seasons and they'd be multiple games abandoned because they aren't enough players left on the pitch to finish the games.