by 1960 »
06 May 2009 10:56
All this bollocks about touching the ball first is not relevant. If a player tackles another and the tackled player falls over the blocked ball it's not a foul. But if, on the follow-through, the player takes the other player out, as Fletcher did, it's a foul WHETHER OR NOT HE TOUCHED THE BALL. All the commentators and pundits discussing the affair totally ignored the fact that, after the ball had gone, Fletcher took both legs from under Fabregas, tripping him up and preventing him from chasing the ball. And noboby has even mentioned that Fletcher started by pulling Fabregas by the shoulder, a foul which the ref had given against an Arsenal player earlier.
To follow the logic of the apologisers, even Barton's assault on Alonso was legitimate. He got the ball first, so the fact that he slid on through and fouled him should not be taken into account- ball first, no foul. Absurd, of course.