Live Match Discussion 2025/26

[jd1981]

Whenever a decision goes against Arsenal, justice has been done. Regardless of the, erm, ‘details’.

Diego Simeone is in the other dugout hardly the saint

 

[Wolftone]

Not me, I hate Arsenal with a passion so I’m biased

I had a suspicion

 

[Mel Evo]

Diego Simeone is in the other dugout hardly the saint

But there is one thing he’s not guilty of, and that’s being employed by Arsenal.

 

[PuntsWolf]

What’s taking so long here?

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

I don't like Villa, I dont like Digne, but I hate the handball law.

You shouldn't get an 85% chance of a goal for that.

 

[PuntsWolf]

I don't like Villa, I dont like Digne, but I hate the handball law.

You shouldn't get an 85% chance of a goal for that.

That’s the same for pretty much every penalty. I’m not sure there’s any defending this one though. As far as handballs go that’s one of the more clear cut ones

 

[jd1981]

Great night really JSL scores for Palace and VP takes a step closer to a trophy

 

[Wolftone]

Struggling to decide where my disloyalties lie, hate The Villa and hate smarmy Pereira...

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

That’s the same for pretty much every penalty. I’m not sure there’s any defending this one though. As far as handballs go that’s one of the more clear cut ones

Is it? If a defender fouls a player as he's about to shoot, or the attacker does him with skill and he trips him, that's fair enough.

Getting a "free" goal off the back off what we just saw there is a nonsense (and another 100 examples over a season), the whole handball law is garbage.

Unless a player is stopping the ball going in the net, no one is deliberately handling it, (why would they?) and it's not skill or good play that leads to these sorts of handballs and therefore penalties.

 

[jd1981]

Struggling to decide where my disloyalties lie, hate The Villa and hate smarmy Pereira...

Can’t stand the thought of that prick lifting a trophy after the car crash he left here, added to the fact Forest fans would be title contenders in the ego league. Villa going another season trophy less would be funny.

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

Villa to win the return leg and then lose painfully in the final would be optimum from here.

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

Great night really JSL scores for Palace and VP takes a step closer to a trophy

It really has been the mother fucker of all seasons.

 

[jd1981]

Villa to win the return leg and then lose painfully in the final would be optimum from here.

Dream is Forest get to the final v Braga and Jaoa scores the last minute winner and celebrates in MGW face, he wouldn’t though as he is a class act.

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

Struggling to decide where my disloyalties lie, hate The Villa and hate smarmy Pereira...

And his hair transplant. The prick.

 

[basher]

I vaguely remember a penalty being awarded in an Albion game when the keeper had the ball in his hands and stood up... but he pushed or struck an opposing player so the ref booked him for being a twat and gave the penalty.

You're not going to get anything more clearer there than the opposition not being able to score but being a dick cost them a goal.

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

Getting a penalty for a defending player being a dick is far more palatable to me than it just randomly hitting an arm, games shouldn't be decided on that.

 

[Alan]

Getting a penalty for a defending player being a dick is far more palatable to me than it just randomly hitting an arm, games shouldn't be decided on that.

We need more indirect FKs taken inside the box tbh

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

We need more indirect FKs taken inside the box tbh

Yeah. That's a good solution to a lot of these handballs.

 

[PuntsWolf]

Is it? If a defender fouls a player as he's about to shoot, or the attacker does him with skill and he trips him, that's fair enough.

Getting a "free" goal off the back off what we just saw there is a nonsense (and another 100 examples over a season), the whole handball law is garbage.

Unless a player is stopping the ball going in the net, no one is deliberately handling it, (why would they?) and it's not skill or good play that leads to these sorts of handballs and therefore penalties.

Ok…

So I said “pretty much every foul”. So all those with an xG less than your 85% figure. Which is probably 99% of all penalties.

Basically any foul where the guy isn’t about to score.

How do we know that cross wasn’t going to land on Chris woods head for a simple goal? We don’t. He blocked the ball with his hands, illegally in the box - penalty. Jose Sa wipes out a striker, rounding him whilst kicking the ball out of play (hello Chris Wood), 0% chance of scoring, still a penalty. More fool the keeper. Player trips a forward running away from goal in the box - 0% chance or scoring, still a penalty. Don’t be a clumsy oaf.

So yeah, unless we rip up the penalty rule book and simply give free kicks, you will always have situations that don’t deserve a free shot from 12 yards, as most fouls were unlikely to prevent an 85% chance of goal.

Yes some handball are nonsense, but Digne playing volleyball isn’t one of them.

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

You've listed a load of examples where fouls lead to penalties and said "same thing." But it's not the same thing at all.

Every foul you mentioned the trip, the keeper clattering someone or a shirt pull involves a player making a decision. They chose to do it. They got caught. Penalty. That's fair because you're punishing a choice.

Now tell me: when does a defender deliberately handle it in the box? Other than stopping it going in the net, the answer is never. Why would he? The downside is catastrophic. So every handball penalty is punishing an accident. Physics. A ball hitting an arm that's there because humans need arms to run, jump and balance.

And you're right, we don't know if Wood was about to score. So we're awarding an 85% chance of a goal based on something that might have happened. If that cross was sailing over everyone's heads and clips an arm on the way through same penalty. If it was going straight to the keeper same penalty. The punishment is identical regardless of the actual chance of scoring.

"Unnatural position" it is an arm. Every position is natural when you're an athlete mid-sprint tracking a runner. Arms move. That's what they do. VAR has turned this into a frame-by-frame autopsy of something that was never meant to be analysed at that level.

The original law was about cheating. Deliberate use of hands to gain an advantage. Now it's about whether your elbow was 3 inches too far from your torso while you were jumping. That's not the same sport.

And giving an 85% chance of a goal for it? Madness. Indirect free kick for accidental handball, penalty for deliberate. Done. The law is garbage, and 3 high profile games this week have underlined that.