First Rant of the Season

Football is a contact sport. No quarter should be given to the opposition and none recieved for the 90 minutes of the game. The opposition is the enemy from the first whistle to the last. The game should be played with the maximum physicality allowed within the rules of the game. I`m not advocating knee high tackles, filed down studs, or any other equivalent of a horse shoe filled boxing glove. But I do miss the days when a good hard sliding tackle was appreciated as a skilled part of the game rather than an affront. As an ex-full back myself there was nothing better than flying down the wing full pelt chasing some guy that little bit faster (actually loads faster)  than yourself, somehow managing to get him in range and letting fly with a sliding lunge to bring the ball across him and out for the throw. Ball, opposing winger and all across the touchline. A 50/50 block tackle, the shoulder barge, jockeying for position. all physical parts of the game and something I feel has been lost.  Yellow cards and fouls are being called for so many tackles that virtually whenever either of the players go down, it`s called as a foul.If that player then rolls around a bit, out comes the yellow. The referees have been forced to laminate their yellow cards this season as the old paper style ones just weren`t standing up to the wear and tear of an average game.The new shiny cards have also been shown for shown for bad breath, spitting and forgetting to turn your slippers in the doorway correctly in the J-League in 2010. (One of the above is actually true though it was last season or the one before, can you guess which one??)
I watched the Verdy v Reysol game and was sickened by what I saw. Our Captain, bloody Captain for Christ sake!! Seitaro Bloody Tomisawa got booked in the opening minutes for the lightest challenge on a Reysol forward. The Reysol forward as a J-Leaguer is instructed to do, then rolled around feigning agony only to jump up and trot off as soon as the card was shown. This is not the problem, as we have all been forced to accept the inevitable rise of the "diving  twat", the problem for me was the reaction of our Captain. Instead of being incensed by the decision and the blatant playacting of the Reysol forward, Tomisawa apologises, pats him on the ass and carries on. After such a passage of play, the forward should be in fear of his very life when the next challenge comes in. Tomisawa should be in his ear putting the fear of God into him. "OK, you got me this time but if I`m going in the book again you are DEFINATELY gonna have felt it". One of the things that I couldn`t see when watching  was a sense of real "needle". The game was played in such a gentlemanly fashion it was sickening. A light foul, a pat of the ass, nod of heads, all round "Sorry mate" "It`s Ok"  as if the players had bumped into each other in the frozen vegetable aisle with their shopping trolleys.
And another thing!!! When the opposition score a goal, don`t collapse in a heap on the goddamn floor!! It`s bloody embarrassing. If kids lose a game and do such a thing, they`ll be told to get up off the bloody ground and think about how they are gonna get a goal back.  I was as disappointed as the players when the Avsipa goal went in after 85 minutes of playing well. Did I fall out of my armchair and start wailing on the floor in a pool of crisps and pop? No I bloody didn`t. I was angry, swore a good deal and swore even more when I saw at least 3 players on the deck feeling sorry for themselves. Is there a better way to directly transmit to the opposition that you are finished? Of course you could write them a heart felt letter or send them an Email but for the sake of time, what the hell "Let`s fall to the ground". Our Captain is already questionable as player,  but  such a display of weakness is unforgivable.
Football should be played with a firey passion, when you lose, you don`t cry, you don`t whimper like a bloody little girl. You get angry, fired up, picture how you are going to break the net with your next shot, or slam that twat on the wing for being too bloody fast!! The adrenalin pulses through the veins and away you go. No tears, just a seething sense of justice being served when you (figuratively) batter the opposition into submission. The old saying goes that "Football is a gentlemans game played by thugs, whereas Rugby is a thugs game played by gentlemen". .It`s true in the sense that when a rugby player goes down, he`s probably injured funnily enough (apart from the whole fake blood pills thing obviously...)When the football player goes down, it`s highly unlikely that there is anything wrong with him. If the game was played by thugs they wouldn`t go down pretending to be injured. A thug would stay on his feet and fight on to the bitter end when he couldn`t physically get up. Now a woman on the other hand........I love the game, but do  wish the professionals who play in this country (and in many other leagues throughout the world) weren`t such bloody big girls blouses. Get stuck in (within the rules) and accept it if someone gets stuck in to you. No diving, no faking, just football.
Finally, stop patting each others arses it`s so bloody gay!!