29 Nov 2023 09:02:45
In two minds to ask but why not. How is everyone feeling about tonight's game.

Watched the Newcastle game yesterday and the ref made a horrendous decision even though they were getting hammered and rode their luck.

Praying we get a good ref who does not screw up the game and is fair for both sides.

1.) 29 Nov 2023
29 Nov 2023 09:30:33
Ahmed I am so lost on the hand ball rule and decisions being made, based on some previous ones I can see why it got given. do I agree with it absolutely not but these are being given.
Agreed that we need a game devoid of any refereeing controversy and let's see how we do. I would not be surprised if we got a 2-1 win, not pretty but with some fight.
Hoping that Mainoo gets another game as he adds tempo, composure and would be good for his development.

2.) 29 Nov 2023
29 Nov 2023 10:18:57
Here’s a thought; how about handball has to be DELIBERATE? !

3.) 29 Nov 2023
29 Nov 2023 10:59:10
Whether a handball is deliberate or not is subjective and open to interpretation and still open to argument. I suspect the only way to make it totally objective is to deal with it as a ball making contact with a foot in hockey. Silly suggestion but I see no other way of removing the controversy. At the moment there are some stupid decisions being made.

4.) 29 Nov 2023
29 Nov 2023 11:22:39
For me, the handball needs to have prevented an advantage to the attacking team. If a player shoots and the defenders arm is out stretched and it strikes the arm (Garnacho shot and Romero block), the distance and pace of ball is irrelevant as the strike is on goal and could potentially be a goal, corner or rebound opportunity. If the ball striking the arm/ hand has no affect on potential outcome of where it would have ended up, no handball. Last night, for me, that ball towards Mbappe was not going to give him a shooting opportunity, it was going to high.

5.) 29 Nov 2023
29 Nov 2023 11:25:36
Every time the ball goes into the box and it hits any part of any defender the entire ground is engulfed half by fans baying for a penalty and half fearing that it will be given. Penalties were quite rare back in the day when watching games. Now it's rare for any game to just allowed to be a great sporting spectacle and some controversy or other has to eclipse everything else about it.
Deliberate handballs seem quite easy to spot to me. If the arm changes direction towards it then those are the ones that should be given. Balls being deflected at point blank range onto hands then given as penalties are a disgrace in my view. We're humans, we have hands and there's only so much you can do with them. I quite like the stance of the defenders that put their hands behind their backs whenever the ball/ opposing player goes into the box. Can't see what else you can do really, anything seems fair game at the moment.

6.) 29 Nov 2023
29 Nov 2023 11:27:13
I agree Patrick. I think the powers that be create unnecessary problems. If handball needed to be deemed deliberate like it used to be and VAR was just used for something clear and obvious, as it was supposed to be, then a lot of the controversy would go away.

7.) 29 Nov 2023
29 Nov 2023 11:41:58
Who makes a deliberate handball in the box?

8.) 29 Nov 2023
29 Nov 2023 11:57:05
If you’ve played football it is never subjective. The difference between deliberate and accidental is always known. The players know. Sometimes the refs view may be obscured so then enter VAR. At present there is no consistency. How was last nights decision “deliberate? ” It wasn’t.

9.) 29 Nov 2023
29 Nov 2023 12:16:10
For a PK to be given the hand ball should be either a) deliberate, which requires direct movement of hand to ball or b) both unavoidable and have prevented a reasonable chance of a goal being scored. In last night's situation it was clearly neither deliberate nor avoidable. The ball hit the defender's body and bounced onto his arm while it was in a natural running position. Certainly not enough to overrule the decision on the field.

If we are gong to use VAR then it should be fairly easy to determine whether there was a chance a goal would be scored. So, for a shot that's way off target, even if the hand ball was avoidable, no penalty.

Last night's ref is regarded as one of the very best in Europe, but even he succumbed to the pressure put on him by the players and the crowd. Worse was the VAR team who should not even have sent it for his review.

10.) 29 Nov 2023
29 Nov 2023 12:20:44
Last ditch desperate measures Tumble.

11.) 29 Nov 2023
29 Nov 2023 12:47:26
It should be hand to ball. nit ball to hand. Common sense really, is there any left in this world.

12.) 29 Nov 2023
29 Nov 2023 12:52:36
I think it will be a miracle if we come away with anything tonight.
I am not 1 bit confident.
Lets hope i am wrong.

13.) 29 Nov 2023
29 Nov 2023 12:53:02
The trouble with VAR will never go away in football.

In Rugby the players, coaches, fans and pundits accept the referees decision. In football they don't so it doesn't matter what changes you make players, coaches, fans and pundits will blame VAR when a decision goes against them.

Most decisions are subjective so are not right or wrong just in the opinion of the officials.

14.) 29 Nov 2023
29 Nov 2023 13:06:56
It'll be what it'll be, if a bad decision cost us then so be it. No point worrying about it. We should be focusing on what we can do and how we play. Obviously we aren't playing well atm and we need to play ourselves back into form. Ideally we should be able to play to a level where one bad decision will not change the result. Yet we are probably a year or two away from being able to have the squad to play like that.

The only thing I'm in two minds over is whether I'd prefer us to be in the Europa league or out of Europe all together. Obviously dependent on us not being able to qualify for the next round in the UCL.

My heart says that playing European football, even the Europa league is better than nothing. It's still a chance of silverware and glory, while giving us a chance to to qualify for the UCL by winning the Europa league. As well as increasing revenues (over no European football) . But my head says we are struggling due to the number of injuries and how thinly our squad is stretched. That we need to be careful with game time and make sure we don't rush players back too quickly from injury because the players we have are exhausted. That playing the extra games, and particularly the extra traveling will have a bigger detrimental effect on our league season than the potential benefits of having an outside chance of winning the Europa league would offer.

Given the state of our squad, the injuries and the poor form, do we really think we have a realistic chance of winning the Europa league?

If we drop into it and don't win it, while it effects our form in the league then any potential benefit from the money earned from it could be massively outweighed by the financial costs of dropping a few places in the league.

15.) 29 Nov 2023
29 Nov 2023 13:29:17
In answer to the OP, I am not confident Utd will get a result tonight.

16.) 29 Nov 2023
29 Nov 2023 13:32:22
Predictions for the night ill go 2-0 Man United.

17.) 29 Nov 2023
29 Nov 2023 21:00:21
Well it was a bonkers game. again. utd just seem to go to pot in CL when winning this year. just lack control in midfield when a good 10 minutes of holding the ball is needed. Oh well, scored 9 goals away in 5 games and got 1 point. sigghhhh. Not talking about the idiot in goal as I'll be here all night.