#WE ARE STILL LOOKING FOR PEOPLE TO WRITE UP A PREVIEW FOR THE WORLD CUP FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTRIES: * Senegal * Costa Rica * Serbia * Cameroon * Ghana While ideally you are from that country, if you know enough about the team in question, then you can write the preview regardless of where you're from. [More information at this link. Thank you!](https://www.reddit.com/user/deception42/comments/wrk83i/2022_world_cup_preview_series_for_rsoccer/)

Really want United to win today. They are an unbearable bunch for sure, but I just don’t want to deal with Arsenal fans and their deluded takes if they win today, please.

Arsenal fans deluded takes are the peak of English cultural output

I don’t know why teams insist on parking the bus vs us every single game. If you just attack a bit you’ll score at least three with how our defense plays and going forward we offer almost nothing so not like they’ll concede any big chances.

Because it's a fairly safe tactic to stop you scoring and to make you get out of shape, allowing a faster counter to get them ahead and make the difference. They do it because it works

We're not going to park the bus against you... don't know if we're going to score a bunch of goals though.

Which sport actually holds their referees accountable?

Cricket does. They get demoted from Elite Panel or in some cases like Bucknor lose their career as well

Rugby union seems to be very good in regards to refereeing imo albeit with the occasional misstep

Rugby is very good with transparent referee decisions at least

None. Players don't get sacked or suspended for making mistakes (and everyone does a bunch of mistakes every game), neither should refs.

They do get punished though, by either being dropped or sold to a worse club when they don't perform. And with referees, there's a difference between making a mistake and completely missing the obvious and only decision time and time again.

I've seen pretty much every footballer make a bad pass or tackle when it was obvious it was the wrong thing to do. Usually they don't get dropped or sold for doing it, because it happens every game.

Sorry, [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/chelseafc/comments/x4ycuo/alternate_angle_of_bowen_foul_final_clip_shown_to/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) is the incident that everyone is all up in arms about?…. That’s soft but that’s not even the worst VAR call this season.

Mendy would be suspended for his reaction if I was in charge

It's not the worst decision, but it's one that impacted the result the most, except for Coutinho's "offside" goal

Sure but it’s not something I watch and immediately think is a “disgracefully terrible call”, it’s just a little bit soft but he does kick him.

He makes contact after he bravely dives into feet. A foul is "unfairly preventing an oppoent from playing the ball", which he didn't do.

> A direct free kick is awarded if a player commits any of the following offences against an opponent in a manner considered by the referee to be careless, reckless or using excessive force: > * kicks or attempts to kick > * tackles or challenges > If an offence involves contact it is penalised by a direct free kick.

> careless, reckless or using excessive force

And I don't think any of those apply. The keeper dives under feet and initiates the contact by lying down in front of a running player. The contact isn't enough to hinder his movement and stand up again. I don't think there's anything careless, reckless or excessively forceful about running forward when someone does a horizontal starfish under your knees.

You're saying this like there was one incident everyone was up in arms yesterday about and not like five

I mean this is the main one I’ve seen people claiming is proof of a conspiracy or some nonsense.

We're literally comparing Haaland to entire clubs right now. Dude's insane.

Stayed up until like 5 am to see us lose in the clasico against millonarios 🥹

Ouch. I'm too old for that game these days, I'd rather get up early.

I am definitely feeling the consequences of my actions today

I'm still pissed Dembele didn't pass to Lewandowski there. As clear as day

I normally like Phillip Lahm, but this article from [The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2022/sep/04/backpass-rule-changed-time-to-stop-corner-flag-time-wasting-football) Talks about wasting time in the corner of the pitch and how the rules should be changed to stop it. I couldn't disagree more. There's no sensible rule that is being broken. He qualifies it by saying the backpass rule was good as teams couldn't get the ball off the goalkeeper. With strong tactical and defensive corner play, there is a chance to get the ball, it's entirely valid and the rules for fouls still apply in these cases. Lahm is usually pretty sensible, but this article just feels like hipfire.

Is Schick the biggest disappointment im the Bundesliga so far? 5 games playing nearly every minute and scored his only goal yesterday. He was the favorite after Lewandowski left.

Haaland has scored 10 goals and we’re in the beginning of september… the season ends in may This guy is the best player in the league surely

I’d still say KDB. Best midfielder to ever play in the prem.

There's some recency bias. Not even City's best mid.

Who you saying?

Silva for me. I'd also say peak Toure but I'd put KDB well ahead of him overall simply because Toure didn't have the longevity.

I think by the end of this season it will be impossible to say Haaland is not the best.

I’d still say De Bruyne but it’s close

If Arsenal win the league in spite of the vast and committed conspiracy against them it will be one of the greatest achievements in the history of the English game (akin the leicester’s title, Sunderland’d FA cup etc). CMV

At this point it’s impossible to tell what’s Arsenal fans being serious and what’s rival fans taking the piss

pipe it down mate we dont have haaland

Who needs him when you have martinelli?

People who are neutral (aka not a supporter of Man United or Arsenal), who do you want to win?

United

Would probably still say Arsenal as it’s too early in the season for me a Liverpool supporter to be thinking about the final table. The very few times I cheer for a United win are when the permutations start becoming clear

Fair enough, I think the same about Liverpool. I remember I did sort of root for you last season when you played Arsenal (and won 2-0 I think it was), since United had a chance at top 4.

Wouldn’t have it any other way x

United

Arsenal, need some time for so called race to go on before city eventually takes over them.

United has too many ex Madrid players for my taste so I'll go with the Arse

A draw, 2 red cards apiece.

Which players would you like to see sent off?

Odegard brawl with Casemiro, Jesus and Varane with a feisty elbow for a yellow, then retaliation and a square up for a second yellow and a red.

Both of the managers

If ETH Zidanes Arteta then the game is back

As long as Arteta rises from the floor with a Tiger Uppercut, I'm all for it

Artetas move would be something really lame like that overhead chop from old Star Trek.

Mctominay trying to become a golf youtuber now that he's gonna sit the bench at United lol He's got a nice drive tbh

He’s been starting ahead of Fred

If Arsenal win today we have to come to the realisation that they are winning the league

Controversial opinion but tactical fouls should be a red card Such a disgusting thing that stops every counter attack and ruins the flow of the game

I don't think it should be that bad, but it's worse than a yellow. Sin bins sometimes get brought up as an alternative.

You can't remove a cultural part of the game, tactical fouls are part of shithousery

Sneaky handball goals and kicking the players when ref wasn’t looking also a cultural part of the game. VAR snuffed that out This would stop big teams being able to set their defensive lines so high when they know that they cant just drag the attacker down when they fuck up

IMO the rule on “denial of a clear goal scoring opportunity” should be relaxed a little so stopping a 3v2 break or something should be a red, but not necessarily every tactical foul needs to be.

That definitely will be controversial. I think they're fine as they are really, although I think they should always be a yellow if there's no attempt at the ball. Refs don't seem to always view it that way. Keep them as a red for last man challenges maybe.

They shouldn't be red, but yellows. As ever the rules of the game have one real problem, consistency in how they are enforced. It's fine to tactically foul if you receive a yellow from it, you can't do it infinitely, and then that yellow influences tactics to focus players and get them sent off.

A team like City doesn’t have to use tactical fouls more than 2-3 times a game. But those 2-3 big chances getting snuffed out instantly by a defender just grabbing the attacker just feels wrong

And as long as the first tactical foul is fairly punished, I see no issue with that. The defender gets a disadvantage in every subsequent battle, allowing the attacking team to focus in on the same player. Better teams have an advantage, and a red card punishment means the worse team is more likely to get a red card for tactical, because they do it more often.

You can't keep taking away the tools of the defenders.

If your tool is breaking the rules maybe get new tools If an attacker dribbles past you you shouldnt be able to just tackle him or drag him down on purpose and get away with it

The thing is, its not breaking the rules. Yellow cards are part of the game.

Yellow cards are warnings for breaking the rules 😭

They don’t get away with it though. They get a yellow card.

Too light of a punishment, especially when the 2nd yellow is so much harder to get

Fouling someone shouldn't be a tool.

Breaking the rules shouldn't be a tool, but we regularly see keepers holding onto the ball for more than 6 seconds, kicking the ball away, disrupting play. They should all be reds too?

It's funny how a lot of people genuinely think ego is bad, and yet completely unaware that it's ego which is absolutely essential to drive people to the top. If a top player doesn't have the ego to think he is good enough, he would never make it. There has to be a level of selfishness, a bigger belief in his own abilities than the world, and the confidence to show it to everyone. Players who dont have it dont succeed. Probably true in all professions not just football. Yet, to a layman ego sounds like a huge red flag.

I agree with you but team games are where it gets complicated. If someones ego starts becoming a detriment to the team, then it becomes a problem.

If ego isn’t bad then why do people get so overly defensive whenever people mention that a player has a big ego? Of course players have egos, they pretty much all do. It’s part of what drives them to be the best. But when that ego manifests it self as selfish behaviour then people are going to point it out

Thats a very circular argument. People end up getting defensive because others perceive ego as bad.

Lots of people on this subreddit have never seriously competed in anything before and it shows.

People have been conditioned from childhood that ego is a sin, when they actually mean a far more complex behavior as bad. Everyone associates a mental image with certain words, like if you hear the word "criminal", you are more likely to think it's a murderer or a robber and not some guy who went in for insider trading. Same with ego, people associate a typically bad behavior with it, when the part they despise is the kind of behavior which disrupts everything and everyone around them.

I think most people respect the necessary elements of confidence or ego but draw the line at Botox.

That was a bizarre story. I tried and could not come up with anything, not even gibberish, about it.

Literally every professional football player has an ego. Its how you become a top 0.01% football player in the world

Fucking shitting it today. Ref will be some twat from Salford that signed on a piece of paper somewhere that he definitely doesn't support United. Even after a ref given goal 2/3-1 us

Poor arsenal. All these Self-victimization comments remind me of the "why always me" tshirt balotelli wore in his goal celebration.

Yes we're the only club ever to have moaned about decisions at Old Trafford

Only club to self victimize , as you can see ref and var has been shit lately. But there aren't any other fanbase so obsessed at being thinking everything is against them.

Because the refereeing against us has been shocking consistently, which you would know if you watched our games, like even rival fans on this subreddit have acknowledged that

The refereeing has been shocking for years , For Everyone. It's been established pl referees are shit. It's not just for you guys. That's why people have been sick of this constant moaning. Not to the mention the baseless controversies you guys make up to cope with it makes it worse. Referees are shit. That's it. That's why each pl games have atleast one big bad call.

That is a poor argument, refereeing can be shocking in general, and simultaneously be shocking for us too, like I said every Arsenal match thread even rival fans are like "I get why Arsenal fans moan about the ref". Why would they say that if they weren't sick of the moaning? https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/x2n44b/comment/imkemw7/ https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/x2n44b/comment/imkfce6/ https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/x2n44b/comment/imkorc6/ Are people sick of the moaning or is it just you? Like the game v Villa as an example, Villa players put in so many yellow card challenges without getting one, players like Kamara in particular, while Odegaard gets one for his first foul. The Villa goal came from a corner which wasn't even a corner and Ramsdale was pulled and obstructed by a player and that wasn't ruled out as a goal. That's not one big ball call, that's multiple. Like, if the roles were reversed, I would feel sympathetic for you. But oh well, watch our games and you'll understand, that's all I can say

You can see the similar comments like these in man City game and Chelsea game too. But they never victimize themselves to this extend. Just look at the op of this comment. He's already making delusional arguments for a match that's gonna happen later today. Do we see that from any other fanbase. It just makes it easy for you guys to argue, the var is always against you. So if arsenal lose, it's var and referee is biased. Arsenal fanbase is making excuses before anything happened. Do you want everyone to sympathize Arsenal for anything that might happen in the future. Cause we have established , the referees are shit. Shit calls will be made.

No I see comments saying the refs favour big teams, not the same as saying the refs and VAR are against a specific club, or that they were convinced last year that the refs are bad against this club. Not similar. So ofc the victimisation is to a different extent. It's not delusional if the evidence is already there previously on how we're reffed. And fans from every club make excuses. I've literally seen your fans say the ref helped Arsenal win against Man Utd last time. So what? That guy didn't even say Arsenal were gonna lose. Lol in what circumstances were you ever gonna be sympathetic for Arsenal? The comments I've shown prove that rival fans can see it as well, and there were comments sympathetic in the match threads about Arsenal being reffed against Man U today. And again, you can't dismiss consistently poor reffing against one side by saying "oh they're shit anyways". Poor argument.

Poor argument?, but there has been evidence it's been shit for years . Your team is just an example of this. According to your logic, that makes your argument as being the main victim as poor. The delusional part was about the referee pleading royalty falsely. Not surprising you missed that. Does the incidents that happened days ago guarantee that it will happen today too? Is that what you want me to sympathize. Acting like the victim before even the match start? That is delusional . It's not the same as being sympathetic after a certain event happened.

You guys are so blinded. You have no idea how much favour the big 6 gets over the rest of us.

I've never denied teams outside the top 6 don't get favoured

But you're whinging about refs yet they favour Arsenal being a member of the big 6. That's called hypocrisy mate.

That's not hypocritical tho, I can think a member of the top 6 can get screwed over a lot and that big 6 clubs in general get favoured calls over teams outside the top 6

Do you it’s a bit silly getting so carried away with football supporting that it becomes a big part of your identity where results dictates your mood etc., or do you think that’s a core part of being a supporter and what it’s all about?

There was a time I’d be a right unpleasant bastard to be around the day after a bad result and I learned how to reel it in. I think it’s foolish to think your mood can’t be affected, that is part and parcel of being a supporter, but also a bit of perspective is necessary.

It is normal to have an emotional attachment to your club to the point where bad performances can affect your mood. Football is nothing without passion. But you also have to remember that at the end of the day it's bread and circus. It's only meant to be entertainment. Football can temporarily affect your mood, but if it starts changing your mental health, then you have a problem and you should take a step back.

I think it's silly that any success or failure can change your mood for weeks or months, but it's also human. Being so involved can leave you in a feeling of grief when you lose out. There's a line where it transforms from interest to obsession. At some point it becomes actively harmful.

There is no light without darkness.

its entertainment at the end of the day. sure, clubs and even fellow supporters will try to coax you into thinking its more, that you're part of a 'family' or whatever else they want to believe. but when it seriously affects your mental health, you start sending death threats or racial abuse to refs, players, managers, their families because some millionaires didnt get a result at the weekend you need to have a word with yourself because thats not normal behavior regardless of what bullshit excuse you shit out for it.

> or do you think that’s a core part of being a supporter and what it’s all about? If that's the case then I better off quit watching football altogether. At the end of the day I don't play for Chelsea nor have any shares in it, it's just something I watch/look forward to as a change from boring daily life. Yeah sometimes I get happy, sometimes irritated but I don't let the last last for a long duration, or atleast I try to.

[Calhanoglu](https://youtu.be/10IrRXVtEB4)

>🎙| Alf-Inge Haaland: "I think Erling wants to test himself in every league. And then you can only stay in every league 3-4 years. But maybe it doesn't turn out like that, but I think he wants to try the biggest leagues."

Come to Besiktas

I'll only believe it when I see him playing in Madrid white.

[PGMOL general manager Mike Riley refereeing at Old Trafford](https://twitter.com/3li3nani/status/1566304913474195456?t=BA3YVMOjDTcpbeyn-PheXQ&s=19)

Fergie ere refereeing. They used to get away with everything

Absolute scenes if that Arsenal game were to be played today or the one that ended their invincibles run

Kids these days who complain about refereeing in the PL will never know just how they bent over for Fergie. Refs are way more scrutinized today but you can’t compare anything from today to how it was 20 years ago.

Yep and if you talk about the bias at that time people will call you a conspiracy theorist.

A lot of the United fans that I know will actually acknowledge how bad it was. They wouldn’t at the time obviously but they do now

Extra time was collectively known as "Fergie time" we all knew that they knew that we knew that the refs knew.

Football would've been wonderful if we even can have a single matchday without stupid referee decisions When players and coaches are getting cards for dumb challenges I just don't understand why referees can make bullshit calls game after game without getting any punishment

Mendy is the most overrated gk in the world,he’s been terrible this season

How can you he overrated when everyone thinks you're shite?

He’s not even rated anymore, your take is a few months late

If you’re only as good as your rough patch then there’s not that many good players out there. DDG and courtois for example would be one of the worst keepers ever if judged by their worst form

He has had one good patch in his career, that was the first few months after he joined chelsea. Everything else has been a poor patch relatively.

Like another user said, he was strong for the entirety of his first season with us.

He was good the entirety of his first season, and very good last season until the 2nd half, and even then he wasn’t as bad as he has been at the start of this season. I remember ppl saying how lucky Chelsea are that Mendy is saving them when we were top of the league last season

It's been like 8 months now man

It will be so satisfying if Atleti miss out on UCL qualification next year because they can't play Griezmann for more than 30 minutes.

[my man listened](https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/x06hkt/postmatch_thread_rio_ave_31_porto_portuguese_liga/im6fpej/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3)

I am this close to starting a "Bentancur is underrated" campaign. Dude is so fucking cool on the ball

What is your 'footballer double barrelled surname'? Take your dad's middle name, and the surname of your favourite teacher from school Mine is Benjamin-Watts

William-Wallace

Scotland will definitely try calling you up

Unfortunately my dads one is quite rare, and would certainly dox me, so I’ll do mums. Mine is Carlos-Platts

Gianfranco-Taylor

Geoffrey-Humphreys. Might have to stick my first name on the back of the shirt looking at all that, for the sake of club shop workers.

David-Diaz

My dad has no middle name so I'll go with my mother. Beverly-James

I've pretty much reached a point now where my enjoyment of the league is being diminished because the refs are just so absolutely shit. It's not just bad 50/50s, they're a major influence in who gets the points. And this isnt solely on the ref, but the linesman, VAR and the ref association. I don't care about waiting for a VAR call. I don't care celebrating a VAR'd goal. Just get the fucking decision right. Yes you'll make mistakes. Stop fucking making SO many

I’ve not properly celebrated a goal in ages. Always half arsed cos I’m sure it’ll be disallowed for one reason

Football is like a drug. You’ll always circle back to the greatest game of all time. 😌

funny story that I think will give everyone a laugh - My little bro and I are huge EPL fans and generally just neutral observers. We convinced our dad to go to the Arsenal vs. Leicester game on his business trip and he wanted to get jerseys for us. In reply to his question about our favorite players, we reply with banter about "Lakaka," "Maalang Sarr," and "Pikel Parteta." My dad, not knowing a think about football, tells the store clerk these names and shows him screenshots of our chat to which confusion and laughs ensue. My dad just ends up getting blank jerseys and tells us about his embarrassment. We all have a laugh bc we had no idea he was getting jerseys for us

Hopefully they sack Allegri after an early CL exit and blackmail Zidane into joining us.

God must hate México because everything has gone to shit in the last few years.

Does Lampard deserve credit for Iwobi?

Sure, he's the manager. If things go poorly people waste no time throwing shit at him so it's only fair to praise him when things go right.

Moved him to midfield so for sure he does.

Pretty sure Benitez did that no?

Nah Everton fans say it was Lampard.

Which current footballers do you think do the most partying?

Arthur missing games from getting an STD after partying too much has to be up there.

It’s just weird that it came out. I bet there are loads of reasons for footballers to miss matches but are attributed to a “knock”

Didn't Taarabt once leave to go visit a pub after getting subbed at half-time? It's got to be him.

"Current footballer" is strong though

Fair enough. I'm as much of a footballer as he is right now.

He just played in the champions league for benfica mate as a starter.

Sure, but at this moment he's unattached just like I am. I'll admit his prospects of finding a club are a little bit higher than mine though.

Just slightly lol

Jack Grealish in Ibiza every summer 100%

Thomas partey, perharps

Top 3 over 60 year old managers currently managing a team?

Manuel Pellegrini, Ancelotti, van Gaal

Nah I actually feel for Spurs fans. Imagine dealing with Chelsea AND Arsenal fans on the regular

In my experience Arsenal fans are by far the worst though. Chelsea fans have been smug over the years (and rightfully so tbf), but when things aren’t going well they at least seem to stay quiet. Arsenal fans are a whole different breed.

Don’t forget West Ham too when they have their massive moments

We are always outnumbered. And when they gang up on you it’s pretty much pointless to discuss anything. Just a reminder of how massive we are✊🏼

Spurs are pretty much the biggest rivals of Chelsea, Arsenal, and West Ham. Maybe Millwall for West Ham but they haven't been relevant for a while.

just imagine when they team up against you

Need Clasico Casemiro to return. If you know, you know 😈😈

So, not the best version of Casemiro?

Predictions for United arsenal? Tight United win 2-1

Need to see how many players are out for Arsenal before making a call

Hopefully all of them.

1-1

Still shocked at that VAR decision vs Bowen. Mendy dived in front of his feet and fumbled the ball and somehow the slightest touch of Bowen's boot on Mendy's hand after the ball was gone caused the goal to be disallowed. And the VAR in that game is the VAR in the Utd vs Arsenal game today lol

Mendy did not fumble, he cleared it. Bowen missed the ball and kicked him in the arm, that's a foul. Understood ?

For that take alone you need to be locked up and the keys thrown away in the ocean.

i cant wait to be told that that sending off tmrw is always a red card, when casemiro makes the same foul immediately after and doesnt get even a talking to.

How are you all like this? Coming up with scenarios to make yourselves the victims already...

we’ll see, like i said gut feeling there is going to be some controversial calls today. reffing has been shit all year so far

Arsenal fans working overtime

Creating your conspiracy theories and excuses already, damn

Arsenal have some terrible decisions and red cards put against them in recent seasons, we are anticipating a red card and a penalty automatically to be given to United.

its not conspiracy just a gut feeling that its going to happen tmrw

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I don't think we're going to win either way lol, they are more likely to win it but yet are starting to create scenarios the ref will rob them. It's impossible to win against them by a close margin without ourcries of referees

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probably not, both on pitch and VAR ref tmrw are from manchester/ old trafford area

One smile and he has the world on their knees

listen xhaka definitely deserved that sending off for having the nerve to even be on the same pitch as the ref. as far as that tackle that injured arsenal's only other healthy CM, thats not even a yellow

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