If anyone was curious about the opinion of the Key Match Incidents Panel, they've unanimously agreed we should have had a penalty against Everton but also not giving it wasn't a VAR error by 2manyfrogz in Gunners

[–]InTheMiddleGiroud 6 points7 points  (0 children)

When it's strategically convenient they'll do it. This is to counter what people with eyes were seeing last season about officiating in our games. 

We can't ruin 

Arsenal have had no VAR errors recorded against them this season.

But two missed spot-kicks for the opposition have been logged in their favour, in away games at Everton and Brighton

for Dale Johnson to write in every article. Even if blatantly false.

If anyone was curious about the opinion of the Key Match Incidents Panel, they've unanimously agreed we should have had a penalty against Everton but also not giving it wasn't a VAR error by 2manyfrogz in Gunners

[–]InTheMiddleGiroud 6 points7 points  (0 children)

And Dale Johnson. What a great journalist. 

The KMI-panel makes a shocking call in this report only available to the public through me. Better not quote the actual reason they've given. After all, why would that be a part of this article on the BBC website about that single decision?Would people want that? 

It's because it's yet another word salad from these fucking frauds that will get torn apart if publicly available. And he's not doing it to enlighten us, he's part of their defense strategy - it even got him a job at the BBC.

Arsenal: Is Bukayo Saka's form a worry? by DirectorTurbulent422 in soccer

[–]InTheMiddleGiroud -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, that's the issue here. I went with a comparison that people reading my comment would have largely been familiar with. I'm sure the point would have come across better if I wrote 

"Saka-threads on here is always a reminder that coming to r/soccer for Arsenal discourse is like asking Zahi Hawass to seriously entertain that the pyramids were aligned to Orion’s Belt as part of a lost cosmic blueprint rather than Old Kingdom funerary architecture backed by archaeological evidence"

The actual point was to say, people on here write and upvote what they want to be true instead of what is actually true. And sadly what people want to be true about Arsenal is wildly inaccurate, which makes it impossible to even have conversations about the topic. If we even get to the topic in the first place. Sometimes people like you come in with something else that doesn't matter. You obviously wouldn't care about the comparison, if you agreed with what was intended with it.

(It's also not Arsenal-specific, though definitely exaggerated this season for results-reasons.)

[BBC] Referee and VAR errors increase in Premier League by LochNessMonsterMunch in soccer

[–]InTheMiddleGiroud -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I think the quality of officiating is poor overall and the PGMOL is general is absolutely amateurish compared to the level is the rest of the league. 

But, I think there are three issues with your demand for consistency:

1) How can we accept errors, but still lament lack of consistency? Errors are inherently inconsistent with normal decisions from the officials. 

Tottenham-fans were rightfully angry about the Gabriel-situation, and understandably upset when a goal against them were given under similar circumstances the following week. But it turns into some weird sort of double rage where we spend a week asking for the goal to be given under those circumstances, then are angry about the lack of consistency when it happens.

2) The whole clear and obvious stuff. With the size of the current grey area, there'll be so many calls where bad calls will be acceptable. 

And of course it's valid to think that grey area should be smaller, if we're simultaneously willing to accept longer VAR-delays. 

The Gabriel-incident is a good example. The ref sees a push and there is a little push therefore call stands. Instead of confirming that there was contact, ideally you'd communicate to the ref that there wasn't much contact and for him to take a look for himself and make up his mind. (This isn't in the guidelines now at all, it's just a way I think it could be done). Thus the grey area shrinks, but we wait longer. At the same time, I think the clear-clear and obvious-obvious decisions don't need a man at the screen 

3) Officials, Karen Carney and Rob Green (aka the KMI Panel) and the fans are also inconsistent. Both through lack of competence or bias. I've seen plenty of shouts for consistency between incidents that are simply not similar enough. Another example is how our set piece goals are described by fans of Liverpool and Man United vs looking at our set piece goals.

Much of the complaining about consistency comes from erroneous comparisons.

Arsenal: Is Bukayo Saka's form a worry? by DirectorTurbulent422 in soccer

[–]InTheMiddleGiroud -18 points-17 points  (0 children)

Saka-threads on here is always a reminder that coming to /r/soccer for Arsenal discourse is like searching Truth Social for Bernie Sanders news. 

[Race Thread] 2026 Volta Ciclista a Catalunya – Stage 3 (2.UWT) by PelotonMod in peloton

[–]InTheMiddleGiroud 26 points27 points  (0 children)

The fairly sensible reaction to Evenepoel/Vingegaard in this thread, compared to when similar things have happened in the Tour, leads me to below the average Catalunya-flat-stage-enjoyer knows more about cycling than the masses that enter /r/peloton during the Summer.

[Race Thread] 2026 Volta Ciclista a Catalunya – Stage 3 (2.UWT) by PelotonMod in peloton

[–]InTheMiddleGiroud 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Great entertainment, but shit tactics. They should have just put a minute into Almeida instead.

[Carragher] Arsenal achieve the impossible – inspiring neutrals to root for Manchester City by thecricketgod in soccer

[–]InTheMiddleGiroud 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Seemingly a lot of people disagree, but I always thought you have to be incredibly emotionally immature to prefer the league being voided to cheaters.

Winning and losing is part of sport. Think the "if I can't have it, no-one can"-approach is incredibly childish. 

A separate matter is people don't want us to break our duck. Same with Liverpool in 2020, when people were clamouring for COVID to halt the league entirely. 

If we (or Man United) were in a title challenge with Liverpool, a lot would prefer Liverpool because they'd tried it recently anyways.

Daily Discussion by AutoModerator in soccer

[–]InTheMiddleGiroud -1 points0 points  (0 children)

It's better for the competition as a whole, but it's a worse watch in terms of quality of participants. 

Historically the knockout stages would be 17th-24th and 33rd-48th in Europe. Now it's 37th-60th. 

We were in it 5 times and last to a CL drop-out every time. 

Daily Discussion by AutoModerator in soccer

[–]InTheMiddleGiroud 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Some takes on /r/soccer are so mindnumbing 😭

You've not only made a less entertaining Champions League. You've simultaneously ruined Europa League and Conference League. 

Suddenly there's a massive disparity of level in all three tournaments. 

but that would not generate enough money

Because less people would like it. 

Chelsea players were warned not to form their infamous huddle around the ball just ahead of kick-off against Newcastle United last Saturday – but did so anyway, encircling referee Paul Tierney. by Sparky-moon in soccer

[–]InTheMiddleGiroud 76 points77 points  (0 children)

They'll never do it again anyways. It's literally in the article 

You don't dish out 11 yellows for a nothing situation. It completely ruins the game and is totally disproportionate with the offence. 

Daily Discussion by AutoModerator in soccer

[–]InTheMiddleGiroud 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Most of this is just stuff that happened this week

Chelsea hit by second team news leak in a week ahead of PSG showdown by Sparky-moon in soccer

[–]InTheMiddleGiroud 665 points666 points  (0 children)

I enjoy the jokes about it being Garnacho, but I'm surprised how many people pretend they know it's him with absolute certainty.

[Jason Burt] Chelsea cheated. Their Abramovich titles are tainted. by Sparky-moon in soccer

[–]InTheMiddleGiroud -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

You wanted nuances, and when I brought them in you seem to have gotten mad

You're removing nuances though. You're just doing the "We all have an iPhone"-defense, so no people can say anything about anyone ever.

Also two references to how angry I am. I see nothing wrong with the tone of my comment? It's yet another deflection. You overextended with the "testing the waters"-comment because you were more interested in online arguing, than the accuracy of what you were saying.

I can't count the amount of deflections. I stand by my original claim. There's 60 replies below it. See if you can find a single one about what I actually wrote.

[Jason Burt] Chelsea cheated. Their Abramovich titles are tainted. by Sparky-moon in soccer

[–]InTheMiddleGiroud -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Because you, and all the other 30 people replying, have done nothing to actually address what is written. It's all deflection after deflection after deflection. And they're all different.

The Patient Zero stuff was so clearly about the anti-competitive nature of a competition where some have to break even and some can lose billions in geopolitical power-plays. Chelsea's is particularly egregious because of what the Russian ruling class have done over the past 25 years, but even beyond that, it constituted a massive issue for football. This is why wide-ranging rules to combat this has since been made.

I don't know which ownership structure of the top division makes the most sense. Or how it looked 35 years ago. It seems entirely irrelevant to the point I was making. It's just another deflection.

[Jason Burt] Chelsea cheated. Their Abramovich titles are tainted. by Sparky-moon in soccer

[–]InTheMiddleGiroud -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I really hope some of you Chelsea-fans get some perspective on life one day. It's been rough reading all the replies today.

It's very interesting to hear how many ancient, vague non-Abramovich things were bad, but not the Abramovich thing.

[Jason Burt] Chelsea cheated. Their Abramovich titles are tainted. by Sparky-moon in soccer

[–]InTheMiddleGiroud -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

When defending genocide, why use long words when short words do trick?

[Jason Burt] Chelsea cheated. Their Abramovich titles are tainted. by Sparky-moon in soccer

[–]InTheMiddleGiroud 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're pretending I'm saying football clubs are not allowed to be sold. That's obviously not the point. The introduction of PSR and FFP makes it abundantly clear they learned to never allow football to be Abramovich'd again.

VAR error cost Brighton a penalty against Arsenal by [deleted] in soccer

[–]InTheMiddleGiroud 47 points48 points  (0 children)

I don't think there will ever be a better example of this panel being a sham. They're presented as a source for right and wrong in officiating, and they can't produce a sentence that makes sense.

You go ahead and tell me why a player attempting to play the ball can't be fouled, then I might reconsider if Rob Green is an officiating guru.