Of course we’re going to talk about the Nani goal against Spurs.
It’s just that we are all over the board on who exactly was right and should the goal have counted and whatever ever else you want to argue about the bizarre play.
I’m going to take a possibly unusual angle here and suggest that pretty much everybody did everything wrong. From the moment that Mark Clattenburg didn’t give the penalty to Nani for the contact by Younes Kaboul not a single person did anything that can be defended… except maybe Luka Modric, and he was the only person to earn a card in this bizarre episode.
First Nani: Yes, his jersey got pulled. It wouldn’t have been wrong for Clattenburg to give a penalty there, but it would have been the super-soft kind that SAF’s charges seem to get at home where others never would.
From the contact, Nani took three (maybe four) full steps before going to ground in what is a stone cold dive. That’s simulation and that’s a cardable offense. Upset that he didn’t get any call, he turns to grab the ball to stop Gomes from picking it up. That’s a deliberate handball. That’s also a cardable offense. So before anything truly bizarre has even happened, Nani has been guilty of two offenses either of which could have (the latter of which should have) drawn a yellow.
But no. Instead, Gomes picks up the ball, puts it down and, while asking for clarification form Clattenburg as to whether it’s a free kick or not, he doesn’t do anything. Save for allow Nani to kick the ball into the back of the net.
When Gomes is pointing to the ball asking, “What? Is it live?” Clattenburg just returns a gesture of two palms up, which I don’t think is an official signal for anything except maybe “I am expecting rain.” If you’re Gomes, and you’re not certain exactly what is going on, just go pick up the ball. You’re the keeper, you can do that.
Still, at no point does Clattenburg signal to play the advantage (although what advantage is there to having a live ball in your own box anyway?). Of course if there is anybody who knows it should be a dead ball, it’s Nani. He just handled the ball in the opponents box. Sure he played to the whistle (of which there never was one) but the fact that he hesitates is a pretty clear indication that even he thought there probably should have been a whistle for something he did.
So while this isn’t technically wrong, it’s about the least sportsman like thing to do. Of course Nani is not a sportsman, he’s a complete douche.
Back to the no-call for the handball. Why no call? We’re not sure. Maybe Clattenburg was momentarily distracted AFTER BEING EFFING GRABBED AND TURNED BY PAUL SCHOLES!
Typical German
Who the hell gets to do that? He put both his hands on the official and physically tried to turn him. That’s crazy. And Clattenburg does nothing. To his credit, he doesn’t turn around fully either, but seeing how this happened right after Nani went to ground, shouldn’t Clattenburg have actually been looking at the play still, seen the handball and blown the play dead before going to issue Nani a card?
Answer: yes.
The linesman should have maybe spoken up after Clattenburg failed to. So both screwed up here.
With the goal given, Clattenburg goes to confer with linesman Simon Beck. As he does this, he tells the Tottenham players to back off, which they do. But Rio Ferdinand is apparently special and he gets to lobby officials while they debate their own incompetence.
Almost As Bizarre As the Goal
Why the hell is he allowed there? He’s not even the United captain. Crimony, and United players aren’t treated differently? That’s about the craziest part of this whole episode. Spurs players aren’t allowed near Clattenburg, but Rio is allowed to participate in the little confab?
After the goal is ultimately confirmed, Spurs players go back after both Beck and Clattenburg. And with good reason. He should have either blown the whistle or clearly indicated to play on. He did neither.
Clattenburg signals for them to back off. Modric goes straight to Beck, and of all the Spurs players seems to be the most rational and calmest (watch him in the video).
I Cast a Spell On You For Not Wearing Red
Oh, AND HE’S WEARING THE CAPTAINS ARMBAND. He should be allowed to talk to Clattenburg at least… not sure if the band means he can chat up the linesman.
You don’t see it in the video, but Modric keeps trying to talk to Clattenburg as they are walking back to the center circle. He is the captain after all. But at some point the official has had enough and cards the one player who should be able to talk to him, and is trying to do so in a relatively reasonable manner given the circumstances.
Almost A Save
Gomes, for all of his stupidity, still almost saves Nani’s kick. Nani celebrates like he solved Fermat’s Last Theorem. Although, I’m guessing he doesn’t even know what that is.
Hey Guys, I Cheated Twice But Get to Keep The Goal!
Sure, he played until the whistle. But after the dive (cheating) and handball (cheating) it’s not like he gets absolved just because Clattenburg has regressed to being his awful referee self.
So, yeah. We can’t find anyone who really did anything correct. Even the person who scored by continuing play in the absence of a whistle was about the least sportsman like character in the whole episode.
There’s been some backroom dismissals of Clattenburg because the goal didn’t ultimately matter, and even if it hadn’t been given, Spurs never looked like they were going to score.
Poppycock. A goal given in a 1-0 game with a 5 minutes and stoppage left is not inconsequential, no matter how pants Spurs had been. It’s not like United had been bossing the game, and really if there is a hallmark of this United team as of late, it has been surrendering goals. They had Wes Brown on the pitch fer chrissakes. Who wouldn’t like their odds with him out there, even for just five or so minutes? Spurs could have fluked one in and leveled, just because it didn’t seem likely is Clattenburg off the hook for not blowing the play dead or clearly signaling to play the advantage.
At 2-0 Spurs gave up.
So there you have it. We blame everyone. Except Modric. And he got the lone card in this whole silliness for being the captain and trying to talk to the official.
wow. Missed all the games this weekend, sounds like there was lots of weirdness going on. I mean, Wolves won for chrissakes.
Didn’t get to see the match but think there was a little problem with allowing the Vidic goal in the 1st that was Spurs problem; screw the rest of this/No, not bitter.
The only part I’m not fully in agreement with you on is that Clattenburg needed to “clarify his position”. He’s already clarified it just fine by not giving a penalty and not blowing his whistle for a freekick. The ball is live, and Gomes should have played it as such.
When Gareth Barry gives the ball away and asks for a foul every Saturday, he doesn’t get to pause the game and ask for a clarification from the referee, he has to chase the ball and get on with things.
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Now, of course that in no way exonerates Clattenburg and his assistant for missing the handball or not carding Nani for the dive.
Ryan: Nani handled the ball in the box. Think it’s okay to expect some sort of ‘play on’ indication—specifically the actual one where both arms are extended out—from Clattenburg if he’s not going to card the punk.
Really thought the celebration from Nani was the most bizarre aspect of the whole scenario.
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btw, pee on gallas!
We won. Let’s move on.
@PR – 100% agree. I might be able to say this is honestly the first time I’ve felt a tug on my bitter heartstrings for the Spuds after watching that video.
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But…that all went away when I watched a SkySports interview with Redknapp. He said “I’m the last person to question a referee” and laughed so hard milk came out of my nose. If you can lie ‘arry, so can they…
Well I was just in the middle of writing exactly what Ryan said, so well put Ryan. The fact that Gomes threw the ball down A. without the whistle having been blown and B. without knowing whether or not the play was live was a ridiculous decision. Ask the question first, idiot, before dropping the ball on the ground in front of a group of players in your own box.
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Pretty shambolic stuff from all parties involved, but I can’t believe that Clattenburg is taking more heat than Gomes.
Hey, like I said… everyone is wrong. If you’re Gomes and you don’t hear the whistle, don’t set the ball down and back 10 steps away from it. If you’re still unclear, pick the damn thing up. But, not unreasonable for him to expect some indication from Clattenburg as to what is up when he is clearly asking for it.
Much in the same way that falling on the ball post-dive doesn’t guarantee you a free-kick, neither does throwing the ball down in your area and taking a few steps back to shape for a dead ball situation. Gomes is as idiotic as Nani is unsporting as Clattenburg is inconsistent.
Yeah, everyone was stupid, but for me Nani takes the cake. Who celebrates a goal that you cheated multiple times to get into the position of getting it? Also, who celebrates like that? Sticking your tongue out? What are you, six?
Also, we NEED a liveblog of West Brom – Blackpool, it’s gonna be like watching Anti-Bolton vs Anti Stoke
@Wac: Michael Jordan disagrees with you and thinks the tongue out celebration is perfectly valid.
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This is one of the most bizarre sequences I’ve seen. Agree with most everything said. Nani is a twunt? Check. Gomes is brain dead? Check. Rio and Scholesy? Shudder. Modric reasonable? Check. Clattenberg? WTF, dude?
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I disagree that the goal affected the outcome. As I said elsewhere, I never thought Spurs would score with the exception of Pav-dude’s deflection off Vidic. (I’m canceling Park’s post with VdV’s and ignoring Nani’s late crossbar). Everything else was snuffed out comfortably or completely covered by VdS.
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While engrossing in a perverse way, this is nothing more than stupid, but ultimately meaningless, behavior.
PR – you’ll notice that when Clattenburg returns a gesture of two palms up it is exactly the same gesture as Wenger from the peanut gallery in Wacman’s avatar. So basically he just compounded the confusion – it wasn’t “play on” with both hands in front, but was more akin to the universal signal for “WTF?” Basically telling Gomes “I don’t know either – good luck”.
Gomes is a dumb sh*t, Nani is ascending as supreme doucheberry for the EPL (SIB), and Clattenburg just looked like an absolute donkey. The only thing that would have made it better is a meteor.
I agree with everything PR says. Yes we probably would have lost anyway, but that’s not the point. It’s not like the game was 3-0. We were 1-0 down against a pretty mediocre ManU team. It was a complete travesty and I’m still furious every time I think about it.
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That said, as a Spurs fan, I’m much more concerned by our overall crappy performance on the field.
Honestly, if I have to blame anyone for just royally screwing up I blame the linesman more than anyone, I can see Clattenburg not thinking there was a foul on Nani and then not seeing Nani grab the ball so in his eyes there was nothing wrong, but the linesman should have seen the handbags there and signaled it. As for Nani, he is a diving d-bag, and should have received a card for his shenanigans, but the incompetence of the linesman ensured nothing happened.
I’m pretty sure that’s exactly how Andrew Wiles celebrated, actually.
@ LE: Amen. I’m a little irritated b/c it seemed like after the match, FSC kept showing the match on replay and then in their 30 minute format–like Christian Miles & Co. were attempting to torture me into watching the awfulness again.
Hey, I found UF’s favorite mathematician on Wikipedia.
“Oh, AND HE’S WEARING THE CAPTAINS ARMBAND. He should be allowed to talk to Clattenburg at least… not sure if the band means he can chat up the linesman.”
This is a common misapprehension, the Captains are not afforded any special rights in the laws of the game. They’re not even specified as the ones to do the coin toss.
So Clattenberg made a mess of this he could’ve stepped in and did something. However Gomes should know by now…no whistle you keep playing.
@ Anon: Perfect. “Known for the Tits Group, the Tits alternatives, and Tits buildings.” And, he’s into group theory. Classy.
fantastic whinge-fest