Why are some professional soccer players so... lame?

[Jerrid'sRamenShop]

I will have my post removed and probably receive a warning, if I really said what I was thinking. I have heard fairy tales before that they fall down at the slightest touch like old men breaking a hip, but I had not really watched a game and seen it with my own eyes until tonight. Literally hardly a tap and they would do somersaults in the air and grab at the opposite leg that actually hit the ground or was tapped by the other player. Then they roll around on the ground like they are on fire and get up slowly, hobbling along like a gimp. But then immediately play on doing their own acrobatics with no problems, even when they fall onto the ground on their own.

And the referees act like this is normal and keep carding the other team. If it was not for slow motion replays, I would of assumed the players were sneakily assaulting one another, the way the "wounded" party acts on the field. But the slow motion replays show how horrible the supposed injured person is faking it. Surely the refs can see the replays. So what is going on? Why are they allowed to slow the game like that? I could understand if someone was accidently kicked in the face or headbutted some else. But as it is, it would be like someone walking past you and brushing you gently with their shoulder and you fall over grasping for the fence and scream out in agony as you clutch at the ground and your knee screaming bloody murder. Then a minute later get up and do cart wheels down the street like you are in perfect health.

 

[Mittens2317]

- The result of two tanks crashing into each other is very different to a couple of Ferraris very slightly colliding at top speed.

- Football is played at a higher tempo than most sports, if you've been fouled, go down, because the ref might not have caught it. Also, going down in the area upon contact can win you a penalty. You're there to win. Staying on your feet when you've been fouled accomplishes nothing. If you need the physio, always make it clear which part is hurting.

- VAR was only recently introduced. Prior to that, showing replays on the big screen was banned as it could be seen as an attempt to influence the officials' decision.

- Feigning injury in an attempt to time waste is a bookable offence. Making a meal out of a foul isn't though. A foul is a foul, regardless of any Brookside-esque acting that follows.

- There are a number of footballers who are ludicrously over dramatic, yes. They're detested.

- If you were genuinely interested in this topic, I'd suggest you look it up elsewhere, like Twitter or a football forum. I've yet to come across anyone but Birty or Riku who actually go to the match or play football.

- You ever twatted your knee off the side of a table and it's hurt like fuck for a few minutes but then you're fine? Apply a bit of common sense lad.

 

[Jerrid'sRamenShop]

- The result of two tanks crashing into each other is very different to a couple of Ferraris very slightly colliding at top speed.

- Football is played at a higher tempo than most sports, if you've been fouled, go down, because the ref might not have caught it. Also, going down in the area upon contact can win you a penalty. You're there to win. Staying on your feet when you've been fouled accomplishes nothing. If you need the physio, always make it clear which part is hurting.

- VAR was only recently introduced. Prior to that, showing replays on the big screen was banned as it could be seen as an attempt to influence the officials' decision.

- Feigning injury in an attempt to time waste is a bookable offence. Making a meal out of a foul isn't though. A foul is a foul, regardless of any Brookside-esque acting that follows.

- There are a number of footballers who are ludicrously over dramatic, yes. They're detested.

- If you were genuinely interested in this topic, I'd suggest you look it up elsewhere, like Twitter or a football forum. I've yet to come across anyone but Birty or Riku who actually go to the match or play football.

- You ever twatted your knee off the side of a table and it's hurt like fuck for a few minutes but then you're fine? Apply a bit of common sense lad.

I know a thing or two about pain and how to soldier on. Common sense would be if anyone falls over from someone tapping them, they may not want to play a sport where contact will surely be given or even leave the house or if they do, wear a helmet and padding.

The slow motion plays should be looked at more often. There is a distinct difference in how people really act when they are injured and how rag dolls act in video games. The guy last night was a rag doll. Clearly after the "contact" (I kid you not, a shoe lace had grazed the other person's shoe from the angle of the replay.), he paused for a moment as if looking around and then threw himself on the ground and looked to throw a child's tantrum until he seemed to get his way. By the end I was rooting for the other team to actually nail him at least once. Earn that foul!

Rolling around on the ground gripping your knee with what looks like tears and grimacing in pain one moment and then doing somersaults and laughing and smiling the next, like literally thirty seconds later was a constant with the same person last night. People who really get injured need to be escorted off the field. I assume it was the captain of the team, as the spot light or camera was constantly on him. Or maybe because he was acting like such a big baby. But the refs just kept carding the other team. If a foul is a foul that is fine. But why are they indulging him time and again and wasting time? Even some of the refs were rolling their eyes. It looked more like a MadTV or SNL skit, than an actual game.

I heard stories of the American team years ago confused on what was really happening on the field, when other players would just throw themselves on the ground and act like the holy spirit had gotten a hold of them as they convulsed on the field. Then get up like nothing happened and continue playing until next time.

 

[Mittens2317]

So you're specifically talking about play acting? I've noticed it goes on less now than in the past, but you still have the likes of Neymar that do it constantly.

Have you just started watching football recently? I know it's a little difficult to get into - and downright baffling for some - when you haven't grown up watching it. I remember Axm being weirded out by the low score lines and thought it was boring (despite the fact he usually watches baseball)

I wouldn't recommend watching football at all atm though to be completely honest, maybe wait until lockdowns have ended, then watch the English, Scottish (shit but rougher), or German leagues. We still have play actors in the Premiership, but you find them less and less in the lower leagues. The worst leagues for them are La Liga and Ligue 1, so probably best avoiding them.

 

[Jerrid'sRamenShop]

I guess if it is called play acting, then yes. And to be honest, it looked like Neymar last night or some one similar, at least by looking at the pics on wiki. Some pics look like him and others do not. It was on a game last night (assuming it was live or being played that night and not a rerun from who knows how long.) and he was wearing black as I recall and the other team was wearing green and yellow or a similar color.

I have caught glimpses of it in the past, yes. I am not really into soccer, no. Just not my thing. I was just awe struck at the spectacle last night. I do not know how they can play a game where it stops every other minute on a fake injury and the player never leaves the field. As much belly aching as he was doing, you would assume he should be in a full body cast. Mind you, when he runs and jumps and falls on his own, not a peep or a limp out of him.

I am not much into sports to begin with. I enjoy sumo and rugby from time to time.


A rendition of last night, without the need for a stretcher, even though his team mates had to keep picking him off the ground like was a toddler, limp for a few seconds and then sprint across the field as if nothing happened. I feel, as his teammate, that would just be embarrassing and leave him laying there after about the fifth or sixth time for the short time I was at the restaurant and the game was on to watch it.