Things about football that get you unreasonably annoyed…

[noodlehair]

In no particular order:

- The whole culture of players having to make a scene about how hurt they are after any slight physical challenge. I can't work out what the point of it is. It doesn't annoy me because they're behaving like a bunch of pathetic wimps (even though they are). It annoys me because its expensive to watch football and then 30 minutes of every PL game is someone wasting your time and insulting your intelligence by blatantly pretending to be hurt. As if it is somehow entertaining to watch Marcus Rashford force the football game to stop so he can roll about on the floor holding his back 3 times per match. This doesn't happen in any other sport and it also doesn't happen in football at lower levels or in the women's version. Probably because its completely pointless to anyone who isn't a spoilt prima donna millionaire who needs everyone to constantly be paying attention to them.

- English referees using video technology to somehow get more decisions wrong instead of right, including often deliberately manipulating video footage to only show part of an incident, and this not causing all of them to be sacked or some kind of national review into why our referees are so shite and whether or not its even by accident. The fact again that this is so blatant yet everyone just puts up with it when it could so obviously be so much better.

- Post match interviews where everyone who's interviewed has been on their post match interview training course so gives the exact same stock answers as each other. Along with the insanely dumb questions they get asked. "Were you pleased to win the game in the end?" etc. Why bother?

- The opinions of Michael Owen

- The thing where someone who isn't the fullback picks up the ball to take a throw in quickly, then goes to pretend to take it, then doesn't and gives it to the fullback, who then throws it straight back to the other team due to taking so fecking long about it.

- The "minimal gains" nonsense. I.e. getting a freekick on the halfway line then sneakily rolling the ball to 5cm over the halfway line, trying to take a corner or penalty with the ball 1mm further forward than it should be. Delaying a throw in and letting the opposition mark all your players so you can sneakily walk an extra 50cm up the pitch, etc. I reckon no team has ever won a single game as a result of pulling shite like this.

- The whole excuse/shortcut mentality of it. "you don't get those decisions at the big sides", etc. Referees wouldn't be able to be so shite if players and managers didn't spend so much of their time and energy trying to get the referee to win the game for them.

- Harry Redknapp still being on TV advertising things, indicating there are people out there who still don't think he's a bellend. Icing on the cake being that he's also advertising betting which is upmost sellout twattery in itself.

- "False nine", "False winger", "inverted fullback" etc. Imagine applying this shite to literally anything else. "What's your job role again?" "Oh I'm a false sales assistant", "ahh that's great I'm an inverted systems engineer"

 

[Kellyiom]

Brilliant! Love that about Redknapp and false sales assistant!

 

[top1whoisman]

People being angry because we ”never scouted” player X who went on to become a good footballer. We should sign every talented footballer, can’t let another team have ’em. Or otherwise our scouts and/or football higher-ups are shit.

 

[Ayoba]

Pep Guardiola press conferences.

You really love it, more than you know it.

 

[Siorac]

- Post match interviews where everyone who's interviewed has been on their post match interview training course so gives the exact same stock answers as each other. Along with the insanely dumb questions they get asked. "Were you pleased to win the game in the end?"

If they're talking to Toney, that's a legit question.

 

[GazTheLegend]

People being angry because we ”never scouted” player X who went on to become a good footballer. We should sign every talented footballer, can’t let another team have ’em. Or otherwise our scouts and/or football higher-ups are shit.

God this is a really good one. Seems to apply in particular to every "shrewd signing" spurs or Chelsea make in the summer in which our entire muppet base melts down over, even if they have the odd good performance until they're completely forgotten by November because it turned out they were utter shit.

We do miss out sometimes and you wonder why (like with Mane for instance) with some players we have clearly scouted heavily, but that's life, you can only have a squad of 17 signings ultimately (+8 homegrown)

 

[top1whoisman]

God this is a really good one. Seems to apply in particular to every "shrewd signing" spurs or Chelsea make in the summer in which our entire muppet base melts down over, even if they have the odd good performance until they're completely forgotten by November because it turned out they were utter shit.

We do miss out sometimes and you wonder why (like with Mane for instance) with some players we have clearly scouted heavily, but that's life, you can only have a squad of 17 signings ultimately (+8 homegrown)

It's also interesting we never see the same people berating our rivals for missing out on CR7, Rooney or more recently Bruno, Licha etc. It's almost like they've got an agenda...

 

[GaryLifo]

certain unbookable players. The likes of Fabinho, Guimeres, Milner, Partey and most of the city midfield who tend to be allowed 5 free fouls before they get a warning, then another 3 fouls before they get booked.

I've also become enraged when the shirt pulling fouls to stop a counter attack don't now seem to attract a mandatory booking when they take place inside the attacking sides own half.

 

[GaryLifo]

God this is a really good one. Seems to apply in particular to every "shrewd signing" spurs or Chelsea make in the summer in which our entire muppet base melts down over, even if they have the odd good performance until they're completely forgotten by November because it turned out they were utter shit.

We do miss out sometimes and you wonder why (like with Mane for instance) with some players we have clearly scouted heavily, but that's life, you can only have a squad of 17 signings ultimately (+8 homegrown)

And they often ignore the counter examples like Nunez and Gakpo - both of whom many of our fans were convinced Liverpool had just bought the next GOAT strikers, but who have both turned out to only be merely adequate.

 

[top1whoisman]

And they often ignore the counter examples like Nunez and Gakpo - both of whom many of our fans were convinced Liverpool had just bought the next GOAT strikers, but who have both turned out to only be merely adequate.

Yeah, there’s shedloads of overhyped players who have gone elsewhere and failed, yet we never hear about them anymore.

 

[Carl]

That players (usually defenders) are allowed to "shepherd" the ball out of play. Despite it being blatant obstruction anywhere else on the pitch.

 

[GaryLifo]

That players (usually defenders) are allowed to "shepherd" the ball out of play. Despite it being blatant obstruction anywhere else on the pitch.

This has been one I've hated for about 30 years. You even see them holding the player's shirt who is trying to get the ball and this is allowed too

 

[Eplel]

- English referees using video technology to somehow get more decisions wrong instead of right, including often deliberately manipulating video footage to only show part of an incident, and this not causing all of them to be sacked or some kind of national review into why our referees are so shite and whether or not its even by accident. The fact again that this is so blatant yet everyone just puts up with it when it could so obviously be so much better.

I think the reason for this is that the FA has nurtured some sort of impunity for referees, where they don't punish referees for bad decisions, but they throw the book on any player or manager that dares complain. It has lead to a situation of "customer is always right", only that the customer here is the referee, and has grown to have an overblown "karen" type ego, that makes them see everything in an antagonistic way.

 

[Daydreamer]

If they're talking to Toney, that's a legit question.

Underrated comment.

 

[GazTheLegend]

That players (usually defenders) are allowed to "shepherd" the ball out of play. Despite it being blatant obstruction anywhere else on the pitch.

Yeah. I argued this one yeaaaaaars ago because Stam was absolutely FANTASTIC at it and I sort of always worried that if it became obstruction it would wreck his game completely. The counter argument was that the defender was in "control" of the ball and it was up to the attacker to get it back fairly, and body strength would be pretty useless in football otherwise. So I've just sort of accepted it ever since even though it's protecting defenders a bit.

 

[Jeffthered]

Play acting. Fed up with it. V few top, top players indulge in play acting. Messi. Ronaldo. KDB. Benzema. Lewandoski. Kane. Same historically... Maradona, Cruyff etc.. Maldini, Van Basten... Rooney, RVN, Stam, Schmeichel.. Scholes, Viera, Keane.. I could go on and on... these players did not have reputations for being total drama-queens. CR7 was told to cut it out by Sir Alex, and it enhanced his game, hugely. Top players have no time for that nonsense.

Now it seems players aspire to be like Antony and Jack Grealish. Pathetic.

 

[noodlehair]

I think the reason for this is that the FA has nurtured some sort of impunity for referees, where they don't punish referees for bad decisions, but they throw the book on any player or manager that dares complain. It has lead to a situation of "customer is always right", only that the customer here is the referee, and has grown to have an overblown "karen" type ego, that makes them see everything in an antagonistic way.

I do think its a two way street. Managers and players use refs as an excuse for their own shortcomings all the time, and seem to be allowed to abuse them at will. I mean if you behaved the way premier league footballers/managers do towards officials, towards literally anyone, in any other circumstance, you're either getting sacked, punched in the face, or arrested...or a combination of the three. Players also dedicate an honestly comedic out of effort into tactically trying to con or cheat the officials, to the point I think it's probably counter productive as the gain you get from diving 30 times a game for example is almost definitely less than if you'd used all 30 pf those situations to try and keep the ball/score.

Officiating a premier league game is an almost impossible job. On the other hand though that doesn't mean it's OK to change the offside or handball rules in the middle of a game, or send someone off for grabbing someone else's shirt because you found one specific camera angle that sort of makes it look like a strangle if you slow the footage right down and edit out 95% of it. That's just purposely doing your job wrong which if your job is an authority/enforcing role makes you corrupt.

No other sport (and this includes football at most levels) would put up with either side of this scenario. Imagine a rugby game or boxing match where the competitors just shout abuse in the refs face at will and blatantly pretend to have been punched in the balls, trodden on etc. And then the ref decides the contest by pretending one of the boxers got knocked down or disallowing a try because he supposedly forgot the try line and touchline aren't the same thing or something. That's the level of stupid premier league football seems to have reached.

Also I don't really disagree with your post I just wanted to rant about it some more.

 

[Robbie Boy]

The weird cults that sprung up endlessly defending our post-Fergie managers. They're gone, they were all fecking shite to various degrees; so time to admit it and move on.

 

[Matthew84!]

Fans acting childish when they're team loses, come on, there's being annoyed then there's just acting like a spoilt brat screaming and making everything around you hostile and insufferable.
No one likes to lose but its part of the game.

 

[RedRocket9908]

People massively overrating Pep as a manager, and the way everyone in the media including Gary Neville seems to be up City's backside.

 

[jackal&hyde]

Playing Bruno as an 8, he can do the job. Makes me feel literally angry and I need to take a few seconds to calm myself.

 

[berbasloth4]

Keepers for encroachment. Hard enough job trying to stop a penalty it’s near impossible to dive without going forward a bit they should get a little bit of grace.

I was speaking with roy carroll a while back and he told me bout time he was at notts county stood behind the line the jumped on to it as taker Hitting penalty and still got penalised.

 

[Big Ben Foster]

Keepers for encroachment. Hard enough job trying to stop a penalty it’s near impossible to dive without going forward a bit they should get a little bit of grace.

I was speaking with roy carroll a while back and he told me bout time he was at notts county stood behind the line the jumped on to it as taker Hitting penalty and still got penalised.

The selective enforcement of it is the worst part for me. Either call it every time or don't do it at all.

 

[berbasloth4]

The selective enforcement of it is the worst part for me. Either call it every time or don't do it at all.

the ones making the decision have probably never been a keeper themselves so don’t know that it’s most likely genuine

 

[Oranges038]

Gonzalo Montiel.. I'd say he's just a horrible cnut to play against, but you wouldn't mind him on your team.

The selective enforcement of it is the worst part for me. Either call it every time or don't do it at all.

They'd never, don't they have to book the keeper for a second offence? I think some kid was sent off in an international tournament for it a few years ago.

One thing that annoys me is that they only call encroachment on players into the box on a miss or save. What if the keeper was distracted by a player in the box and couldn't save it? It should work both ways.

 

[Red in STL]

I do think its a two way street. Managers and players use refs as an excuse for their own shortcomings all the time, and seem to be allowed to abuse them at will. I mean if you behaved the way premier league footballers/managers do towards officials, towards literally anyone, in any other circumstance, you're either getting sacked, punched in the face, or arrested...or a combination of the three. Players also dedicate an honestly comedic out of effort into tactically trying to con or cheat the officials, to the point I think it's probably counter productive as the gain you get from diving 30 times a game for example is almost definitely less than if you'd used all 30 pf those situations to try and keep the ball/score.

Officiating a premier league game is an almost impossible job. On the other hand though that doesn't mean it's OK to change the offside or handball rules in the middle of a game, or send someone off for grabbing someone else's shirt because you found one specific camera angle that sort of makes it look like a strangle if you slow the footage right down and edit out 95% of it. That's just purposely doing your job wrong which if your job is an authority/enforcing role makes you corrupt.

No other sport (and this includes football at most levels) would put up with either side of this scenario. Imagine a rugby game or boxing match where the competitors just shout abuse in the refs face at will and blatantly pretend to have been punched in the balls, trodden on etc. And then the ref decides the contest by pretending one of the boxers got knocked down or disallowing a try because he supposedly forgot the try line and touchline aren't the same thing or something. That's the level of stupid premier league football seems to have reached.

Also I don't really disagree with your post I just wanted to rant about it some more.

And a good rant it is, and fairly accurate to boot

 

[TheRedHearted]

.

Players pointing where to pass to their team mates - comes across more as clueless and insecure than anything else.

I like that actually. How many times do you see the ball going to the wrong side.

Corner comes in.
Defender headers the ball out.
Attacking team plays the ball (over two or three passes) all the way back to their own goalkeeper.

Sometimes that’s to spread the defending team and decongest the area though

 

[Tee27]

Recency bias, one example being people lauding pep to be the best manager ever and asking if he’s better than SAF. It doesn’t take any context into consideration.

 

[Red in STL]

I like that actually. How many times do you see the ball going to the wrong side.

Sometimes that’s to spread the defending team and decongest the area though

The area has a cold?

 

[Harry190]

It's not unreasonable to expect refs to penalize foul throws. Every game, every flipping game, they do it. No one seems to care on the pitch. You can't throw from the side.

Or did the rules change?

 

[Red in STL]

It's not unreasonable to expect refs to penalize foul throws. Every game, every flipping game, they do it. No one seems to care on the pitch. You can't throw from the side.

Or did the rules change?

TBH a lot of foul throws aren't given that should be

 

[ElCuddlos]

It annoys me how attention seeking twitter transfer gurus paraphrase what people say by shoehorning the question into the answer. Such as

"Romano? That guy's just a bellend with a phone"

 

[Kellyiom]

Underrated comment.

I loved that one too. It's going to be inevitable when he comes back isn't, some Alan Partridge comments? "Ivan, I bet that goal feels good after a long time out?!"

 

[stw2022]

When two teams that are based far from the venue get to a final and people demand the stadium be moved to a neutral location nearer to where the teams are based. As if the only preparation and planning for these events is to stick a pin in a map two or three weeks before.

Every World Cup should be held in Switzerland because its silly that the majority of fans from Europe where most of the teams come from have to travel so far

 

[strongwalker]

As if the only preparation and planning for these events is to stick a pin in a map.

That is how the last few World Cup hosts were picked, right?

 

[GazTheLegend]

That is how the last few World Cup hosts were picked, right?

Well, it was more like the pin got stuck in a briefcase full of dirty money by smirking FIFA officials, more like

 

[Alex99]

There are loads of things that annoy me in football but I think most are reasonable.

The one that I should probably just get over is stupid shirt numbers. I'm not necessarily thinking on a "starting line up is 1-11" basis, but things like clearly first team players having numbers in the high 20s or above, particularly when a more suitable, lower number is available.

 

[Siorac]

There are loads of things that annoy me in football but I think most are reasonable.

The one that I should probably just get over is stupid shirt numbers. I'm not necessarily thinking on a "starting line up is 1-11" basis, but things like clearly first team players having numbers in the high 20s or above, particularly when a more suitable, lower number is available.

One of the reasons I'm not too keen on Rice is because he wears 41. That simply shouldn't be allowed.

 

[Alex99]

One of the reasons I'm not too keen on Rice is because he wears 41. That simply shouldn't be allowed.

It's madness. You're the club's captain and star player. Wear a sensible number.

 

[Glorio]

Players letting balls roll out for a throw-in (which is a 60:40 gamble at best) when they're under no pressure at all and their team is on the attack