02 Jan 2024 14:48:27
How come Jota is getting stick over his pen when players have been going down with the slightest touch and nothing is said? Is it because it's Liverpool? Shearer can talk, some of the pens he got. Their keeper didn't even argue because he knew he caught Jota.

Go back to the Brighton game a few seasons ago when Robbo went for the ball and kicked Wellbeck's sole of his boot so evens itself out, don't you think?

1.) 02 Jan 2024
02 Jan 2024 15:43:24
It's the nature of how he has gone down.

There is definitley contact, whether if it was enough to bring him down only Jota will know. But, to a casual viewer, he goes down ages after the contact. It looks horrendous but when you consider he was through on goal, and had an empty net. You would like to think he fancied his chances if not for the touch from the keeper.

Plus he was travelling at speed which also impacts things, but I must admit on my first watch in real time, I thought he had tripped over his own feet and when the ref walked towards them, was going to book him for a dive. I wasn't expecting him to point to the spot.

2.) 02 Jan 2024
02 Jan 2024 15:45:38
Iwillbered, it's all a deflection tactic led by Alan Shearer to take people away from the fact that his beloved magpies were absolutely drummed from minute one to minute 97. A 7.53 XG (for the XG merchants out there) with 15 shots on target is mad, apparently. They could have gotten 8 put past them yet Alan Shearer came out there with the typical deflection tactic of "Oh, look over there. It's Jota who "dived". That is reprehensible" and all that.

Now keep in mind that this same Alan Shearer in 2018 after Harry Kane blatantly dived, dragged his toe over Karius with WAY less contact than Dubravka (who admitted to fouling Jota, btw) had on Jota and what did he say? He said, "When Kane feels the contact, he has a RIGHT to go down". I have NEVER forgotten that statement that night on MOTD after the game.

So to him Harry Kane has a right to go down BUT Jota and any other player that is not English doesn't, right? Yeah, Shearer tried to deflect. It failed BUT I guess the loser rival fans have something to moan about cos notice, not a soul has said Newcastle coulda/ shoulda got anything from that game.

3.) 02 Jan 2024
02 Jan 2024 15:49:06
It's Liverpool AND it was a non-English player.

4.) 02 Jan 2024
02 Jan 2024 16:37:04
Well said oli
I think it was theatrical and late after the contact but their is contact
So in the words of big al
Jota feels the contact and has the right to go down ???.

5.) 02 Jan 2024
02 Jan 2024 16:37:40
Players have learned to play VAR to their advantage, VAR seldom reverses an on field decision, liverpool have had goals and penalties not given because of on field decisions going against them. VAR was introduced to halp officials make wrong decisions right, but the officials in charge of VAR in the Premier league at this moment in time are trying to prove wrong decisions right. our goal last night wasn't a penalty but because the keepers bum cheak brushed jotas leg hair the VAR officials went with their friend on the field, just like the arsenal hand ball a couple of weeks ago. Until the VAR officials are independent of the PGMOL it will always be the case.

6.) 02 Jan 2024
02 Jan 2024 16:39:36
Liverpool fan, I personally think it was a dive. I don’t like to see it, but all players are at it nowadays that it can make watching footy very cringeworthy at times. Though I am ghappy Jota is back, he has been very good this season and we will need him with Mo going AFCON.

7.) 02 Jan 2024
02 Jan 2024 16:25:58
Would he have got the penalty if he hadn’t have gone down?
That’s what would have been going through his head no doubt.
If the players had confidence in the refs to give these even if they stay up it might be a different story.

{Ed025's Note - im sorry Mikey but Jota is a dirty stinking cheat, the exaggerated dive way after the challenge means there is no other word for it mate im afraid, was it a penalty...probably but that does not excuse his disgusting behavior, if you dont call out these charlatans (even when its your own) we will end up with the likes of him, Grealish, Kane, Richarlison etc ruining the game, #saynotocheating..

8.) 02 Jan 2024
02 Jan 2024 16:51:58
One of the changes in reffing I'd like to see Ed025 is just stopping giving fouls for people going down like a sack of potatoes. The amount of time you see a slight bit of contact (in what is a contact support) and people go down like Tom Daley is ridiculous. Then when someone does actually get fouled but stays on their feet they quite often don't get anything for it.

The culture is cheating the game in my opinion but looking at how we can move away from this comes with a change in refereeing in my opinion. We have VAR, so if something is actually serious enough and the referee has missed it, then we can use that.

{Ed025's Note - they should make simulation a sending off offence Taurus, then the Jota,s of this world may think twice about doing it mate..

9.) 02 Jan 2024
02 Jan 2024 17:22:04
If he doesn’t go down he doesn’t get the pen, he may have missed if he stayed on his and went for the shot due to the contact.

He had no choice, if the rules allowed him to stay on his feet and still get the pen then he wouldn’t need to go down. Hate the game not the player.

10.) 02 Jan 2024
02 Jan 2024 17:39:51
People need to stop mocking other clubs when they do the same. We would be fuming if was Haaland ????.

11.) 02 Jan 2024
02 Jan 2024 18:02:02
Didn't even Dubravka admit it was a penalty?

{Ed025's Note - the penalty is not the issue johnny, he dived a yard after any contact mate and thats cheating..

12.) 02 Jan 2024
02 Jan 2024 18:03:10
I've seen Mo/ Sadio try stay up after been caught only to miss while off balance, play is never called back so why try stay up if its in your best interest to go down? i don't think a lack of sportsmanshhip is something that can be thrown at klopps team in this league of cheats.

{Ed025's Note - well it was last night Jude, i dont care if he thought he might not get the decision or not mate...he cheated plain and simple, you can try and dress it up anyway you want...but hes a god damn cheat in my book..

13.) 02 Jan 2024
02 Jan 2024 18:08:44
Everyone is saying there is contact, then they say he dives. Then they question why he dives instead of scoring the goal.

Here’s a thought - he doesn’t go to score because he’s clipped. I hate the “not enough contact” point. What does that even mean? At full pace in the wet, a feather touch on your ankle can put you off balance and off your feet.

Stinking cheat is way over the top 25. There is contact. That rhetoric should be reserved for when players dive after no contact or start falling before there is any contact.

{Ed025's Note - i think dirty stinking cheat was a better phrase Faith, what he done was just as bad as every other cheat out there mate, yes im calling them out and that includes players from my own club, i cant alter your views but you could be right maybe a slight gust of wind caught him a yard after the contact and blew his stride out of kilter...come on mate get a grip..

14.) 02 Jan 2024
02 Jan 2024 18:39:56
It was a dive it’s as simple as that! I don’t like it one bit. If someone did that against us we would be going ****ing mad. Why can’t he just carry on and put the ball in the net.

15.) 02 Jan 2024
02 Jan 2024 16:20:34
It looked like a dive to me ?‍♂️ I have no idea why he would dive tho as he could simply have tapped it in.

Shearer, Neville… all pundits are guilty of going easy on English players when they dive.

16.) 02 Jan 2024
02 Jan 2024 19:37:05
Ed25, the OTT name calling is unnecessary cos remember, Richarlison used to play for you for years and at no point did I personally, call him a dirty stinking cheat each time he held his face, flopped to the ground whenever oppo. players breathed on him let alone made contact on him. Also, one of your managers in Big Sam said after Calvert-Lewin flopped to the ground (after Lovren put his hand on his back) to win a pen, "A soft penality does not exist. it is either a penalty or it's not" when it suited him. I didn't call him a "dirty, stinking cheat" either. Just speaking the truth here.

It was a pen and that's it, IMO. If that had happened to LFC, I would not have complained cos the contact is clear. Most importantly, nobody would have said a word had Shearer not brought it up in a bid to eflect from the wretchedness of his own team's showing. Sorry, Im not easily distracted by his nonsense.

{Ed025's Note - i believe in calling a spade a spade Oli, simulation is ruining the game mate and these players and their clubs need calling out, i called out Richarlison every time he dived because he was a serial cheat, but it seems that if liverpool players do it its fine by you, and i think that speaks volumes mate..

17.) 02 Jan 2024
02 Jan 2024 20:26:07
It’s a Dive. What are you trying justify @Oli. Just coz Richarlison did it in the past doesn’t mean Jota gets a free pass ???.

18.) 02 Jan 2024
02 Jan 2024 20:35:23
Ed25, you are over-reacting, as usual. It was a pen as the contact was real and Dubravka even said so after the game that it was a pen. Jota did not drag his foot to draw the contact like the other cheats you mentioned and that includes Harry Kane. Nor does Jota have a history of diving to get penalties an get people booked/ sent off so those are the facts about him. If he starts having a history of doing such things then, we can talk. You say "you call a spade a spade". Nah, I think you just got distracted by Shearer cos I wasn't.

Once again, this is a thing in the media cos Shearer mentioned it and I stand by that. Had we battered these by the 7 goals we should have, you think Shearer brings it up? He would be ridiculed and laughed at. Shearer's team got battered and he only brought this up to deflect from the rubbish to protect fav. manager Eddie Howe and the dross he served up. His plan worked cos people seem to have drank the kool aid and got distracted. I wasn't cos I can see a conman trying to distract me from a mile off. Just calling a spade a spade, right?

{Ed025's Note - for a start Oli i never heard the comments from Shearer, and i have not said it was not a pen either...you are making things up there to support your agenda mate, what actually happened was that he went around the keeper (who may have clipped him, i dont know) but pushed the ball too far and too wide for him to score, so as an afterthought he decided to cheat after the fact by doing a triple lutz, if you cant see that (or wont) then it is a waste of my time discussing it with you..

19.) 02 Jan 2024
02 Jan 2024 21:19:57
25 - usually with your banter but that is way over the top. Was he clipped yes or no? The answer is obviously yes. So now people are spitting tacks over whether our view on a tv screen determined “enough contact”. Bollo*ks mate. Way over the top.

{Ed025's Note - i have not denied that it was not a penalty Faith that is not the issue here mate, he pushed the ball too far wide of the keeper then after the fact blatantly dived, now that is cheating whatever way you look at things, and im not saying hes the only one, its becoming an epidemic though and these cheats should be brought to book...even if they play for Liverpool

20.) 02 Jan 2024
02 Jan 2024 22:00:15
You are going way over the top ed25: it wasn't a triple lutz more of a double toe loop!

{Ed025's Note - triple lutz is french for con artist denzil.. :)

21.) 02 Jan 2024
02 Jan 2024 22:09:17
When I was a teenager I was refereeing a game with my father and he gave a pen and cautioned the offensive player for simulation on the same play.

{Ed025's Note - its a pity your old man isn,t refereeing in the premiership today AP mate..

22.) 02 Jan 2024
02 Jan 2024 22:23:16
I really don’t get your argument here Ed25. You’re admitting it was a penalty so how can it be cheating? If you cheat, by definition you con someone into getting something you don’t deserve.

It’s either no penalty and cheating or it’s a penalty. If you’re admitting it’s a penalty then it can’t be cheating.

I personally was baffled as to why he went down as he hadn’t pushed it too far and would’ve tapped it in if he got to it. If you look closely though he was actually past the keeper and his elbow came down on the back of his foot. That’s why it looked so delayed because he was already past the keeper when contact occurred and he felt the contact, planted his foot and went over.

Then you have to ascertain if that contact was enough to affect his ability to get to the ball and tap it in and that’s something non of us can possibly know.

It looked like he went over easily but if he felt the touch from the keeper had knocked him off balance enough that it made it difficult for him to score then he had no other choice as the ref is never giving it if he stays on his feet.

When even the keeper admits he caught him and you admit it’s a penalty I think your argument doesn’t hold much water.

I think there is no chance whatsoever that Jota goes down if the keeper doesn’t catch him which would’ve been the only way you could claim he’s a stinking cheat.

{Ed025's Note - two things can be right at the same time BP, you need to stop digging now as the hole is getting too large mate, it may have been a pen (i honestly dont know), but it seemed like he was not so sure if they would give it because the contact was minimal, so he preceded to blatantly CHEAT! by diving after the fact, it was farcical actually and it made him look like a right prat, if you cant see that im afraid its because you dont want to see it my friend..

23.) 03 Jan 2024
03 Jan 2024 01:01:44
The laws of the game say it's a pen then it's a pen. Yeah he went down when he could of stayed up but why would he when he might have then missed the shot or had it blocked by one of the defenders coming back in? If players had confidence that the ref would call a foul without the dropping to the floor they probably wouldn't, but that's the way the game is, has been for a long time and has been taken advantage of for a long timez far more prevalently and regularly than by players like Jota. If Jota's a dirty stinking cheat then so is practically every professional footballer because them's the rules. It's no different to when players get fooled outside the box and grab the ball when they fall to the fall, subtly forcing the ref to give them the decision for the foul. Rarely goes the other way.
No idea why this is being made such a big deal of. We would have won anyway.

24.) 03 Jan 2024
03 Jan 2024 03:24:11
All the talk of the penalty robbed MacAlister of a wonderful through ball.

25.) 03 Jan 2024
02 Jan 2024 23:06:14
Ed.
Coming away from the point of cheating which is being claimed
My view is, if it was deemed cheating. VAR should of sent the ref to the monitor and asked him to review his initial decision
Again. A fail of use to bring the game to a better standard.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing and VAR should be used for that purpose
Contact is contact but simulation is simulation

I honestly don’t understand how people think they can do what they do and not realise there every movement is scrutinised by pundits and fans of the sport
It’s beyond belief that in any sport. Participants will knowingly cheat under spotlight
The beautiful game is now a business of cheats sadly.

{Ed025's Note - i think we all know Gazza that VAR is not fit for purpose mate, they seem to get involved when it suits them, you see so much of it now that its becoming the norm and its a terrible blight on the game, you see players facing up to each other head to head then one of them goes down clutching his face and rolling around to get his fellow professional sent off..whats that all about?, the punishment has to be harsher for me or the game is finished..

26.) 03 Jan 2024
03 Jan 2024 00:47:43
I thought the same Ed when I first watched it but the fact is there was contact so it’s a pen. If it’s a pen it can’t be cheating. The only cheating would’ve been if he’d stayed on his feet and the ref cheated him out of a pen.

I think in your desperation to criticise anything Liverpool you are completely going over the top and contradicting yourself.

I’d have much rather him stay on his feet and score the goal but pretty much every player would go down under any kind of contact from a keeper and most of the time it’s given and called clever. Kane used to initiate the contact and be lauded for it.

All of a sudden because a Liverpool player goes down when there is contact that he didn’t initiate himself it’s a problem?

What about last week when we had a goal disallowed because Nunez was adjudged to have fouled Charlie Taylor in the build up but replays showed there was no contact? Were you calling Taylor a ‘stinking cheat’ for going over under no contact at all?

No you weren’t because he’s doesn’t play for Liverpool.

If it was a penalty then it doesn’t matter how it happened, nobody cheated because the right decision was given. It’s ridiculous to suggest anything else.

{Ed025's Note - its actually nothing to do with it being a liverpool player BP and i feel insulted that you think im that shallow, i have called out players for many a year including Everton players over it mate, i think managers should call their own players out and fine them if they simulate...but of course they wont because they are instructed to cheat and go down to gain unfair advantage and i have had that confirmed by players that i know, its ruining the game im afraid but while we have supporters like you who think its fine (unless its another teams player) it will carry on..

27.) 03 Jan 2024
03 Jan 2024 04:04:30
Genuine q ed25 -

If Jota stays on his feet and then off balance hits a tame shot wide and receives no penalty (players who stay up often don't get one) then how would that be fair?

Until refs start giving valid pens when players stay on their feet this is the way it'll be.

{Ed025's Note - that seems like you are condoning it Nevada...and thats the problem mate, yes the refereeing is very poor but 2 wrongs have never made a right..

28.) 03 Jan 2024
03 Jan 2024 09:09:07
It was definitely a dive to signpost the contact.

Personally I don’t like to see it from any player, including our own players, but I also understand why they do it.

29.) 03 Jan 2024
03 Jan 2024 08:44:24
Wow, I thought you were better than this Ed. No one is condoning cheating or saying it’s fine but this was a penalty so it’s not cheating. If there was no contact I’d be castigating him with you but you simply can’t say it was a penalty and call him a cheat in the same sentence.

If he was caught, it’s a pen. End of story.

{Ed025's Note - im not even contesting the penalty BP, its the dive after the contact that irks me mate, he deliberately cheated and its not on, if that was Saka or Grealish you would be saying the same..

30.) 03 Jan 2024
03 Jan 2024 09:28:03
But VAR said it was a penalty. Surely that's all the concrete definitive proof we need. How can not one but three referees viewing video evidence ever be wrong?

{Ed025's Note - the penalty is not in question DE, its the simulation after the fact thats wrong mate..

31.) 03 Jan 2024
03 Jan 2024 10:02:51
Ed25 as many have said, you are still going over the top and that is what I have a problem with, nothing else. Fair, you did not see nor hear Shearer's comments. So now I have told you what he did and STILL you are not even considering any of that. All you're doing is going on and on about it being cheating whilst, you literally said that it was a pen so please, make up your mind. And why would Klopp call out Jota for diving when he got the decision and it was a pen? Did Big Sam call out Calvert Lewin when he dived to win a pen vs Lovren in 2018 that stole him a point? Did any of your managers call out Richarlison when he used to be a diving cheat to get results your club needed to stay afloat in the PL? Didn't think so.

Agendas? Against who? Newcastle, Howe? Jota? Sorry, they are supremely irrelevant to me personally and could not be arsed where they are in the table. If they got relegated today, I would not lose any sleep even tho, historically, I have a soft spot for them.

So my argument remains that you are going way over the top by insulting a player (LFC or whatever club) who has NO history of diving, won a pen that even the GK who fouled him admitted was a pen and you agreed it was a pen, a dirty cheat. You're doing too much here essentially and trying to have it your own way and I stand by that. Peace!

{Ed025's Note - im giving up on it now Oli as its seems cheating is just an acceptable part of the game these days, just dont come on here whining and bitching when it comes back and bites you on the arse mate...or you will be given short shrift i can assure you..

32.) 03 Jan 2024
03 Jan 2024 12:07:54
Apologies Ed025, it was my poor attempt to be ironic about VAR. Im in agreement with you regarding cheats though, regardless of who they play for.

{Ed025's Note - no need for an apology DE its my fault for not seeing the irony in your post mate..im getting slower in my old age.. :)

33.) 03 Jan 2024
03 Jan 2024 12:31:46
Players going down at the slightest touch, holding their face like a prime Mike Tyson just punched them when they get a tap on the neck, rolling around to emphasise a foul until the whistles blown then they jump back up on their feet like nothing happened and this old nonsense that if you feel a touch then you’re entitled to go down.
All things that put me off football, saying that all players do it is not an excuse and yes, Jota throwing himself to the ground is included in that.
Yes its been and done, no changing it now but Id rather not see any Liverpool players “winning” penalties like that.

34.) 04 Jan 2024
03 Jan 2024 12:33:12
For what it’s worth I agree with you Ed025. I think it was a penalty because there was contact but I think it’s also true that Jota took a dive which was cheating. Sadly nearly everybody does it and in the modern world that seems to make it ok somehow, although from my, and seemingly your, position I don’t see how.