Newcastle’s time-wasting was embarrassing; £230m net-spend and praised for cheating – why?

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If Atletico Madrid ever played with such sh*thouse tactics the English football media would be up in arms.

But led by an English manager in Eddie Howe, Newcastle’s time-wasting and feigning injury put Diego Simeone’s men to shame.

On 11 occasions (I counted) in the second-half, a Newcastle player hit the floor with a fake injury. Some pundits have praised them for savviness. Savviness is maintaining possession, keeping men behind the ball or dribbling the ball into the corner. Pretending you’re injured so the game stops isn’t clever, it’s cheating.

And it’s worse cheating than diving, because at least that requires a level of skill and situational awareness. Anyone can sit on the floor during another team’s attack.

Let’s have it right, Newcastle got exactly what they deserved last night when Fabio Carvalho struck in the 98th minute. Only five minutes of injury time was added on, but Nick Pope stayed down for three minutes once 90 struck.

Well done Andre Marriner. Other refs would have blown up after 95 minutes but at least the referee saw what was happening.

In truth, the initial five minutes was nowhere near long enough, given the ball had been in play for about 15 minutes after we equalised in the 61st minute.

Newcastle fans are claiming they were robbed. They were robbed of nothing. They’ve spent £230m net since their takeover by Saudi Arabia, the country whose flag makes up their away kit – and have lots of very good players. The fact Alexander Isak looks an exceptional signing doesn’t change the fact almost every Newcastle player faked an injury during a match people had spent money to watch. Why is that ok…?

Philippe Auclair says it better than I could.

Outrageous time-wasting is becoming more common, especially at Anfield. And it’s not just to ‘waste time,’ but to disrupt the rhythm of the game.

When Pope went down for two minutes in the second minute of the game, he killed the initial buzz and flattened the crowd. It was planned. Howe knew exactly what was going on, despite his post-match lies.

It’s not just a Liverpool thing, either. Leeds manager Jesse Marsch spoke about Everton’s tactics midweek.

So what should football do about it? Firstly, refs should let players play on when it’s cramp. They do it in rugby, unless it’s a head injury. Of course, there’s then the possibility of players faking head injuries, but that’s probably harder to do.

If this doesn’t work, there should be some kind of trial including a stop-start clock. In an average game, the ball is in play for about 60 of the 90 minutes. So, two 30 minute halves with the clock stopping every time the ball goes out of play. It’s something that should be trialled over a summer, maybe, although in friendlies, nobody would time-waste so it would be a mammoth change and something that would affect TV companies as halves would last different lengths of time.

We got the 2-1 win, but unless something changes, it’ll happen every time a game is tight this season.

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8 Comments

  1. They had 1 day less of rest than your team knophead. Furtheremore your sorry bunch of whiners starting with your entitled manager acting like a toddler needs to understand thatyou have no god given right to anything on account of your prior success and new ambitions owners at Newcastle just levels the playing field which were otherwise rigged in your favour… Oh and you would do well to educate your young fans that your own success was build on a sugar daddy in the form of the litllewoods.

    1. Oh, cry me a river why don’t you 😭😭😭😭😭 – time wasters are a bunch of oxygen thieves!

  2. I would think that most Liverpool fans are now worried about the the threat of Newcastle. It was a good game, Liverpool struggled to cope most of the game. It’s a sign of things to come. The ref added on the required time due to the injury to Pope. I’ve got no complaints. But it’s obvious to most fans that Newcastle are becoming a major threat. It’s interesting to see the reaction from Liverpool fans, the players and the coaching staff. You would’ve thought Liverpool had just won the champions league at the full time whistle. That’s why it bodes well for the future of Newcastle.

  3. You where in a game and went behind, you gaffers body language said it all. Our second was maybe an inch offside and we grafted resulting in tired legs.

    After all this it still took Liverpool 90 how many minutes to get a second?

    Maybe a timely reminder money does not get you everywhere, especially when your new forward nuts a fellow player, far bigger crime than time wasting I believe.

  4. The average ball in play time for the last 4-5 seasons has been around the 54-55 minute mark. I have said for years the game should be 30 mins each way with the clock running only when the ball is in play. Simple solution to a problem that has got out of hand. There is a similar simple solution to diving, but that’s for another day. It requires the suits to lift their snouts from the trough long enough to see the problem, so I wouldn’t hold your breath.

  5. 230 million net spend in a year and you come to Anfield moaning about players missing when we have more out.Your tactics are from a dinosaur coach who even when were not playing good,he still reverts to pathetic time wasting which started before the clock hit 10-15 mins.If thats what your blood money owners money does then no one is going to be worried about Newcastle.You say it it like your proud that your owners are going to do a City and buy success while cheating FFP.. I always respected the Geordie’s for the love of the game and their fans ,yet after the bitching their fans did like they were hard done by shows how pathetic they are.Ive seen ONE comment today from a Geordie who said the truth which was,Newcastle and Howes shithouse tactics were to blame.

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