He wasn’t shown the yellow card until he ran the 30 yards, and if scuffing the door was the reason (unsportsmanlike conduct), the Ramsdale should have been in the book, too.
And, it should be upgraded in the Laws of the Game to a red card and 3 games. It is blatant, petulant cheating!
There is a slow march to the destruction of the game due to blatant cheating. The flopping is getting more creative, but it is still flopping!
In fact, if Bernardo had just gone over Xhaka’s leg instead of flopping, I think he would have got the penalty even without the shirt pulling. In effect, VAR seeing the shirt pulling won us that penalty, IMHO!
Atwell’s derisive hand and facial gestures towards Bernardo spine to what he saw (the flop), as opposed to the challenge.
And, I include the above for City players, too! Pep should tell Jesus, Sterling and Bernardo to TRY to stay on their feet or just go down under the challenge, but “STOP THE FLOP.”
And, the other fix that’s needed is crowding the ref and definitely jumping or contacting him. Immediate yellow card for any player other than the Captain approaching the ref and a ref card for foul and abusive at the officials. Mic the refs and only use it in cases where clubs appeal the card! You’ll soon not only stop the appeals once the language comes out, but it’ll quickly stop the abuse!
The whole “Respect” campaign is a joke in England, as evidenced by the numerous close ups of players telling the refs to eff off!
PL should institute the rule, effective next season, and give players the second half of this season to get used to swallowing a big dose of STFU towards the officials and the flopping!
Just one FOC’s opinion of where the game is faltering from a global perspective.
