Is it just me or is our team flopping more this year?

I saw at least one blatant flop in the game earlier in the year against UW where the player (who shall remain anonyomous) clearly jumped into the air and was not tripped. There have been some other games where players seemed to go down to the ground relatively easily, and the ref called the Gonzaga game pretty generously for us in the box too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01ETCv-v80g

That's not to say that none were legitimate fouls. Football is more physical than it usually appears, however, we can have a dominant team without this stuff in my opinion. I really hate flopping. I don't think Clive Charles would tolerate it; that's why I'm bringing this up.

I didn't see any flops in that video - low tackles are the hardest to keep you feet against, and the three or four tackles i saw in and around the box were tackles into the feet of our players on the move - those that missed the ball were called, and those that were made into the ball well weren't. The red card foul was a hard tackle that didn't come close to the ball, and clipped our player low on her trailing foot - which is an impact that is also very hard to keep your feet against (it is also a foul, and in this case an automatic red card). I don't see a problem.

If you want to look for flops, look for players who go down due to upper-body jostling and hip checking. The most obvious example of this from the gonzaga game is when one of our players had a gonzaga player jump on her back. the gonzaga player rolled off, our player kept her feet.

Although I wasn't at the GU game, I got the impression from the video that the refs were a little quick to blow the whistle. I'm no soccer player, by any means, so take my opinion at that but I thought we got some generous calls as well.

Also, I chose to view THIS version of the thread because it had more views. I'm assuming you accidentally posted twice. Hopefully nobody is currently responding to the other thread

I personally think our players are better athletes than that and on occassion they could have stayed on their feet in games and highlights that I've seen so far. Granted, I've only seen two games live, but, there was some flopping in both in my opinion. Even in fouls that don't come against the ball; I don't like any embelishment.

The other thread can be deleted by a moderator. My mistake. My computer is a little slow today.

athleticjames wrote:I saw at least one blatant flop in the game earlier in the year against UW where the player (who shall remain anonyomous) clearly jumped into the air and was not tripped. There have been some other games where players seemed to go down to the ground relatively easily, and the ref called the Gonzaga game pretty generously for us in the box too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01ETCv-v80g

That's not to say that none were legitimate fouls. Football is more physical than it usually appears, however, we can have a dominant team without this stuff in my opinion. I really hate flopping.

nice.

Reference the only opportunity where a player went in the air and then say you ain't naming no names...

Ask yourself this. Why would she jump in the air when the result of just running through the play was an open goal from 12 yards out.

Have you ever been tripped?

Yes, I've been tripped in games. It's not fun. But, I had an division II All-American sitting next to the UW game, and we both agreed that this player clearly jumped and fell to the ground trying to draw the foul. There was no open goal 12 yards out; I was actually referencing the UW game there, not the highlights. In the highlights, I tend to agree with Shipstad Pilot11 that we got some generous calls and our players may have gone down a bit too easily. That's not to say that GU was necessarily playing the ball.

athleticjames wrote:Yes, I've been tripped in games. It's not fun. But, I had an division II All-American sitting next to the UW game, and we both agreed that this player clearly jumped and fell to the ground trying to draw the foul. There was no open goal 12 yards out; I was actually referencing the UW game there, not the highlights. In the highlights, I tend to agree with Shipstad Pilot11 that we got some generous calls and our players may have gone down a bit too easily. That's not to say that GU was necessarily playing the ball.

I'll see your D2 player and raise you a reired FIFA ref, who when I asked him cited not playing the ball and DOGSO (denial of goal scoring opportunity)

His words "clear call"

From what I had a good vantage point on in the Gonzaga game, the ref did a good job, letting plays where the tackler was legitimately on the ball slide, and calling bad tackles. I don't see how there could be any argument on the red card - our player beat the keeper, and the keeper tackled hard. Thats a really easy call to make.

There is no denial of goal scoring opportunity anytime a PK is granted. Our players can score those at an 80-90% clip; that's the point. Look, I love our team. I just want the Clive-influenced team that tucks in its shirts and plays a clean game. If you get fouled and you're capable of staying on your feet and the team can still win the game, why not?

The keeper was last man. didn't play the ball.

I agree with you on that call, PG. That one can't be argued. Some of the others were much more generous calls by the ref.

I went to Pilot Nation in the middle of the season and a Soccer City, USA offseason thread broke out.

Carry on. This is all very fun.

Yeah.

While I agree that flopping is bad and players shouldn't do it, I really don't see evidence that is is a problem with the pilots.

I remember playing a game in high school and I was tripped up by the keeper after I had beaten him, not badly though, I was able to take a couple steps but could not keep my feet. If I had it would have been an open net goal. It ended up being a goal kick instead. After the play the ref warned me for taking a dive. So I wouldn't be surprised if people watching the game thought it was...but it wasn't, there was no reason to. Sometimes these things happen.

Well, Geezer, or any other soccer knowledgeable posters, can you please offer your opinions on whether you think Kendall Johnson's spill in the box--also on the highlight video-- was indeed a foul and should have resulted in a penalty kick. My bias notwithstanding, I think it was a foul as the Zag defender appeared to trip Johnson and arguably, at least, was also not playing the ball.