horsefly 4,287 Posted March 11, 2021 Has anybody else noticed the rise of a form of cheating which involves defenders deliberately pushing an attacker into an offside position? It is probably my lack of awareness but i can't say it's something I have noticed before, but have become aware of many instances this season. It typically happens at free kicks just before the kick is taken. It is not the push and shove of two players jockeying for position, but a clear shove to push the attacker into an offside position. I think it's happened to us a number of times and resulted in free kicks to the opponent. Perhaps lockdown fever is taking its toll and I'm imagining this. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheGunnShow 5,933 Posted March 11, 2021 Might be easier to pull that off in the Premiership with the omnipresent VAR, I would think. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
canarydan23 4,060 Posted March 11, 2021 (edited) I think all forms of cheating have been getting much worse over recent seasons, this season in particular, and to be honest, fans are partly to blame. And evidence for that can be shown by everyone's opinions on Hanley this season. I'm willing to be most people would praise him for how "clever" he is at "winning" fouls. I love Hanley and think his improvements this season are a massive reason why we are where we are, but he cheats several times a game. And we generally praise him for it. I think not having fans in the stadium makes it easier for them too. Easy to forget cameras are rolling so you can do these little tricks without a few thousand people screaming that you're a ****. I bet on a subconscious level fans being their plays a party and would make them too ashamed to do some of the things they'll do in an empty stadium. Lacazette's utterly embarrassing screams being the most obvious example. Edited March 11, 2021 by canarydan23 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites