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Anonymous
American soccer fan here. I've been watching soccer quite a lot for about 3 or 4 years now without really supporting any team in particular. I have a few questions for some of you who are probably a lot more knowledgeable about the game than me.

How come someone like Forlan sucked in England then does well in Spain, but Fernando Torres wasn't that good in Spain but has been awesome in England?

I also wondered why they bother forming a wall to try and block free kicks? It seems like that just makes it a lot harder for the goalkeeper, because they have to stand to one side of the goal so they can even see the ball.

And lastly, is it generally considered a "dive" if one player makes enough contact with the other player that it's probably a foul, but not enough to knock him to the floor, so the fouled player falls on the floor anyway to make sure the ref notices?
>> Anonymous
sage
>> Anonymous
>I also wondered why they bother forming a wall to try and block free kicks? It seems like that just makes it a lot harder for the goalkeeper, because they have to stand to one side of the goal so they can even see the ball.


90 % of the time, the ball goes in the wall
>And lastly, is it generally considered a "dive" if one player makes enough contact with the other player that it's probably a foul, but not enough to knock him to the floor, so the fouled player falls on the floor anyway to make sure the ref notices?


Footballers always do that, that's why they are always on the floor
And italians players do more, they dive even if there was no contact
C.Ronaldo must be from italian ancestors
>> Anonymous
1. Different players styles suit different leagues better. Torres is more about physical power, and so is the EPL.

2. Well it does seem that way, but believe me, if they didn't form a wall and players just got shoot straight at goal, a lot more free kicks would be scored than they are now.

3. Not really.
>> Anonymous
Torres was a hero for Patetico. He was fantastic in Spain as well. Maybe not quite as good as at Liverpool, but I'd attribute that to just evolving as a player.

As for Forlan, he's a mood player. He hated everything about England & was miserable. Therefore, he played bad.

The wall is all about angles. Theoretically, if the players get their geometry right, at many different angle for many different shots they can make it physically impossible to get the ball in a large part of the goal.

Also, bending a ball is a lot harder to keep accurate, so having to go over a wall and get it down will make it a lot harder to hit the target.

It is. I can understand it because refs are shite & miss a lot of stuff, but it still is technically a dive.
>> Anonymous
> I also wondered why they bother forming a wall to try and block free kicks? It seems like that just makes it a lot harder for the goalkeeper, because they have to stand to one side of the goal so they can even see the ball.

It's a bit harder for the keeper, but it's *a lot* harder for the kicker. Try it sometime and you might understand.

> And lastly, is it generally considered a "dive" if one player makes enough contact with the other player that it's probably a foul, but not enough to knock him to the floor, so the fouled player falls on the floor anyway to make sure the ref notices?

Sadly, no.