Liverpool fans - a free education for you

And, for that matter, anyone else who doesn't understand the laws of the game - specifically handball.

Let's get a few things clear:

1. The law states that the handball must be deliberate.

2. There is nothing within the law that says a player's arms must be by their side.

3. An unnatural position does not equate to 'arms away from their side'.

4. The natural position for your arms is simply the position your arms are in as part of the movement you're making. This can be above your head, in some cases.

An example of an unnatural position would be to stand on the goalline and stretch your arms out side to side. You have raised your arms with the intention of covering more of the goal. It was not part of your movement.

5. It is absolutely irrelevant what would have happened had the ball not hit the player's arm. Whether it has stopped a certain goal or just stopped progression of an attack - it's irrelevant.

Here's my take on the incident from Saturday:

The ball is crossed in by a player from maybe 20 yards away from the defender, at pace. The defender is running backwards and to me, his arms are where you'd expect them to be.

If you believe he positioned his arms in such as a way that they were likely to prevent a cross, perhaps he should be a goalkeeper.

His arms didn't move towards the ball and the speed that everything happened, I don't believe he had time to consciously decide he was going to handball it.

I believe the assistant referee decided that it was not deliberate handball.

Now, of course you're entitled to disagree, but reading comments about how it was 'definitely handball' and even some people suggesting corruption... seriously?

The officials' decision was a logical one.

Just because you disagree, doesn't make them wrong and if you are going to disagree, at least bother to learn the laws of the game before spouting off about being hard done by.

Hope this helps and no need to thank me for the free education today.