Clueless... and that’s official
I GET that referees are taking dangerous levels of abuse for simply doing their job and that the offside rule is as clear as Tarmac.
But that still doesn’t disguise the fact that Premier League match officials are making too many obviously bad decisions.
Take five at the weekend. Everton’s Jordan Pickford should have been sent off for dragging down Salomon Rondon and in the same game Ayoze Perez’s matchwinner should have been disallowed as he was a yard offside.
Raheem Sterling’s first goal against Watford should never have stood as it was evidently offside, neither should Burnley’s opener at Anfield as James Tarkowski was climbing all over Alisson. And Tottenham’s Moussa Sissoko had to go for head-butting Southampton’s Nathan Redmond.
Those decisions did not need 12 camera angles and 20 minutes of studio discussion to sort out. They were clear to the naked eye.
Refereeing standards are falling when they should really be improving. And VAR won’t clear this up because ultimately decisions will still be down to their judgement.
New blood brought through with more rigid training and supervision is badly needed.
CRISTIANO RONALDO has now scored eight hat-tricks and 124 goals in the Champions League. Which is just crazy.
And yet millions of us believe he’s not the greatest attacking player of his generation as he exists in the shadow of Lionel Messi. Will we ever again see two such football geniuses playing in the same era?
ARSENAL are currently 12 points and two positions better off than they were at this point last season.
They’ve taken 12 points from games with their Big Six rivals, double what they managed last term, and are odds-on with some bookies to make the top four for the first time in three years. For those, like Charlie Nicholas, who say Unai Emery has taken Arsenal backwards, one question: Really?