Taylor shows Mason how to keep control
We’ve seen the best and worst of Premier League refereeing this weekend. Anthony Taylor’s performance at Wembley for the Tottenhamchelsea match was absolutely magnificent. On a big pitch he showed high levels of fitness – his movement and positioning around the field was tremendous.
He got himself into a great position in the first half to judge Eric Dier’s challenge on David Luiz and correctly deemed it reckless. Perhaps Jan Vertonghen was fortunate not to be sent off for his foul on Victor Moses’ knee but I believe Taylor took into account the push before the challenge, so was spot on.
He also played a fantastic advantage for Chelsea’s winning goal, rightly coming back to book Harry Kane. That was a tremendous piece of refereeing.
But the weekend’s big talking point was the performance of Lee Mason at Southampton. He struggled and I’ve questioned his ability before to look comfortable and control a Premier League game. He is a very experienced official but does not relax. Mark Noble was clearly off the ground with two feet and it was a clear red card for the challenge on Mario Lemina, yet he let it go.
By allowing Noble to get away with it, other players suddenly think they can take control, and there was the outrageous elbow from Marko Arnautovic, which got him sent off.
Then there was the penalty, for Southampton’s winning goal, which was a soft one.
It has strengthened my belief that the Video Assistant Referee would help our match officials, with a limited number of top referees since we lost Mark Clattenburg.
I also think the PGMOL must speak to the PFA and LMA about challenges where players are going up off the ground with studs being shown. Players are in danger of being taken out, it is unwarranted and is becoming more and more prevalent.