Lucky let-off allows Mane to star in thriller
A referee’s non-decision, Rodgers’ hollow claims and other talking points from the weekend
Mane should have been sent off
It was perhaps the game of the Premier League season to date but how different might it have been had Anthony Taylor and VAR taken the correct decision to send Sadio Mane off after six seconds?
That was the length of time it took for the Liverpool attacker to smash his forearm flush into the face of Cesar Azpilicueta after the kick-off.
The unwritten rule in incidents that take place early on in games is that punitive action should not be taken lest it “spoil the spectacle”. That argument loses significant weight when the opening goal is subsequently scored by the perpetrator, eight minutes later.
It is particularly relevant when one reflects on the opening of a festive period that was dominated by the incessant moans from those of a Liverpool persuasion about the injustice done to their side in the aftermath of a red card decision relating to Harry
Kane in the 2-2 draw against Tottenham.
As it was, Taylor’s nondecision – and that of VAR – meant that we were treated to another 2-2 thriller that nevertheless was heavily skewed by Mane’s continued presence on the pitch.
MOYES HOPING IT IS THIRD TIME LUCKY
David Moyes took Everton into the Champions League in the 2005-06 season where the Merseyside club had the misfortune to be drawn against Villarreal, then one of the best teams in European football, and they promptly slipped out of the competition in the third qualifying round.
The contrast in their luck could be seen in Liverpool’s route to the group stage of the tournament that year when UEFA ripped up their own rule book and created an entry point for holders Liverpool to enter at the first qualifying round. The disparity in the arrangement could be seen when Rafa Benitez’s side faced Total Network Solutions, FB
Kaunas and CSKA Sofia en route to the group stage.
Now the Scot finds himself in a good position to end that long wait for a second bite at qualifying for Europe’s elite tournament with West Ham, sitting fifth, a point off the top four.
Fresh in his mind will be last season, however, when the Hammers beat Crystal Palace 3-2 at the end of January – the same scoreline by which they defeated them on Saturday – to sit two points shy of the top four.
However, that result triggered a run in which they won just nine of their last 18 Premier League matches, a sequence which ultimately ended their aspirations.
They almost chucked away their win at Selhurst Park on Saturday night with Declan Rice noting: “It’s a mentality thing for us, the top teams don’t come here and ship two goals in the last 10 minutes.”
A repeat of last season’s
post-Christmas form will see their Champions League aspirations evaporate, especially with Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester United also involved in the race for the top four.
SAFE STANDING SHOULD BE HERE TO STAY
Anyone who has been to a Premier League game in England will recognise that standing at games has been a feature of matches there for some time, despite a ban on the practice since 1994 – a safety measure introduced in the wake of the Hillsborough disaster.
A safe standing trial took place at Stamford Bridge during yesterday’s top-ofthe-table encounter between Chelsea and Liverpool.
The trial was the result of a 32-year long campaign by the Football Supporters Association and others to have safe standing reintroduced at grounds on the back of survey
findings that demonstrated that 90 per cent of supporters favoured its return.
Critics – notably police chiefs and MPs – have long opposed proposals citing Hillsborough as the deadly example of why standing must not be allowed but that argument misses a key point – the 1989 disaster was the result of poor policing, not standing, per se.
RODGERS’ CLAIMS ON PLAYER WELFARE RING HOLLOW
It is rare to hear Brendan Rodgers say something and not have one’s mind boggled – whether it is him claiming to have bridged the RangersCeltic divide in the Clyde Tunnel or taking pot shots at Tottenham for spending
£100 million plus and not winning the league – and then promptly repeating the trick himself a season later at Liverpool.
To his latest proclamation: the Leicester City manager is unhappy about his voice not being heard on player welfare amid an injury crisis, a Covid outbreak and a succession of postponed fixtures for his side.
“Currently at this time, I would say no,” Rodgers said when asked if his views had been considered. “We’ve had various meetings but the football doesn’t seem to come into it. It’s more about playing the games and what impact that has financially.”
It does not make for particularly good optics, then, when two of his players – James Maddison and Harvey Barnes – are pictured in the aftermath of the club’s postponed fixture against Norwich City amid packed crowds at the PDC Darts world championship, where three-time Michael van Gerwen had already pulled out following a positive Covid test and described the event as a “bomb” waiting to go off.
WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO VAR?
Over the past two weeks, we have again found ourselves scrutinising every decision made – or not made – by referees on a game-by-game basis. It is one of the biggest ironies of VAR that a system that was introduced to take the spotlight off the refs has only turned up the intensity of the glare. Who is to blame?
The referees and officials themselves, of course. Take the denial of a penalty for Arsenal against Manchester City on Saturday – it was as clear an infringement as you will see.
One angle showed that
City goalkeeper Ederson got a foot on the ball as he took down Martin Odegaard inside the area – a replay that was offered as proof that it should not be a spot-kick.
But Ederson also kicked through the Norwegian midfielder at the same time which is covered under the rules of football by the definition that pertains to “careless” play.
It was but one of countless decisions over the festive period that once again flagged up the lack of communication from Mike Riley, the head of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited, the body that represents the Premier League’s match officials.