Another weekend has passed and more refereeing controversies have arisen. This week the big talking points have been all about hand ball in the two big televised live matches on Saturday at Anfield and Loftus Road. I watched both games as I knew there would be entertainment and plenty to talk about afterwards. Little did I know there would be three hand balls that could have had a huge bearing on the outcome of where the Premier League title will go this season.
Let me take you back to Anfield first and discuss not one but two hand balls. Yes I can't believe it myself, I am blogging about two hand balls by Chelsea’s Gary Cahill. On both occasions referee Anthony Taylor waved away the Liverpool appeals for penalties which I thought were awful calls by the official. Cahill was clearly seen to move his body towards the ball in both incidents and they were the easiest of penalties in my opinion to give. This sort of decision is fact based and the fact was he handled the ball. It is not like a referee getting a red card decision wrong due to wrong interpretation of the law, these handballs were clear to see by everybody. Player’s reaction can also give the referee a clue and on the first one, Cahill was seen clearly on TV to hold his head as if he knew he could be in trouble. Funnily enough I thought the second penalty claim by Liverpool was even easier to give as it was a clearer cut movement of the arm towards the ball. In front of a packed screaming Kop I was astonished to see the referee wave away Steven Gerard’s appeal. As we all know the easiest thing would have been to blow for the penalty in front of the passionate Liverpool fans who sit in the famous Kop. I will be interested to see if Mr Taylor gets a game the next time we have Premiership football but as they say in the high places of power "Watch this Space ".
Before I discuss the hand ball in the game at Loftus Road can I just say Mike Dean got the Joe Hart incident completely correct? The kick had not been taken legally so therefore the free kick was to be retaken. Anywhere else on the pitch and QPR would have been awarded a free kick. The reason behind City getting to take the kick again was because the ball had not come out of the box legally due to Joe’s double touch. The speed in which he made his mind up to have the kick retaken was impressive, the sign of a man focused and tuned in. Having said that all his good work was dramatically undone when Sergio Aguero handled the ball before he scored his first goal. There is no doubt in my mind it was hand ball and the reason Mike missed it was due to bad positioning and absolutely no help from his assistant. In fact if Mike was unable to get wide enough to see the handball his assistant should have given him a shout in his ear.
What is more worrying about the incidents that I have discussed this week is the fact these referees are not rookies. These guys are around quite a while now and should be getting these decisions correct. In particular the hand balls at Anfield were the more disappointing as the outcome of that game could have been all so different if in my opinion the referee had awarded penalties for two of the easiest claims I have seen in a long time. Next week is an international break and if you get a chance have a look at the refereeing performances of the guys who come in from around different parts of Europe to take charge of the home nations. Take note of how less fussy they are and give decisions without been surrounded by players. Anyway until next time, keep well and enjoy your football.
On that note i'd just like to say thanks for reading and feel free to share any of your comments! If you'd like to speak with me further you can catch me on Twitter: @meiercy
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